Ripon College Days

Media Credit: Photo by Hannah Park To tip or not to tip. Sophomore Acadia Prestidge is thankful she doesn't have to take a break from studying to eat dinner. But the real question is: will she show her appreciation with a tip? [Click to enlarge]

Nearly everyone at Ripon College tips their delivery guy, unless of course he delivers for Sodexho.

Students are taking advantage of the delivery service offered by Sodexho's Bovay Terrace while taking for granted the student workers who bring the food to their doors.

"We ordered Terrace every night for two weeks once last year," says sophomore Becky Paske.

While Paske and her friends were always cordial, her roommate, sophomore Jessica Bierman, admits that it never occurred to her to tip the deliverer. "At least we were on first floor Johnson," she justifies.

From 8 p.m. until all orders placed one minute before 11 p.m. are out, delivery workers make nonstop trips back and forth from the Terrace to the Union to Rodman and everywhere in between.

"We get people ordering deliveries from Bovay," says sophomore delivery worker Zane Bale. "It's like, come on! It's not that far, it's a nice environment to come and relax. There [are] enough chairs."

Despite the door-to-door service, delivery workers consistently find it almost impossible to benefit from tips from students who request the service.

Bale applied for a delivery job at the Terrace last spring expecting to earn around five dollars on a busy night as a source of extra pocket money. This assumption was quickly disproved.

"I made $20 in a semester, and that was unheard of," says Bale.

While delivery drivers employed by franchise businesses depend on their tips for a majority of their income, according to local Pizza Hut manager Cindy Carpenter, they consistently make varying amounts while making deliveries to campus.

"Sometimes people are really nice, and you'll get a buck or two, but sometimes it's almost like they don't know drivers depend on their tips," she says.

She goes on to say that it's usually the younger students who tip less.

Sodexho's delivery staff find it noteworthy that their services are not always valued.

"People can at least say 'thank you,'" says Bale. "It's appreciated."

While the delivery service on campus has its flaws, some students remain positive.

"They forgot my food once, but I wouldn't [refuse to] tip them for that," says Bierman. "If I thought of it and/or had money on me at the time, I'd probably tip."

Though workers acknowledge money is a rare commodity for the average college student, Bale says that delivery staff also appreciates tips in the form of candy or Smirnoff.

Not all tips are appreciated in moderation, however.

"People get tipped in booze, and then they get fired for drinking on the job," says sophomore Sodexho employee Alison Krings.

"It's the thought," says Bale.

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