Emily Duprie
An airline customer and user Addysen, (addydrake98 ) on TikTok recently came forth about her quarrel with tipping curbside baggage workers at the airport she arrived at. Tipping/gratuity has been a hot topic of discussion among the Internet recently with businesses finding all sorts of minor ways to try and squeeze a tip out their customers.
Her video sparked a debate on what’s right and wrong when it comes to tipping airport workers. Addysen began her video by saying “Y’all, this tipping situation has gotten totally out of hand…and I am in the service industry, like, this is how I live.”
“I get to the airport after paying $400 for a flight and I’m going to pay for my $35 checked bag- The guy says to me: ‘Okay you have to pay in credit card but you can tip in cash.'” Addysen then looks into the camera with bewilderment, shocked at what she has just been told. She looked at the man with confusion as he handed her one of the payment tablets.
She continued, “He goes, ‘What would you like to leave for a tip?'” Now even more shocked that the worker was insisting on a tip, Addysen clarified that this worker was in no way deserving as he had been extremely rude to her throughout the process. “What am I tipping that man for?” She questions the viewers. “What? What do I pay all this money for?” She concludes.
Unbeknownst to Addysen, this is actually a fairly common practice for curbside baggage handlers. An article from USA Today advises that customers should pay “between $1.00 and $2.00 per bag” as a thank you to baggage handlers working at the curbside.
Addysen’s video struck a nerve with audiences on TikTok who appear sick of being prompted for tips with seemingly every purchase.
https://www.tiktok.com/@addydrake98/video/7179624399069285675
Many viewers were floored at the audacity of yet another way consumers are having to make up for the lack of compassion and pay corporate businesses hold for their workers.
