Humbug

A guest not long ago commented that she felt awkward and confused at check-out when confronted with the gratuity line on her credit card receipt - and recommended we clarify the Inn’s tipping protocol ahead of time. Though she left a tip at her table as well as in her room, she felt compelled to ante up yet again, not wanting to appear like Scrooge.
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This was an observation after my own heart, for it was delivered not in passive-aggressive wrapping but in a constructive spirit, sealed with a solution. The remark also illuminated a core principle of what we hope the Evins Mill experience would be - which is to say, free from uncertainty. We wish for guests to depart more rejuvenated than when they arrived - and view ambiguity as an energy-sapping agent.
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Furthermore, I’ve been grousing about gratuity for years, as the practice has in my estimation been abused, proliferating from an intensely service-oriented field to arenas where it is ill-construed. Why am I expected to tip a bellhop or barber? Why not throw in the store clerk as well? And speaking of clerks, what’s with that tip jar, behind which some punk just poured you a $5 cuppa joe?
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Tipping at a restaurant is of course a different matter, for in most instances servers are paid far less than minimum wage and depend on gratuity for their economic well-being. But it is precisely this reliance that prompts me to harbor misgivings even here – as tipping foists upon the patron a judicial role in the waiter's livelihood. And assigning responsibility for grade of service can be challenging.
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If the service is deplorable, is my server simply inept and undeserving - or did a colleague fail to show, requiring him to cover twice as many tables. If my server strikes me as gruff, maybe she’s in the wrong profession and unworthy - or maybe we simply have disparate notions of how chummy a server and patron should be. I’m uncertain - and that’s the point.
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In some instances, the restaurant may bear primary responsibility. In trying to cut labor costs, perhaps it scheduled too few servers. Maybe its hiring and training systems are not up to snuff. Surely it will suffer as a result, but so too might a capable server who was not responsible for these failures. Again, I’m uncertain - and again, that's the problem.
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I’m eager to compensate good service - or assign accountability for otherwise if I could fairly do so. But as illustrated above, one can't always, and I wonder if patrons and employees alike would be better served if we jettison tipping altogether and simply reward organizations that attract able servers with robust wages. That was actually the model at Evins Mill for years, though over time employees asked me to incorporate gratuity.
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Fearing it would tread on my precious principle, I resisted at first but eventually acquiesced, for some felt quite strongly about the matter. I also began to appreciate that some guests take pleasure in tipping. And though I didn't perceive its benefit to me at the time, and while I continue to compensate our waitstaff at well above minimum wage, tipping does alleviate payroll inflation.
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Despite my ambivalence and granted my bias, I am inclined to believe that if anyone deserves a fiscal pat on the back, it is the folks who work at Evins Mill. And judging from the tips our guests left them in 2009, I am not alone in this sentiment and am genuinely delighted for my staff - all of whom are most grateful for the generosity. Of this if nothing else, I am absolutely certain.