I could use a tip on when and to whom to provide a tip

Before the pandemic hit and changed everything, I spent a fair amount of time thinking about tips.

Pre-pandemic, I was of the opinion that establishments where you pay at the counter had found the perfect way to inspire greater tips: Shame.

In recent years, the "cash register" (I show my age) evolved to a person behind the counter spinning a tablet toward you, where you insert your credit card and sign with your finger. The trick? It routinely has an option to tip. Kind of an option.

More like an expectation.

Because there are people in line behind you. Everyone behind you can see the screen (to be fair, they're probably not looking, but you can't tell).

We almost always tip, paying extra for someone to stand at a counter and take our order to avoid shame.

Tips are complicated. While some been on hold for the past several months – and may remain so for several months – there are a host of people who we are supposed to tip. More than I knew before doing some research.

Of course, you tip waiters at a restaurant. You tip a pizza delivery person. You tip a cab or rideshare driver. However, you're supposed to tip nearly all service providers, something explained by an article in Business Insider.

Some are obvious: airport shuttle drivers, bartenders, bellhops. People who cut hair. (All things that have largely disappeared since mid-March.)

But that's not the end.

We're supposed to tip bathroom attendants (I'll consider this if I ever go somewhere that has one. I would think someone standing around in the bathroom is just a random creep). We're supposed to tip babysitters. Dog groomers. Furniture delivery people. Garbage collectors. Hotel housekeeping staff. Mail carriers. Package delivery people. Plumbers.

I always figured plumbers, mail carriers, garbage collectors and dog groomers received enough pay for doing their jobs. Am I supposed to subsidize what they earn from their employers? If I'm doing so, am I just allowing the fat-cat owner of the dog grooming place to get rich by underpaying his staff? Probably.

If I'm supposed to tip service providers, do I only tip people who earn less annually than me?

When I learned that many people tip the housekeepers at hotels and motels, I felt like a stooge. I have never even thought about that.

Babysitters? The Business Insider article suggested a 10 percent tip – although it's suggested as a holiday bonus. (My workaround: Don't hire a babysitter during the holiday period.)

I'm not sure how I could even tip a garbage collector, since I live in a place with community bins (I presume money I left would be taken by someone or sorted into the correct recycling container). Same with a mail carrier (would an envelope with cash wind up in the dead-letter bin?).

Maybe if babysitters, hotel housekeepers and plumbers just had one of those new cash register tablets, it would be easier. I might not want to tip, but the possible shame of embarrassment would force me to do so.

Problem solved, once we figure out this pandemic.

Until then, tip mask-wearers.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.