Woman Sparks Debate After Asking Why She Was Asked To Tip The Person Who Checked Her Luggage At The Airport
She doesn't think she should have to.
addydrake98/ TikTok Tipping in the United States has become a highly debated topic.
One woman has sparked debate after claiming she was asked to tip an airport employee who checked her luggage.
The woman, Addysen Drake, refused to tip, claiming that the tipping culture has gotten out of hand.
She posted her rant to TikTok under her username “@addydrake98.”
“This tipping situation has gotten totally out of hand,” she begins. “Tell me why I get to the airport after paying $400 dollars for a flight and I’m going to pay for my $35 dollar checked bag — the guy says to me, ‘you have to pay in card but you can tip in cash.'”
The woman pulled out her credit card to pay, only to have the man prompt her on the tablet about how much she would like to leave for a tip.
“And I’m in the service industry, like this is how I live — I get it,” she says but was still floored at the encounter.
To further her stance, she claimed the man was “rude” and didn’t feel the need to tip him for his behavior.
Shortly after the video gained traction, Drake made a follow-up video clearing a few things up after some people commented about tipping baggage people 'customary.'
“I did not know it was customary to tip skycaps,” she explained. “I still think it should be on employers to make sure their employees are paid a livable wage but until then, apparently it’s customary to tip them.”
She further explains how she understands living off of tips, as that’s what she does, but believes service industry workers and skycaps are two “totally different arenas.”
As for the people who commented saying they were stopping tipping altogether, Drake refutes this.
“As much as I do think the culture around that should be changed in the United States, it’s not being changed and you are not changing it yourself,” she said.
“It needs to happen from the government and the companies themselves but you deciding not to tip your server when you go out to eat is doing more harm than good.”
Users are in a heated debate over the situation.
Many under Drake’s video are either supporting her or slamming her for her hot take.
“It’s been a long-standing known fact that you tip the outside baggage handlers; they expedite your check-in process so you can bypass the inside line,” one user commented.
But others are calling out the ‘absurdity’ over tipping culture in the states.
“Unless it’s a sit-down restaurant where someone actually served me throughout my meal, or I’m getting food delivered, I am not tipping for anything else anymore. Gotta put our foot down,” another user said.
But while tipping is certainly customary and expected in our country, most countries don’t expect tips — in fact, in many cultures it’s frowned upon.
“Tipping culture is turn off,” one user explained.
So where do we draw the line?
Victoria Soliz is a writer with YourTango who covers news and entertainment content. Her work explores pop culture trends, film and TV, and celebrity news