When many from other countries think of American culture, they jump to fried food and guns. However, there is another concept that is quintessentially American: tipping. Adding a percentage of the restaurant or bar bill to tip the server is a nice nod to exceptional service at restaurants and bars. What about dispensaries?

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Budtenders are the glue of cannabis retail. They serve as the front line for patients and brands, introducing consumers to products. This workforce must learn detailed information about numerous, nuanced products that often change each shift. This is compounded by the fact that each person has a unique endocannabinoid system that may elicit different effects than others–it is not an easy job.

All of this, and yet budtenders remain one of the lowest-paid cannabis positions. Most will make minimum wage without benefits or any track for promotion or raises. On top of that, budtenders receive little respect and are often blamed for poor sales by the LinkedIn echo chamber. The job seems thankless, but as someone who served as a budtender in multiple shops, it is gratifying.

Those who work as budtenders will likely say it does not matter if people tip but appreciate it after working with someone for 30-plus minutes to find the perfect products.

Comment
byu/AwkwardlyPleasant from discussion
inCOents

My favorite days were not when I got a $20 tip (though I’ll never forget that guy). My favorite shifts were those where I saw the light in a patient’s eyes for the first time as they told me they had kicked 7 of their 11 prescribed opioids since they started coming in.

Back then, I would have been right there saying tips are appreciated but not expected. But now, as someone who has been out of the budtending game for seven years, I tell everyone who shops at dispensaries to tip at least a dollar. Me? I’m putting a five in the jar whenever I can because I know how much many of these people love the plant and want to share it with others–and how little they make for it.

Tipping history and where budtenders fit

It is wise to know why we tip if you want to understand the culture. In America, tips are a must. Not tipping after a sit-down service meal is often chastised. Tips generally start at 10-15 percent, with that growing to 25 percent during the pandemic. Meanwhile, a five to ten percent tip is a sign the server went above and beyond in Europe, and tipping in Japan at all is disrespectful.

So, why do Americans feel the need to tip? Like most American pastimes, the answer is rooted in slavery. Tipping started as a way to exploit recently emancipated Black Americans. Business owners would offer newly freed people a place to work without wages, and they would rely on tips from customers to earn income. Though servers and other tipped workers now receive hourly wages, the practice is still rooted in exploitation.

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Employers can legally pay tipped workers lower than the federal minimum wage, pressuring customers to make the difference. Today, food costs, insurance, utilities, and more are pricier than ever. America is expensive right now, and that goes extra for many cannabis business owners who pay licensing and other regulatory costs without the ability to take advantage of tax write-offs like other business sectors. That brings us back to budtenders.

Tipping budtenders is not regarded as necessary by most, but it should be. However, the tipping process is not identical to a restaurant. Throwing a dollar into the tip jar after a retail interaction is highly appreciated but rarely expected.

Logvin from the Zona Ents Reddit community seems to agree. Stating that since you “can’t change the system” helping one budtender at a time is the next best thing.

Comment
byu/Ok_Can_4606 from discussion
inZonaEnts

When I worked at the weed shops, I was happy to see someone drop the rest of their change on the dollar in the jar. The reason? I was barely making enough money to buy my cannabis. Whatever I made in tips would often go toward my next purchase.

In a perfect world, tipping would be a fun surprise, not a given, because everyone would make enough money to live a comfortable life. Unfortunately, creating that world goes far beyond the nuanced and hard-to-solve issues in the cannabis space. Since we can’t fix that or American politics by the end of this article, hopefully, we can agree that solid budtending with a smile deserves a dollar, at least.