Noteworthy: It’s not that people don’t want to, it’s just getting out of hand

By Bruce Penton on June 18, 2025.

The Globe & Mail recently undertook a survey on tipping at restaurants, and the consensus from respondents was that 15 per cent was the most appropriate figure. So when the server hands you the credit card machine and hovers nearby while you contemplate the value of the tip, how awkward do you feel if you take the ‘other’ option and leave a tip that’s less than the suggested minimum?

For most of my life, 15 per cent has been the standard tip. It’s easy to calculate, too, if you’re doing it in your head. Now however, many restaurants sport a credit card machine that starts at 18 per cent and gives you 20-per-cent and higher options. Even some fast-food joints, where you walk in, order a sandwich and wait one minute while it’s being prepared, don’t want you to leave without leaving a handsome tip.

I realize the sandwich maker is likely working for minimum wage, and an extra dollar or $1.50 isn’t going to break me, but I feel taken advantage of when there is no extraordinary service provided other than the basic making of a sandwich.

Isn’t tipping supposed to be a reward for superlative service? Doing more than just the minimum, and with a smile and perhaps some friendly chit-chat?

In some places, tipping is getting out of control. Some of the credit card terminals that start with an 18-per-cent option also calculate the tip with the tax included. That’s just wrong.

I’ll quit being a curmudgeon on this topic when I win the lottery and happily hit the 20-per-cent option every time.

â€¢ If your only source of information about what’s going on in the world is via Fox News, you might not be aware that 2,000 cities across the U.S. held ‘No Kings’ protests against the Trump administration last Saturday. Meanwhile, a crowd well below the government’s expected turnout for a military parade in Washington, D.C., to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army (and Trump’s 79th birthday) while an estimated five million people marched in protests against the president.

But the Fox News on-air and website reports carried information of only the military parade, and nothing at all about the massive protests. It’s not hard to understand how the MAGA crowd is so intransigent in its affection for the 47th president of the U.S. and his administration. Fox News rarely offers them opposing views.

Talk about fake news! Fox is the worldwide leader in that category.

The so-called ‘left’ leaning networks – CNN and MSNBC – at least had coverage of both events, which is how journalism is supposed to work. Offer both sides of a situation and let the viewers (or readers) decide what’s right and what’s rubbish.

â€¢ So does the COVID-19 vaccine work? Or, does it not work particularly well, as Premier Danielle Smith suggested in a Globe & Mail story, and then added “if you want the truth.”

The federal government recently handed responsibility for COVID vaccine payments over to the province, and the Alberta government announced last Friday that it would charge people to receive it, except for those with compromised immune systems or nursing home residents. Two years ago, said Smith, $135 million worth of vaccines were thrown down the drain in our province because Albertans increasingly chose not to take the shot.

Only 14 per cent of Albertans got the COVID-19 shot last year. In comparison, 21 per cent of Albertans got their annual flu shot.

Meanwhile, in another Globe & Mail story, “Canadian doctors are emphasizing that routine COVID-19 vaccinations are … safe and effective.”

I think I’d take my vaccine recommendations from medical experts as opposed to politicians. If I want the truth, that is.

â€¢ Short snappers: There won’t be any golfing going on at the two Kananaskis courses as the G7 conference unfolds this week. Rumour has it that to ensure security for world leaders, the course was paid $1 million per day to be completely closed. … Netflix has just dropped a documentary on the political life of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, brother of current Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Its title: Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem” … The horrific story about Saturday’s tragedy in Minneapolis where two politicians and their spouses were shot by an assailant dressed as a police officer brings to mind the 22-person slaying in Nova Scotia in 2020 by a man posing as an RCMP officer and driving what appeared to be an official RCMP vehicle. Young kids are taught at an early age that a police officer is your friend and can always be approached for help, but now?