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I Paid a Bribe

ipaidabribe.com

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Re: I Paid a Bribe

#51

Post by BrandonM »

guelo wrote: post #15
leelin wrote: post #7

Darn, this seems like a site meant to uncover and curb corruption. I was hoping it was a site where everyday folks share their stories about when it helps to give a nice tip or innocently grease a few palms. Well known cases would be the "$20 trick" you give to the hotel clerk to get a free room upgrade. Once during an airport emergency, I gave two $10 bills to the bellhop to cut the long line at my hotel taxi stand…

Sorry, instead of it being a site where your wealthy greedy self could gain a meaningless personal advantage over others it is a site that is trying to make the world a better place for everybody. I know it is useless for "everyday folks" from your class, we'll try harder next time.

You're forgetting that the people that are being "greased" are those same "others." I've worked as a server, a host, and a valet, and I would have been very grateful to make an extra $10-20 here and there. In a way, the rich are subsidizing the income of the service employees and making the dining (or whatever) experience more affordable for everyone else.

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#52

Post by [deleted] »

guelo wrote: post #15
leelin wrote: post #7

Darn, this seems like a site meant to uncover and curb corruption. I was hoping it was a site where everyday folks share their stories about when it helps to give a nice tip or innocently grease a few palms. Well known cases would be the "$20 trick" you give to the hotel clerk to get a free room upgrade. Once during an airport emergency, I gave two $10 bills to the bellhop to cut the long line at my hotel taxi stand…

Sorry, instead of it being a site where your wealthy greedy self could gain a meaningless personal advantage over others it is a site that is trying to make the world a better place for everybody. I know it is useless for "everyday folks" from your class, we'll try harder next time.

[deleted]

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#53

Post by poet »

igravious wrote: post #49
poet wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Five minutes ago I was looking for a donation link on your site, but I completely lost interest after reading this post. The person you replied to grew up in a lifestyle and culture different than you. This doesn't mean that he's greedy or that his motivations are meaningless. You seem like you've got a huge chip on your shoulder and that's not going to help you in the long run. Why would people be interested in enga…

Innocuous? Don't make me laugh. I don't see this as spitting venom or that the poster has a huge chip on their shoulder - that's rather an extreme characterization. My first thought on seeing the title for the site was that it was a project to try to reduce corruption and bribery. Because I was curious I clicked through to discover more. Nicely designed site, tackling a real social ill which obviously affects the poo…

As far as the donation goes, my conscious is clear. I donate a big piece of my income to charities and my family and I work with thousands of impoverished kids in the inner city of Chicago every day.

Based on my experience, characterizing the poster as having a chip on his shoulder is accurate. I run into this problem all the time when working with those less well off than me and it's a serious problem. It's a significant barrier on communication between otherwise well intentioned people.

Finally, I stand by my characterization of innocuous. There was no harm or offense intended and I'd like to see you argue otherwise. I myself had the same reaction to the title of the submission and it's because of my middle class upbringing. What is importent here is not shaming people for their upbringing but rather to seek an understanding of why people react in different ways.

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#54

Post by detst »

steveklabnik wrote: post #37
sp332 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course they report it, there's a spot on the tax return for "tips" specifically.

hahahahahahahahaha. ha. (No, seriously, I've worked in jobs where it's socially acceptable to get tipped. Unless you're a waitress that makes less than a minimum wage, nobody reports tips.)

True but that doesn't make this statement from the GP any less ridiculous: "You're effectively asking someone from a lower class to possibly break the law".

I know of waiters/waitresses that don't report all of their tips. Do we now say that tipping them is asking them to break the law? Of course not because that's their responsibility, not your's or mine. We're certainly not stopping them.

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#55

Post by seabee »

poet wrote: post #47
seabee wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People can get angry over something that another person would think nothing of. Even something as simple as throwing away a half-eaten candy bar. Just because a man is brought up to do something wrong, it does not absolve him of the fact it is wrong. That 'innocuous' comment has enough social subtext for people of certain viewpoints to find it repulsive. Like, say, a guy running an anti-bribery campaign. Personally,…

We can play this game all the way down to the most impoverished society on the planet. A poor Indian could find it reprehensible that a middle class American will throw away a candy bar. A starving African could find it reprehensible that a poor Indian will use comparatively expensive spices in his food. After all, why not eat the most tasteless food possible and then donate the extra money? The point is, unless you…

> The point is, unless you are from the most impoverished society on the planet, you are doing something that someone somewhere could find reprehensible because of social subtext.

When you see a liberal with hunched shoulders, it is because this issue is bearing heavily on their mind. /s

You're right, of course. Selling all your possessions to donate the proceeds to a poor family only gets you so far, and then only in the short term. The real goal is battling for systemic change, either by fixing the system or boosting the economy to give more people more wealth. Infighting because you disagree on a 0.1%, that doesn't help at all, and is why passion needs a little control from time to time...

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#56

Post by poet »

seabee wrote: post #55
poet wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can play this game all the way down to the most impoverished society on the planet. A poor Indian could find it reprehensible that a middle class American will throw away a candy bar. A starving African could find it reprehensible that a poor Indian will use comparatively expensive spices in his food. After all, why not eat the most tasteless food possible and then donate the extra money? The point is, unless you…

> The point is, unless you are from the most impoverished society on the planet, you are doing something that someone somewhere could find reprehensible because of social subtext. When you see a liberal with hunched shoulders, it is because this issue is bearing heavily on their mind. /s You're right, of course. Selling all your possessions to donate the proceeds to a poor family only gets you so far, and then only i…

Well said.

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#57

Post by sp332 »

getonit wrote: post #33
sp332 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you can be in the same class as the person you're buying a favor from. It doesn't require any class differences.

That would seem to me to be beside the point: Buying favours requires some form of capital, which is more available to some classes than others. If you don't have any, you can't buy favours from any class - your own or otherwise.

Are you saying that having less money than someone else puts you in a lower class in society? Or are you saying that being in a higher class makes money more accessible, somehow?

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#58

Post by steveklabnik »

detst wrote: post #54
steveklabnik wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hahahahahahahahaha. ha. (No, seriously, I've worked in jobs where it's socially acceptable to get tipped. Unless you're a waitress that makes less than a minimum wage, nobody reports tips.)

True but that doesn't make this statement from the GP any less ridiculous: "You're effectively asking someone from a lower class to possibly break the law". I know of waiters/waitresses that don't report all of their tips. Do we now say that tipping them is asking them to break the law? Of course not because that's their responsibility, not your's or mine. We're certainly not stopping them.

I think that's kinda silly too, but "getting in trouble with their employer" is 100% legitimate. His overall point still stands.

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#59

Post by leelin »

guelo wrote: post #15
leelin wrote: post #7

Darn, this seems like a site meant to uncover and curb corruption. I was hoping it was a site where everyday folks share their stories about when it helps to give a nice tip or innocently grease a few palms. Well known cases would be the "$20 trick" you give to the hotel clerk to get a free room upgrade. Once during an airport emergency, I gave two $10 bills to the bellhop to cut the long line at my hotel taxi stand…

Sorry, instead of it being a site where your wealthy greedy self could gain a meaningless personal advantage over others it is a site that is trying to make the world a better place for everybody. I know it is useless for "everyday folks" from your class, we'll try harder next time.

Wow, I'm sorry you found my comments so offensive and insensitive (and for pseudo-hijacking). I understand this community to enjoy discussing hacks, both computer and non-computer related, and the underground world of tipping is one of the more mysterious and fascinating classes of hacks in my eyes.

What I'm requesting actually isn't so different from what the authors of this site ultimately want; more transparency and widespread knowledge of common bribes. Once everything is out in the open, establishments can either explicitly offer the higher priced solution, or the public outcry can be strong enough to put an end to such practices.

For example, I'd be all for a priority queue at the taxi stand for people with real emergencies. I'm a bit more iffy on express lines at Disney World or restaurants, and I'm guessing very few people would approve of an express list for kidney donations.

Re: I Paid a Bribe

#60

Post by thebooktocome »

steveklabnik wrote: post #58
detst wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True but that doesn't make this statement from the GP any less ridiculous: "You're effectively asking someone from a lower class to possibly break the law". I know of waiters/waitresses that don't report all of their tips. Do we now say that tipping them is asking them to break the law? Of course not because that's their responsibility, not your's or mine. We're certainly not stopping them.

I think that's kinda silly too, but "getting in trouble with their employer" is 100% legitimate. His overall point still stands.

I accidentally conflated tipping and bribing. I feel tipping is acceptable in certain narrowly defined and publicly acknowledged circumstances, whereas bribing is almost always wrong. I also feel there isn't a sharp distinction between the two.
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