To tip or not to tip? That is the great question of the ages, or one of them. I’m not referring to waitrons at restaurants but our ubiquitous car guards.
(By the way, having worked as a Spur waiter in my youth, I’m very much pro tipping!) Opinion on the car guard situation is divided, but judging by comments on a recent post of ours on the website, I’d suggest they have a lot of sympathy from the public.
My view is that I generally tip if I have a few coins, sometimes even a note if it’s around pay day.
While some people find them annoying, or overly eager, there is no doubt they can be extremely useful in a full car park, where a place is difficult to find.
They can also be most helpful packing the boot after shopping, particularly when it comes to getting the 5-litre water containers into the car. (Thanks, Ugu).
So, I generally try to tip. But increasingly I haven’t, mainly because I don’t really use cash or forget to keep some in the car. When I see the downcast face as a drive off I feel guilty, especially when the guard in question has been friendly and helpful.
There I go in a car with air-conditioning and he or she is standing in the blazing sun, sometimes without a hat.
The problem is that, in a Covid – don’t touch anyone – world, which is hurtling headlong into a digital future, how does one actually tip a car guard when you don’t have any hard cash.
I wouldn’t be surprised if one day you see car guards with some sort of a card machine – a quick tap of the card, thank you, and off you go. I’ve often joked with the ones I have sort-of gotten to know that that is what they should request.
All right, the logistics of this would have to be carefully worked out, but is it the worst option? Perhaps something like this is already in the pipeline. Who knows what circumstances led them to taking on this job.
However, with the world’s economies in turmoil and many people struggling, at the very least it’s a job. How effective they are in thwarting crime is a debate for another day, but I’d suggest their presence is a deterrent.
So I’d say car guards are here to stay for a long time, but they will need to adapt to what is becoming an increasingly cashless society. Perhaps buying a food item and giving that to them may be more effective and healthy.
This may be something of a contradiction, but I don’t feel any compunction to tip or feed the youngsters who hang around at the traffic lights.
In my opinion, there must be something, somewhere better for them to be doing in their teenage years. A topic to explore on another occasion, perhaps.
HAVE YOUR SAY
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