east village idiot

This morning I took a bus service to the airport.

Yes, a bus. And it took forever, but it was cheaper than a cab, which would have cost me an arm and a leg. The bus only cost me an arm.

On the bus, I saw signs posted like this one all over the place:

Really? I never would have guessed. I didn’t see a line on my ticket that said “gratuity included.” Then again, I wasn’t exactly looking for one. It’s a bus ride to the airport. I don’t think there’s a need for a gratuity.

At the very front of the bus, in the driver’s view, they had the gall to post a sign that read, “Tipping is customary for good service.”

On a BUS? No, it’s not. Fuck you. Tipping is not customary for bus drivers. I don’t tip my MTA driver on the M14 when it goes more than 5 mph. It’s not like you’re a cab driver and you have your own expenses to cover. You’re a bus driver working for a bus company. You get paid a salary. You don’t even pay for gas. “Driving the bus” is in your job description, which your employer hired you to fulfill. You don’t deserve a tip for doing your job.

Tipping is completely out of hand in New York. Of course, tourists are warned of this before they arrive, so when they take a bus from the airport, they think it really is customary to tip a driver. I saw plenty of passengers give the driver a tip. What’s an appropriate tip on a $12 bus ride? Apparently, two bucks, in the eyes of the average passenger. I felt no shame in walking off the bus without leaving a tip.

Lucky for me, that was completely justified. Despite the fact that the driver never asked anyone what terminal they were going to, he berated me for not telling him where I was going, and forced me off the bus at another terminal where I had to take a free shuttle bus - driven by someone else who doesn’t need a tip.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Life in NYC. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.