Page 26 - Issue-36

ELITE Three years of passion...
Three years of passion...

Am I Tipping or Bribing?

Noor Khaled - Sophomore - Economics
Noor Khaled - Sophomore - Economics

Consider the following situation: you frequent a treatment in the future. Going back to the “Am I
specific restaurant where you always leave a tipping or bribing the food server?" scenario, if
handsome tip to the food servers. In this scenario, your decision to not leave a perquisite results in
are you paying to thank them for the pleasant receiving subpar treatment in the future, the
experience, or are you paying them to receive a gratuity you didn’t leave is just a sweetly packaged
better treatment later? Moreover, even if your bribe. Notice the key difference here: the timing. A

intentions were pure, would it still feel like a tip if tip is usually paid after service has been received,
you enjoy special privileges in the future because but a bribe is given beforehand. While a tip is
of it? Bribing is often easy to spot whenever it considered socially acceptable and even
takes place in the public sector. Paying a civil encouraged, bribes are perceived as immoral
servant money under the table to get an unfair because they create inequities. Tipping the
advantage is the most commonly known form of cheesemonger to receive service first in the future
bribery. However, in private sector settings, is unfair to those who came beforehand; therefore,
differentiating between a tip and a bribe can be it is a bribe. If the gratuity does not affect the
challenging. In Egypt, where tipping has become quality of service you and others are provided, then
so common, it is essential to adeptly identify it is considered a tip. Furthermore, if the service
whether the fee you’re paying is a tip or a bribe. improves collectively, it is also considered a tip.
Hence, we shall explore the contrasts between Now that we know the difference between the two:
tipping and bribing, understand how the line let us try to understand the tipping culture in Egypt.
between a perquisite and a bribe can be blurry, and
establish some basic tipping etiquette to help us
stay courteous.
A tip is an extra amount of money that we pay to
thank those who provide us with a service. For
instance, we tip food delivery personnel to show
our gratitude for their hard work. Conversely, a
bribe is an undue advantage exchanged for special

Vol.1, Issue (36), October 2021 25