You want a tip? I'll give you a tip...

I am grateful for spending most of my adult life to date not having to figure out how to skip the tip screen on Interac machines. But the last couple of years that has not been a luxury I have been afforded. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to tip people when they provide a service to me. Well, newsflash - taking my money and plunking down a styrofoam container of coffee on the counter is not providing a service. And being grumpy while "forgetting" to thank me for my business, when I finally figure out how to leave a zero tip, probably means that I just won't come back to your establishment, period.
If you aren't bringing something to my table, or clearing it, or washing up my utensils, I am not going to tip you. Not now, not ever. If your employer isn't paying you enough to do your job without tips, then I am sorry - sorry you haven't figured out it's time to find a new job.
Of course the coffee shops almost had the last laugh today. I thought I was at one that didn't go in for the tipping nonsense (probably because it was just a counter, literally) so I charged through the tip screen, thinking it was finally time for my PIN number (see my earlier blog for my rant on that nonsense). Luckily, I looked down before the final OK button to see that I was about to pay over six thousand dollars for my coffee! Yup, I had entered my pin number as the tip.

There oughta be a law.

What I love most about our new digital nation is the ease with which we can find other people and organizations. The Yellow Pages app is a great example of that. So why, oh why, did TELUS just cut down half a rainforest and deliver them to every home and business in Calgary? A city with one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the country. Not only are they are wasteful of paper, but how much energy will be expended in their delivery and their subsequent transfer to landfills (45%) and recycling facilities (55%). Yes, I get it, some of our citizens over the age of 60 do not have access to the Internet - but at that age their eyes don't give them great access to the tiny type in the big yellow books either. There has to be a better way. This is yet another of the many things TELUS should be ashamed of. Too late this year, but there should be some kind of legislation enacted before next year's forest killing occurs.