Man questions 18% tip request after buying a bottle of water at the airport: ‘Who am I tipping here?’

Time for yet another example of tipping culture spiraling out of control. This time, TikTok creator Clay Moss, @drclaymoss, posted a video showing himself at an airport self-service kiosk, where he was prompted to leave a tip after purchasing a bottle of water. In his caption, Moss wrote: “If you don’t tip nobody you’re cheap!”

The clip opens with Moss walking through the airport, apparently waiting to board his flight. Before boarding, he stops at a self-service kiosk to buy a bottle of water. “So this is what the world has come to nowadays,” he remarks.

He grabs the bottle of water and proceeds to the self-checkout kiosk to pay. After scanning the bottle, the machine prompts him to leave an 18% tip. When he selects 0%, Moss asks, “Who is this automatic 18% tip that I have to click out of?”

Another case of tipping culture going out of hand

He then panned the camera across the area, which showed no employees, and asked, “Who am I tipping here?” Moss concluded the video by saying, “Is this what we have come to?” Since being posted, the video has attracted hundreds of thousands of views.

The comments section was filled with supportive reactions. One user wrote, “I believe if you are self-checking out, you should get a 20% discount. You are doing the work.” Another commenter added: “I only tip if [I] sit down and get [served]. Tipping has become ridiculous lately.”

Others were shocked by the price of water at the airport, noting that a single bottle cost more than $6. “The crime here is 7 bucks for a bottle of water when there are water fountains everywhere,” a third user commented. Another added, “I would’ve walked away just seeing $6.50 for water. I’d rather die of thirst.”

Although Moss easily refused to tip at an airport store, some consumers have reported feeling more pressure than ever to tip workers, including at restaurants, coffee shops, auto repair shops, retail stores, and, in this case, airport stores.  A recent Pew Research Center survey of nearly 12,000 adults found that 72% of Americans feel they are being asked to tip in more places than they were five years ago. Digital payments include a tipping option in most payment terminals, but many people still aren’t sure whether some services justify tipping. For Moss, tipping a store that has no employees isn’t an option.