Cow Tipping

There are a lot of things in this world that confuse me. One of those would be the concept of tipping. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against tipping. In fact, I am what you would call a W.O.T. (Way Over Tipper). But the part that confuses me is who decided what services deserve a tip? When did this happen? Was there a vote? I'm clear on why we tip at the restaurant. The waitress takes our order, delivers our meal, responds to special requests and then shares the tip with the people who cook and clean up. But it gets a little hazy after that. When I get my morning coffee, the Starbucks employee pours coffee in a cup and hands it to me. Does that deserve a tip? And if that deserves a tip then why don't we tip the girl at Home Depot who mixes paint to match our baseboards? Why don't we tip when we check out at the grocery store? What about the clerk who helps us try on shoes? Can you see why I'm confused? Lately I've seen people who are trying to transform their profession into a tip-able profession. There will be a jar with a piece of paper taped to it that reads "Tips". When I look in the jar there is a nickel and two pennies. Don't they know that the key to receiving tips is to convince people that it is a common practice. You need some seed money in that jar. Throw in a couple dollars of your own money to get the ball rolling. If you're feeling real frisky, put a $10 bill in there. My all time favorite tip jar is at an ice cream parlor called Maggie Moo's. My kids love Maggie Moo's ice cream and I like it too. Their logo is a very stylish cow named Maggie Moo. My daughter even won the coloring contest when she turned in her portrait of Maggie Moo complete with earrings. Emma thought a stylish cow like Maggie Moo definitely needed earrings. The staff at Maggie Moos is very friendly, which isn't too surprising because everybody that comes in the store is happy. Who isn't happy when they are about to eat ice cream. I would give these teenagers a tip even if they didn't have a tip jar. But the fact that the tip jar in Maggie Moo's reads "Cow Tipping Encouraged" is all the more reason to contribute!