Oct 21, 2008 8:42 am US/Pacific
People Tipping Less As Economic Crisis Wears On
Service Industry Workers Suffering
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Pizza delivery drivers in the western suburbs say they're taking home just $25 on a weekend night, as compared to $75 a night a year ago.
CBS
With many families struggling just to buy the basics, finding money give someone a tip can be tough. So it makes sense that people who rely on gratuities are seeing their bottom lines tumble.
With the economy in its roughest patch since the Great Depression, the unwritten rules of tipping seem to be changing. It's something Sanjeev Pandey has seen at Indian Harvest, his 10-year-old Chicago-area restaurant, according to CBS station WBBM-TV's Mike Puccinelli.
"Tipping is always proportional to the sales on the average ticket. And sales have gone down 20 percent if you compare it to last year's figures, and tipping in general has also," Pandey said.
And he's not alone. Two young pizza delivery drivers told WBBM-TV taht on a typical weekend night, they'll bring in $25, compared with $75 a year ago.
That type of tipping shortfall can tip the balance for financially strapped service workers like Samantha Grimson, who has seen her tips dry up recently.
"We get our general wages and tips help subsidize that," Grimson said. "It just hurts. I'm a college student; I need as much money as I can get to pay for school. Every little bit counts."
Erin McGrath says many of her regulars at Simply Hair Salon aren't ordering services that were regular in the past.
"Clients are passing up colors, passing up prolonging their services," McGrath said.
And some just aren't coming in. That's cut her revenue in recent months by as much as 50 percent. She's trying to ride out the economic roller coaster by cutting back on expenses at home.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Timeline: U.S. Credit Crunch & Financial Failures
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