Curbside Tip Up?

So being the nice husband that I am, when Andrea is sick and doesn't feel like cooking and won't eat my cooking (who would?), I go pick up food for her. Last week was just such a time. Now we don't eat out often, usually once or twice a week and mostly at the same two or three places. So last week, we ate somewhere else. And this place just happened to have curbside pickup (or whatever fancy name they threw on it to make it "theirs"). Now, I was a curbside pickup virgin. Never done it before. Had no idea what to expect.

Well, if you've never done it before, it's pretty much how you'd think it is. You pull up to a designated area of the parking lot. They have already asked what kind of car you drive when you placed the order, so when you pull up, they bring your food out to your car. It's like having a drive thru without the drive thru.

Sounds great, right? You pull up, don't even have to get out of your car, somebody brings you your food, you pay, and drive off. Amazing. When I first heard of this, I thought "how lazy can people get that they need can't even get out of their car to get carryout?" So here's the rub: how can you not tip the girl (or guy, I guess) that brings you your food? Here you are, sitting in your nice warm car, she brings out your piping hot food wearing short sleeves, waiting for you to fumble around in your wallet to find your credit card. Then she comes back out and has to wait for you to sign the receipt. That's worth at least a couple bucks, right?

So how did this come to be? Did nobody leave a tip when picking up carry out? I do most of the time because the carry out people generally perform the same duties as the in-store waitresses. They take your order, submit it to the cooks, and bring you your food when it's ready. So I tip on carry out. But didn't anybody else? Did they have to come up with curbside pickup to get you to tip? Did these places really gain that much business because you didn't have to get out of your car to get your food? Only in America.

A quick side note on the upcoming elections now that I'm thinking about America: thanks for nothing America! I'm gonna have 2 lame choices for President. (By the way, I'm now on some list because I mentioned the President - what's up FBI?) You've got McCain who wants to declare war on everybody. You've got Obama/Clinton who both support abortion rights. What's worse, the wait to get into Canada is 2 years. (Yeah, I checked). So if you have a good way to pick who (whom?) I vote for, let me know. So far I have eeny-meany-miney-mo and bubble-gum-bubble-gum-in-a-dish. Leave your vote in the comments.

PS: I just reread this, and it kinda sucks. If you made it here, hats off to you. You win the special prize.