Someone noticed: taxi drivers get tips but are seldom as nice and helpful as Uber drivers who don’t get tips.
The fallacy that tips induce better service behavior seems to be one that is stuck in the brain of many people for whom the brain doesn’t work very well.
Tips, in case any one of my readers didn’t know it, are to make the manor class feel better about the slave and servant class. You never tip people who had modern or responsible service responsibilities like: auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, lawyers, dentists, hygienists or bus drivers. None of those occupations were filled by slaves or servants.
Which made me think about the place where we are most likely to tip, other than hairdressers, restaurant wait-people.
I found a way to create successful restaurants more than 50 years ago. The one most frequently associated with me is Greens in San Francisco which is 35 years old and still full with over 230 seats.
Tell anyone you want; I haven’t had a paying restaurant client in a long time. The restaurant must open ‘full’ and stay ‘full’ for a month. It doesn’t matter how you do it, with invited friends, with confidential discount coupons to your mailing list, with lavish free drinks. It doesn’t matter. If it is ‘full’ when it opens and stays ‘full’ for a month then it will be successful.
The only caveat is that it must be an above average restaurant in its class.
Now you can feel sorry for all those restaurants you pass that are empty and started out slowly. People in the restaurant business don't know the secret.
(Photo: recent line at a restaurant I advised 40 years ago. The line is like this all day.)