I want to leave a tip but I can't

When I say can't, I mean that the store, in this case the franchisee, doesn't allow tipping.

There's no tip jar and, tucked in beside the cash register, is a sign saying "No Tipping'' in bold letters. The coffee lady told me that there are cameras over the counter and that employees seen taking tips are fired. I guess their salaries are so good that they don't need tips. I'm being sarcastic. The salaries are decidedly low-end and a gratuity is offered not only in consideration of good service but to provide these underpaid workers a little extra. And I mean a little. Tip jars usually don't yield much.

OK, so that's bad. The franchisee is sticking it to people deserving of support. Salaries should be raised across the board. But at the very least, permit some tipping. A ban on tipping looks too much like gratuitous cruelty.

And it's gratuitous cruelty applied most often, in my experience, to employees at one of these corporate chains located in the city. After hearing from the coffee lady that accepting even a small tip could cost her her job, I went next to another of the same chain, this time in Brighton. There was a big tip jar on the counter.

So I was left to ponder the obvious: city outlets deny tips while suburban ones don't. Isn't that infuriating, given what we know about the socioeconomic and racial divide in this community?

What do you think? Should tips be allowed by franchisees or corporate overlords across the board, city or 'burbs?