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PublishedAugust 27, 2022 9:02 AM EDT|UpdatedAugust 27, 2022 9:02 AM EDT

Has tipping officially gone too far?

My buddy Diesel fired off this message to our text group around lunchtime Wednesday, presumably after he rolled into a restaurant to grab some lunch and was fully triggered by a worker seeking a tip:

Ok boys...it's time to rant.

I am sick and tired of seeing tip jars everywhere! Every fast food restaurant now has them. I was at a grocery store in Dundee (Michigan) and the bagger had a tip jar. Wtf is going on??? Am I just getting old with the times?

...

It just pisses me off like I am supposed to subsidize the 18.00 an hour f--king McDonald's worker that can't even get my damn order right

Whew, that guy was mad Wednesday, as was OutKick's Bobby Burack who also touched on this subject.

I need reports from the field across the country. What are you seeing? Which odd jobs are asking for tips? Give me a sense of where this country is at with tipping.

Some of you might've heard my story from a couple of years ago when I had a split rail fence installed and as I was settling the bill with the installer, he asked me to throw on an extra $100 for the team as a tip because it was hot.

Now, I was going to tip in the first place so the team could grab some 12-packs and some smokes, but that was 100% the first time I've ever had a contractor ask me to tip his guys. It was a bold ask, especially after the guy was two months late from his supposed start date.

Let's hear the horror stories. Fire off your tipping rants.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

Gauntlet update

I need one more captain to step up to run a league. We had an influx of participants on Wednesday and there's enough interest that another league can be formed with the help of a captain. The first person to respond this morning gets the league and can act like Roger Goodell over fellow Screencaps readers.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com

• Rob W. writes:

Last year my gauntlet league was disappointed when the regular season was over and the gauntlet was over. Most commented that they were still rooting for “their” teams in the playoffs. So this year we’re doing the $100 bid draft with all $800 going to the season winner but each person is also throwing in another $50 to be divided $250 to the super bowl winner and $150 to the super bowl runner up so most guys will still have a rooting interest as the playoffs start.

I’m messing with perfection here, cuz the gauntlet is perfect, but I thought I’d pass along our addendum to the game.

I like it. I love when grown adults come up with ways to keep things interesting through the Super Bowl and everyone can get along. Like I've said, you guys have your leagues, run them how you'd like. Screencaps provides the community, you guys do the rest.

• If you need live online draft setup advice, Michael J. is willing to help. Send me an email and the Guru of Gauntlet Drafts will be on the case.

End of summer recap

• Jeff M. writes:

I have been reading your column regularly since January and it provides a level of calmness and sanity knowing that there are people from all over this country that are on the same page of life as me. I want to share one event that happened in this first post-covid summer of (almost) normal.

My wife's father (Elmo Romens) is one of 15 who were born to Adrian and Cecelia Romens. Their marriage was in 1931 and there is a Romens family reunion in Fort Atkinson WI every 5 years over the July 4th weekend. It was delayed for 1 year because of covid. We had over 225 people in attendance in this 2-day event. It started with a church service to honor the relatives (including Elmo) who had died since the last reunion in 2016.

There are just 5 of the 15 siblings still alive. Each family branch wears matching t-shirts to designate what part of the tree they belong to and Elmo's branch has 2 shades of green this year. As with any family there are some interesting people. I thought you would appreciate the Busch Light fan standing next to the craft beer brewer.

Thanks for everything Joe!

I have to be honest here, I wasn't really into the family reunion story until Jeff came at me with Busch Light Guy and that uniform...plus the white socks and what looks like house loafers. Now I'm dialed in. This is exactly the hook I need for an email to catch my attention and Jeff delivered.

Take notes, people.

Year of the Body Shops

• Michael J. of Gauntlet setup fame, writes:

As the price of everything at a body shop has exploded. I also would like to remind people to be nice to their fellow man about stuff like this. My wife had a 18 year old back into my car and do a little superficial damage.

The dad had asked me to try and avoid getting insurance involved for obvious reasons. I shopped around and was dumbfounded how expensive everything was. Almost 3k to fix a few scratches. I was also told it would be at a month before I could get the work done. So I just told the guy to forget about me getting the whole thing fixed.

He gave me $250 and we called it even. I just sanded the only small part I was worried about and covered it in a clear primer. I couldn't bring myself to let the insurance company and body shop win. So be kind to each other! That being said, if the guy had been an ass about it all. I would have gone through insurance immediately. Haha.

Your advice was well received by Jason D. who is having trouble with seizures

• Jason D.'s wife is turning 40 and he wanted to do something nice for her, but she doesn't want to be away from her husband because he's been suffering seizures. Jason writes:

Hey Joe, I am always humbled and grateful when you use one of my emails in screencaps. When you included my email about my wife's birthday and my seizures it hit me a little differently.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you putting it out there encouraging the readers to send advice. The responses that I read today were full of great, practical advice. I've struggled with not pushing my wife to get away for a night here and there.

The responses reminded me that my health issues are probably harder for her to deal with than me. Thanks again for providing a community full of resources for average guys to tap into when life presents us with both big and small issues.

I'm late to the party but I would gladly join Tom's gauntlet league if there is still room but I also understand if it is already full. Thanks again.

TNML Rookie of the Year Nominee Checks In

• Galen in Johnson City, TN has a special message:

Thanks to SCAG, Carharrt, Stihl, and Redmax for a successful Summer of Lawn Care for my clients. It is now time to ramp up for Fall and football season!

And there you have it...Thursday is here and it's time to fire up those mowers. Late August is upon us and that means we need to have those yards mowed because it's officially college football season and mowing on Saturdays is a huge signal that your life is in disarray.

Get the yard right. Get those smart TV apps dialed in. Get your patios cleaned up. Patio season is about to crank up a notch and I cannot wait. It's supposed to be a glorious 81 and sunny here Saturday and I plan on taking full advantage.

Have a great day and try not to get too sucked into the college debt debate energy suck. Use that energy to tell me about how out of control tipping is these days.

Email: joekinsey@gmail.com