1356: Tipflation | Skeptical Sunday
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Skeptical Sunday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. Today I'm here with Skeptical Sunday co-host, comedian and skeptic, Michael Regilio. On the Jordan Harbinger Show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. Our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker, During the week, we have long form conversations with a variety of amazing folks from spies to CEOs, athletes to authors, thinkers, performers. On Sundays, though, it's Skeptical Sunday, a rotating guest co-host and I break down a topic you may have never thought about and debunk common misconceptions about that topic, such as tipping.
Acupuncture, astrology, diet pills, self-help cults, bottled water, and more. If you're new to the show or you want to tell your friends about the show, I suggest our episode starter packs. These are collections of some of our favorite episodes on persuasion and negotiation, psychology, disinformation, junk science, crime and cults, and more that'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show. Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. Now tell me if this sounds familiar. You walk up to a counter, you order some food. The person taps the order into an iPad and then turns around and says, it's going to just ask you a quick question.
And you think, oh, it's going to ask me a question. This inanimate iPad suddenly developed curiosity. What could it possibly want to know that you, the human being standing right here who just took my order, can't explain? You took my order. You're looking at me expectantly. But now we've got to consult the iPad. What's going on here? All right, let's see the question. Ah, okay. It wants to know if I would like to tip you. For what? You haven't made the food. I haven't gotten the food. We're both standing here staring at each other. So the question isn't, would I like to tip? The question is, can I predict the future? I'm sensing missing utensils, mild disappointment, and if you're one of the growing number of Americans also getting fed up with this phenomenon, you might be asking yourself, how
did we get here? Why do I have to tip everyone, seemingly? And how is it acceptable that we tip before the service is even complete, sometimes even before it begins? And more importantly, why do we even tip at all? Today's skeptic, comedian, and most importantly, former waiter, Michael Rogelio, is here to tell us 100% of what he's learned about that 15 to 25% that we're asked to part with in seemingly every dang transaction in America.
Man, I can really relate to that. Turning the iPad towards you. It's getting kind of crazy. Everywhere you go, someone's shoving an iPad at you. And I think most people can relate to that. Because what you're describing is called tip fatigue. And people are getting fed up with that iPad being shoved in their face everywhere they go. And let's be clear here. That iPad is far more insidious than the old tip jar. After all, just a couple crumpled bills tossed into a jar or tucked in an old school billfold leaves a little mystery. You don't have that waiter immediately knowing and judging what you left. But the iPad? Oh, the all-telling iPad. The iPad knows all.
Yeah, so the problem that I have with this, I feel that pressure sometimes, of course. And I know this is by design, right? They want you to feel like you have to tip. Hey, what do you mean? You're going to type in custom and leave $1 even though the default one is 25% or 30% for coffee? Even me who's sitting here on this topic and requested a Skeptical Sunday about this specifically because I hate tipflation, the fact that we're seeing tipping everywhere and it's going up everywhere. I still feel that pressure like, oh, okay, I'm going to click skip because all you did was take my order and there's no table service and I'm leaving and it's a takeout thing and blah, blah, blah, and it's a cup of coffee.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–4:12
2
What is “tipflation” and why are listeners experiencing tip fatigue?
4:12–22:16
3
How did tipping originate in Tudor England and what social function did it serve?
22:16–35:51
4
In what ways did tipping become tied to race and post‑Civil War labor practices?
35:51–57:22
5
How did early 20th‑century Americans react politically and culturally to tipping?
57:22–1:00:12
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Jordan Harbinger Show
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