By Adam Heffelfinger
CLEVELAND, OH— Barista Seth Holstein was working through a typical brisk rush hour line early Tuesday morning when his day took an unexpected turn. Craig Johns, a 42-year veteran of Cleveland-based investment firm Stodges & Coller produced a crisp bill and placed it on the counter.
“He asked me if I could break it for him, because he needed quarters. Street parking is pretty limited to the meters and he’d just bought a latte, a bagel with two cream cheeses, and two bottles of water, so I didn’t think twice about it,” Holstein said.
It was the end of their interaction, and what Johns needed the quarters for, that shook this seasoned barista to his core.
“I said ‘No problem man, parking’s sparse out there’ or something like that, and he just came back with like ‘Nah, I Ubered’ and then dropped fifty cents in the tip jar.” Holstein winced at the memory. “I thought he needed them for the parking meters, but he just wanted to leave a shitty tip.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an increasing number of people seeking quarters from baristas want them not for parking meters, but for a shitty tip. And as specialty coffee continues to push out from urban areas and into areas where free parking is more readily available, experts say the trend is likely to continue to rise.
“According to current numbers, about 40% of the quarter-seeking population are looking to leave a shitty tip,” says Dr. Ben Miller, a professor of parking density and gratuity studies at Case Western Reserve University. “By 2025 we expect that shitty tip number to rise to nearly 64%.”
To Holstein, these numbers are deeply concerning.
“If you want to leave a shitty tip, give me whatever pocket change you have. We’ve had customers leave us washers. Just don’t ask me to participate in you leaving me a shitty tip,” he implored cafe customers everywhere.
Adam Heffelfinger has worked in Specialty Coffee for over ten years. He has frequently renewed his commitment to the industry by dropping out of several writing and journalism-focused degree programs. Today Adam works for a Cleveland-based roaster and cafe operator, and resides in Northeast Ohio with his wife and four-year-old daughter.
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