Ah, the art of tipping.

Or is that the coercion of tipping?

Bankrate — a financial research firm — reports tipping is down.

A survey taken in May concludes 65 percent of American adults can be counted on to always tip at sit-down restaurants.

That’s down from 73 percent in 2022.

And it’s down significantly from 2019 when it was 77 percent.

That’s a key year.

During the pandemic that officially was declared in March 2020 triggering widespread lockdowns, there was a general consensus people were more willing to tip.

Frontline retail and service workers were scarce. Many felt a need to show their appreciation by tipping.

And there is the magic word — “appreciation”

I have no appreciation of walking into a Jamba Juice and as the clerk finishes ringing me up, I get a   prompt on the screen when I’m about to slide in my card giving me tipping options.

I ordered one large Orange Dream Machine.

No special requests requiring a deviation on how it is made.

I then get to stand around waiting for the order while I’m serenaded by the needed loud noises required to make smoothies.

My name is called out, and I walk up to a counter to pick up my order.

This transaction — with all the ambiance of standing in a line at a DMV with blender sounds substituting for elevator music  — is nothing special.

Do not misunderstand.

I tip.

Typically at a sit-down restaurant it is 20 percent if the service is above expectations.

If  it is mediocre service at best but the wait staff — and others — are going their best, I’ll still do 15 percent.

 On very few occasions have I felt compelled not to tip.

And on my worst dining experiences ever, I have given my biggest tips to someone who has saved the day such as a bus person — and then made it clear to management what I thought of the wait staff.

The waitress had ignored us for over 10 minutes after we were seated but she made a beeline to the next table the second the four guys sat down.

Then when the lady I was with asked about a specific dish, the waitress told her “that’s way too fattening, I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.”

We may have taken it wrong but I don’t  know how else one would have taken it given the inflection in her voice.

She then messed up our order twice. 

She repeatedly ignored us as she walked back from their table past us to the kitchen despite dropping hints like saying “miss” and such.

And no, I wasn’t jealous because she sat down in the booth monetarily with the four guys in question not once, but twice.

The bus person, who paid more attention to us and performed the role the waitresses was too busy to do as she was fawning over the four young guys at the next table, got a $20 tip on a $30 bill.

The waitress gave me a look that could kill.

The feeling was mutual for her ruining a dining experience.

When someone cuts my hair, engages in pleasant conversation, and makes me feel like I’m not simply “next’ and a real person, I tip in the neighborhood of 25 percent.

I used to tip 10 to 15 percent.

But the pandemic prompted me to switch from once a month haircuts to once every two to three months, if I was lucky.

The bottom line, is I don’t tip out of a sense of obligation.

Its appreciation for service that makes my experience pleasant.

Standing in line at Jamba Juice is pretty low on the pleasant experience scale.

Let’s talk about “obligation” for a second.

This is California.

It is against the law for anyone to be paid for hourly work less than $15.50 an hour, wait staff included.

Some cities in California have higher minimum wages. San Francisco, for example, is $16.99 an hour. It goes up to $18.07 an hour on July 1.

And by practice in order to get and retain workers, a lot of places are paying more than $15.50 an hour for entry level jobs including wait staff that is starting out or the person behind the fast food counter.

When I go to a restaurant, I am not doing so on a social economic justice crusade.

Whether they can thrive on $15.50 an hour based on their situation whether they’re living at home, have roommates, it’s a second job, or they are struggling to keep a roof their heads is not for diners  — I’m paying prices that factor in  labor and employee costs — to address.

If it is about economic justice, then every time we step into a Dollar General, 7-Eleven or Bass Pro Shops then we should be prompted to add on a tip.

The bottom line is a lot of people in California who aren’t in jobs where tipping is ingrained are making less than food service staff that have the ability to have 65 percent of their adult customers drop some serious coin on them from tips over the course of a work shift.

Tipping has come a long way from its supposed roots in Tudor England

It was said to have started as part of a master-serf custom where a servant would receive money for having performed above and beyond expectations.

From those roots it started surfacing in London coffeehouses in the 17the century.

To show you how far we haven’t come, the Wall Street Journal in an article last week on tipping quoted a 22-year-old  Starbucks barista who gets miffed when he’s not tipped but especially so when he has to deviate from standard procedure to fill a specific drink request.

He said it makes him not feel appreciated for doing his job.

Perhaps he’s looking at it the wrong way.

Maybe the people he’s serving don’t feel they are appreciated for being a customer.

After all, it take two to tango.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com