21–30 of 183 posts
note: Most casinos you would be tipping the 'floor' not the runners, but in this particular one the chip runners were doing the seating.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
it's not unethical. It's the market economy.
The underlying assumption that being a market economy precludes a market from being unethical strikes me as overly simplistic.
Despite how effective this generally is, I feel dirty every time and I hate doing it.
Everyone else waits a few extra minutes, but meanwhile the maitre d's work income is vastly improved while you get a quick seat for a fee. In the end, the net effect on society is probably neutral at worst. At best, no one else even notices and both you and the maitre d' have a great night.
What's the difference between this and say slipping the building inspector a hundred dollars to "not have any problems"?
the article is from October 2000. The restaurant business is so bad right now that there is absolutely no need to bribe. I am traveling to Chicago and NY on Jetblue's all you can fly. Alinea had a few openings that I was able to squeeze in over the phone. I was changing Daniel and Jean Georges's appointments many times with no problem.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seems unethical to me, strictly speaking. Sure, everyone's doing it. Doesn't mean cheating someone else out of their fair share is right, though.
It's an interesting question, and to me a real ethical gray area. At my favorite bar, I usually tip very generously, and all the bartenders know me. I tend to get my first drink free, and if I stay for a while, often a shot with the bartender later. For those, I tip extra big - not quite, but almost, the cost of the drink. For a while I felt bad about "taking advantage" of the system. But in fact I think this is part…
What you described is the original "rewards program."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The underlying assumption that being a market economy precludes a market from being unethical strikes me as overly simplistic.
I believe his point was that if you're going to call this unethical, then you have to also consider, say, an inferior television costing $200 and a superior television costing $800 unethical.
One day the barista recognized me and said, "this coffee's on the house." I was stunned--stuff like that usually doesn't happen to me because I'm usually fairly quiet when it comes to interacting with service people. Grateful, I put the money I would have spent on the coffee into the tip jar instead.
Over the course of the next month the barista would occasionally offer free coffee again. The cup of coffee costs them cents, but it brightened my day so much that I actually started tipping (for the first time at a coffee shop, ever) regularly.
So in effect, for the cost of a "bribe" (a few cups of coffee to me), the barista had established a relationship that made me feel like reciprocating with cash.
Despite how effective this generally is, I feel dirty every time and I hate doing it.
Seems unethical to me, strictly speaking. Sure, everyone's doing it. Doesn't mean cheating someone else out of their fair share is right, though.
out of the places I go to eat or get coffee, a few are small independent businesses owned by locals. At the ones where I was getting consistently good service, I started tipping 20%+. Within a few weeks of this, I was surprised to notice that they began discounting my food and drinks without mentioning it, and they were more likely to remember my name and what I usually order. The result is that other than the money I spent tipping more initially, this improved service doesn't cost me anything.