At many downtown State College businesses, customers arrive at the counter and are gripped by unexpected panic. Staring them in the face is the ever-feared tip jar.

The customer must fumble with many important decisions: How much of a tip should be given? Was a tip actually deserved? Can I pay and get out of here without looking completely cheap?

Tip jars have been present in State College for years and the act of tipping is speculated to have existed for centuries. Recently, however, tip jars have been popping up in new places around the borough, earning extra money for employees but leaving some customers feeling unsure of how to cope.

Many people say the tip should reflect the amount of work being done when providing them with a service. Whether a tip jar should be allowed depends entirely on the type of business, said Chrissy Jeffers (senior-environmental systems engineering).

It's hard to understand what services warrant tip money, she said.

"Sometimes I don't feel like I owe [the employees] anything because they really don't do anything," she said.

Employees who put forth extra effort do see results, said Brian Mazzara (sophomore-English), an employee at Daily Grind Coffeehouse, 107 E. Beaver Ave. The hand-painted coffee mug that serves as a tip jar at the Daily Grind earns Mazzara anywhere from $8 to $22 per shift, he said.

"I'm the only one here and I'm doing the job of three or four people," Mazzara said.

The main reason people should leave a tip when they see employees working to fill orders is guilt, Mazzara said.

"It's the number one reason they do leave a tip, and it's the number one reason they should," he said.

Tip-jar guilt should never force people into giving up undeserved money, said Gary Filkins, owner of 2000 Degrees, 202 W. College Ave., a paint-your-own pottery studio.

"Even if there's no service, people still feel obligated to leave a tip," he said, adding that undeserved tips can make customers uncomfortable.

Nothing is really expected from customers at 2000 Degrees, but it's nice when people leave tips because it gives the employees a little extra money, he said, even if it's just enough to buy a meal during a break.

For this reason, 2000 Degrees added a brightly-painted tip jar to its counter about seven months ago, Filkins said.

"We spend more time working with people than many waitresses do -- we're like, the best customer service people there are," he added.

Filkins said he makes sure his employees know that they have to be helpful and friendly with their customers to prevent the customers from feeling tip-jar anxiety.

Many customers in the pottery shop, especially students, still do not leave tips, but that's easy to understand, said Jennifer Fletcher, an employee at 2000 Degrees.

"Students have to try to budget their money, too," she said.