NOTE: I’ve been noticing a bit of cheap behaviour lately so I thought this article from my newsletter would give you my take on this insidious trait some folks display.
“Yeah I tipped the cabbie… it came to 39 bucks and I gave him a fifty… that’s what you would have done right?” said one of my students to me the other night.
We were at his place on the Gold Coast having a few drinks after a long seminar weekend. I had just made around $45,000 in product sales, so I was feeling pretty good.
“Yep, sure would have,” I replied.
Anyway, this little exchange brings home an important point. This student, this guy, has been in Pete’s World for over a year now and he’s kicking some real goals of late. But more importantly, he’s been out with me a few times, getting to know me; and he’s picked up on the fact that I’m a tipper.
Now for my American readers, you’ve gotta understand in Australia, tipping isn’t a way of life like in the States. It’s more of a personal choice. And I always choose to tip. (Unless the service is lousy, then they’re getting nothing.)
- I tip the pizza guy
- The concierge at hotels (Wanna get looked after? Slip the concierge a twenty and it soon gets around the hotel.)
- I tip at restaurants
- Tip cabbies
- Even my Dry Cleaning lady.
I’m ALWAYS TIPPING!
I tip for many reasons.
First, it makes me feel good. I don’t do it in a show-off manner. I do it quietly, respectfully; acknowledging a job well done. Just a few bucks can have a BIG impact on someone’s day I tell you.
Case in point: Yesterday I had the garden guys over cleaning up the palms down the back. It was a typical hot and humid tropical day. These guys done a fantastic job. Around three hours sweating in the sun and my backyard looks like a million bucks. I was impressed. (I also know what it’s like to work in such heat; sweating, cursing, breaking your back in the midday sun.) So I wrote the boss a cheque, then slipped him $50 to get the boys some beers.
You should have seen his face!
It lit up like a kid’s at a candy store. It really made his day (and his helpers).
Now sure, I tipped because they did a good job. But I tipped because I felt good about doing it. I got a buzz out of seeing his face. PLUS it reinforces to me that money is NOT in short supply; that I can get more, and that I can give more to people any time I damn well please.
Personally, I hate it when you’re out at dinner with a heap of people and they have to itemise everything they had to eat and drink right down to the last dollar. I mean, I didn’t have the seafood, I only had the steak so that’s only $29 not $35.
It gets to me.
Craps me off.
More than that, it’s friggin embarrassing to watch. And you know what? I refuse to dine with them again. Because they are pinching pennies and stepping over dollars with a closed fist mentality. I refuse to let their penny-pinching scarcity poison me so I make it a point of NOT going out with them again. Scarcity can rub off on you and frankly, I’m not risking it; don’t wanna get infected.
So yeah I tip. I tip for many reasons. I tip for them. I tip for me. Either way, it makes me feel good… and that can’t be a bad thing can it?
POST SCRIPT: What’s your take on this? Love to hear your comments…
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Pete!
My kids still talk about the day they saw you slip one of the waiters $50 in Brisbane. Boy did he look after us after that. It was a great example for the kids and sparked some powerful conversations for everyone! The ripple effect from such a gesture expands in many ways!
Cheers – Bret Thomson
The biggest point you made Pete was how you FEEL about the tipping. If you feel obliged to tip, feel that you’re losing money by tipping, then it won’t matter how much you give (at least not to you anyway). Your relationship with money will remain the same.
Pete,
I reckon you have hit on to something very close to the truth here. You tip not because you are obliged to – but because it makes you feel good.
… It is purely selfish (and I am not judging this word as good or bad) – but it also has the effect of being selfless.
And you are definitely not poorer by expressing appreciation for something that you feel great about. It is an enriching experience.
… because what is money anyway – except a tool for making you feel good.
Cheers.
PS. Still hitting the fags when you feel stressed out?
Money is made round to go around. Share the wealth spread the love, there is a win- win thing going when you do. Good on you Pete. You might be short, but youre a really big man.
Kind regards
Leon
Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming.
And Bret, I remember that night buddy. You’re kids rock mate, they really do. Reminds me of a night on the Gold Coast at our Inner Sanctum gig. There were about 20 of us waiting at the door at this Chinese restaurant. The place was packed and it started raining so you couldn’t sit outside like we usually do and watch the Surfers Paradise nightlight walk on by.
Anyway, a staff member comes over and tells me we’ll have to wait. Then the manger, who knows me, spots me at the door and comes over. I slip him a 50, and within seconds a big table is being cleared and within minutes we are sipping drinks and ordering food.
Tipping works.
My old mate Ted Nicholas calls tips: “To Insure Prompt Service.” You see, he tips before the meal… this way, you get looked after. Sure does work and my above example proves my point.
PS. Hey Leon, thanks mate, love those back-handed compliments!
Hi Pete,
As you know I am fresh of the plane from China. I just read this article and it really resonated with me because when we are overseas, we see first hand the difference it makes to peoples lives to get that little bit extra – by the way of a tip or acknowledgment for the good things that people do. Generally the customer service we receive is always excellent but I never take this for granted. At the hotel the other day, I said to the waitress, “Thankyou for looking after us so well – you really did a fantastic job”. She was thrilled to recieve the acknowledgement and said it was her honour and privilage to serve us. WOW! – now that is customer service. Sometime I tip, sometimes I don’t. But I always try to treat people with respect and acknowledge what they do for me. It makes their day and I feel good as well.
Regards,
Fiona
Pete,
If you want to shock them, pay the bill for the whole table. It’s amazing to see what happens. I love it in my group of friends, one of us will pick up the tab and nothing is said the the system rotates around with no pressure. Ah, to dine with great friends.
Remember guys, your not paying just for the food but it’s also about the experience!
Chen
Hi Pete
Thanks for another great post. Just wanted to say…this is THE POST which finally convinced me to join the Inner Sanctum. I joined this morning. I want to be around people who think like you do:-)
Cheers
Rachel
Love that article Pete, we (you & me) must be tarred with the same brush. I love to tip always have and always will. Love making people feel great (and myself) who work in the service industry (when they do a great job), maybe cos I’ve worked in service industry myself and know how much integrity you need to service the public.
Attracting clients that tip my staff though, is something I think I need to work on. (Any suggestions)
A few of my regular massage clients, tip my girls very generously, I mean, one girl got $100 buck tip after doin a 90 minute massage (client paid me $167) , just the other day (with no extras) see we have a Day Spa, all above board.
I know this might sound strange, but I find men are generally more generous tippers than women…anyway that’s probally another discussion altogether…:)
I’ve been in the habit of sending those who I outsource my work to with a big tip (especially after some of the big launches Ive done).
I found out though that not all cultures appreciate a tip (Though I wasnt sure if it was his culture or just him to be honest or it just too much of a tip).
My programmer from Egypt had done some updating of my software and he sent me an email to let me know he was getting married – so he sent him $US500 and said “Go get your wife something nice as a present”. Bearing in mind I pay him $US20 per hour which is a lot of money over there.
I got an email later that said he was applying the $500 to the next bill – he felt like he owed me???
I love tipping and the reaction it gets. Even giving a cabbie $20 extra (which is the minimum taxi tip I give) lights up their face — they don’t want you to leave their cab, they want to stay and chat. Like you say, feels good to me to do it.
Restaurants, I’ve even seen people use their phones or have mini bloody calculators on them to work it out.Tight poverty-focused attitude — and they always seem to forget half of what they had anyway. Really irks me when I’m out and that happens — just split the damn thing (even if you’ve had a bout of food poisoning!!!). Sometimes someone in the group is an exception, and that’s okay. But that itemisation crap … oh boy.
Worse example I remember from way back in school years was going out with a group to a restaurant, adding a $15 tip (was a lot for me in the 1980s) — and then having the others in the group just pay what was left owing, not accounting for my tip, which never got to the waiters! So I gave them a separate tip on the way out.
But the best thing is the reactions from cab drivers — that’s fun.