Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet and Watch
I'd like to share a few tips when driving around in cabs...A friend of mine lost his iPhone in a cab the other day and was going frantic. Not only was he on his way out of town for 3 weeks, but he's currently unemployed and was dreading the idea of picking up a new one. As with most people, his cellphone is his lifeline - esp when away from home.
But guess what? The cabdriver/good samaritan found it in his back seat! Not only did he remember my friend for the nice conversation they had, but he made a point to tell his girlfriend (who met him to get it back) that he was an excellent tipper :) While it wasn't the only reason he gave it back, the generous tip certainly stuck in his mind. So tip #1: Tip your cabbie well, especially if given good service.
Oddly enough, that same girlfriend had previously lost a wallet in a cab herself (different cab). AND, he too returned it with all id's and bills intact. Besides tipping well herself, she was also sitting in the front seat - making it super easy for the cabbie to find it! This brings us to Tip #2: Sit up front whenever possible. Your stuff will be found much easier if you leave it behind.
Of course, you could also just NOT lose anything, but we all know life doesn't work as nicely as that. Better to control those things you can, like tipping & sitting in the front seat :)
But guess what? The cabdriver/good samaritan found it in his back seat! Not only did he remember my friend for the nice conversation they had, but he made a point to tell his girlfriend (who met him to get it back) that he was an excellent tipper :) While it wasn't the only reason he gave it back, the generous tip certainly stuck in his mind. So tip #1: Tip your cabbie well, especially if given good service.
Oddly enough, that same girlfriend had previously lost a wallet in a cab herself (different cab). AND, he too returned it with all id's and bills intact. Besides tipping well herself, she was also sitting in the front seat - making it super easy for the cabbie to find it! This brings us to Tip #2: Sit up front whenever possible. Your stuff will be found much easier if you leave it behind.
Of course, you could also just NOT lose anything, but we all know life doesn't work as nicely as that. Better to control those things you can, like tipping & sitting in the front seat :)
Labels: advice, in the real world, tipping
posted by J. Money at
9:18 AM
12 Comments:
Hey that's awesome! I lost something last week and a kind stranger found it and turned it in. See there are nice people in the world.
I find tipping well definitely increases the chances of something good happening, whether it's a barista chasing me into the parking lot because I left my phone or the staff taking good care of us the next time we visit. Heck, even just tipping reasonably makes it more likely that your stuff won't be kept to make up for your stinginess.
I am just wondering about the rest of the items in your title? Testicles?!?!?!!? You have never lost those in a cab right?
Is 20% of total bill (i.e., including tax) considered a good tip? That's what I always tip. I'm certainly no Johnny Depp who reportedly tipped a waiter $4k recently.
Frugal Urbanite says "tipping reasonably makes it more likely that your stuff won't be kept to make up for your stinginess."
Does anyone see anything wrong with this way of thinking?
Do you realize that there are genuinely nice people in other countries that don't have tipping customs? Seems like people in the USA believe tipping should decide the way you treat someone and many times we judge people negatively (stingy??) because they left a below average or just average tip.
That's just wrong because we don't know if that person is unemployed (likely nowadays), or has a tight budget and can only afford to pay the $6.00 for his meal and not the "optional" tip. I mean if it's optional, why get upset when some people don't tip and why would that give you reasonto "keep left-behind items" rather than returning them? Do morals and ethics come to play here, or is it just the money?
If you don't like that seem people exercise the option to not tip, get a better job, learn a new skill.
By the way, I do tip 15% at restaurants, barbershop and where else I see a tip is merited but I don't do it to motivate that person to return lost items or not spit in my food; that comes down to the person's morals and ethics.
I think you're trying to win for Best Post Title, but I say that I get the prize with my latest post.
I always tip well, probably about twice what the average person leaves... I guess I just think that the person performing a service should be well-compensated - and then I mitigate the cost to myself by spending on such services (haircuts, restaurants, etc.) infrequently.
After waiting tables for several years during and after college, I definitely see the importance of tipping well. Most jobs that include receiving tips do not pay very well, and those employees depend on the tips for income. (I made just over $2 an hour- pre-tax- from my employer while waiting tables.) While I don't think a poor tips justifies treating a customer poorly (or not returning a wallet!), I can certainly see how a generous tip can get a person noticed to receive above-and-beyond service in the future. I always appreciated and took special notice when customers would recognize my dependence on their tips and compensate my efforts. I suppose, as Denis commented above, those on the receiving end of tips need to recognize the "option" one has to tip or not to tip and should not return a poor tip with poor service. But, in my opinion, if you can't tip at least fairly generously (absolute minimum of 15% currently), then perhaps you should look into a less expensive haircut, eating at home rather than out, etc.
Anywho, it's nice to hear a story about someone (the cab driver) doing something right and kind for another person. Thanks for sharing!
I had a cabbie choose to personally deliver a left-behind bag belonging to my sister's boyfriend - wouldn't leave it with my building's front desk because he wouldn't get a tip that way. Whatever. It had a lot of good stuff in it - a passport, digital camera, cell phone, etc. - and the driver made a point of letting me know that he was aware of all the contents and their $ and non-$ value. Kinda pissed me off. I had already polled my clients on what to tip and went for the average: $40. I resented it though because the driver was so money-hungry and I have a low opinion of NYC cabbies to begin with.
@Miss M - God bless them all :)
@Frugal Urbanite - sad, but true!
@Philip - you know, at times I have wondered, but nope - they are safe in place. haha...
@Shtinkykat - I hope so cuz I tip 20% for everything myself! Except for beer, i go with the $1 per drink rule for that one no matter the cost...it might not be pimp all the way, but it's nice & easy to remember.
@Denis M - I think F.U. (hah!) just means that it's the way of life here in the US, and unfortunately I have to agree with her. I'm with you that morally & ethically people should treat others fairly regardless of the tips, but as you know there are a lot of $hitheads around. Personally, if tipping more in general keeps me out of trouble and keeps my food/stuff safe, I'll continue to do so whether it sucks or not.
@444 - this one? "1. Where I hide the chocolate 2. the naked neighbor 3. the bill about to be paid off" haha....agreed.
@Frugal in Virginia - I'll have to agree, if you can't tip at least 10-15% then you should find cheaper ways to eat out/be entertained. and there's nothing shameful about that either - I won't go to a $100 a plate place if i don't have at least $120 to pay for it, so I stick with the $25ish plates when i'm feeling glamorous ;)
@MoneyMateKate - wow, that's f'd up! my friend ended up tipping the cabbie $30 and i thought that was plenty enough, so $40 is a prize for sure. it's great you got your stuff though! always a happy ending.
"Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, Watch" - I love "Keeping the Faith"!
I really hate to sound like (read: "be") a buzz-kill here, but people (read: "in theory, anyone and everyone, but in practical terms, more likely women") might want to think twice about j. money's advice here
"Tip #2: Sit up front whenever possible."
for reasons that become obvious when you think it thru. (I am not casting aspersions on most -- and definitely not all -- cabbies, the vast majority of whom are of course honest, courteous, professional, etcetc. But all it takes is one.) A friend of mine related a story about having been groped by a cabbie as she was riding in the front passenger seat of a DC cab -- while there were three other passengers in the back seat, utterly oblivious.
@ Denis M ("Does anyone see anything wrong with this way of thinking?"): Yes, in an ideal world one would have no cause to think this way. But here in the real world, shockingly, some service-providers do adjust their behaviors in response to how they've been treated by their clients/customers, including how well they've been tipped.
@ Frugal in Virginia: excellent points all. I'm with you and the other posters who pointed out that, although tipping is "optional" to the customer, it is not "optional" to the worker who depends on tip income to compensate for the underpayment they receive from their nominal employer, the ownership and management of the business. ("Nominal" employer because they're really working for the customer -- as is reflected in the fact that the bulk of their pay comes directly from the customer in the form of tips... or lack thereof.)
A lot of people don't know what Frugal knows all too well: employees in certain service jobs are exempt from the minimum wage laws (or subject by those laws to wage levels well below the "minimum" for all other jobs).
If anyone out there doesn't mind exploiting that situation and paying less than the full, real cost of a good or service by not tipping, understand that in a very real way, you are committing theft (of service).
Might do well to remember the great scene in "Reservoir Dogs" in which this is discussed at length.
Yo - thanks for the comment smartalek. I hadn't thought about that, it's definitely something to consider for sure....I find DC cabs in general are pretty cool, but you're right - it only takes one.
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