Should you tip on a carry out order? I struggle with this question.

When in doubt, it’s best to write it out. Here’s my thought process weighing the pros and cons.

Reasons for tipping:

You don’t feel like a sleezeball afterwards.
Karma, I hope.
Paying it forward.
Could be helping out someone who is less fortunate.
If they come out to your car or do curbside delivery. (This was a stretch. We are a lazy species)
If you’re a regular (so they don’t spit in your food next time).
If you’re a regular (so they hook you up with extra next time).
If you order during their busy time on a Friday/Saturday night and they could be serving other higher tipping customers.
If someone went above and beyond typical service.

Reasons for not tipping:

Less money in my pocket.
I’m already broke (hypothetical situation).
I drove to pick up my food, they should tip me, or at least cover my gas. Jerk.
It’s their job to make my food. I don’t tip at Chipotle and they still make my food and have a carry out service.
I don’t know how much or if they are splitting tips with the waiters.
What if they are already making more money than me without me tipping them? Very demoralizing, believe me.
I don’t know how much to tip without them getting mad. Is it 5%, 10%, 15%? Or is it $2-3? There needs to be a rule of thumb.

Sometimes I tip, sometimes I don’t. I feel conflicted that I’m not consistent on this matter. Just like when I’m playing blackjack, sometimes I don’t hit a 16 when the dealer is showing a ten because the count is hot and I know a ten is coming.

It looks like I came up with more reasons to tip than not to tip so I guess that’s my stance now. This will be my cheat sheet for future references.

Let me know if I missed anything.