“Right this way to your table, sir” the Applebee’s hostess says with a smile. She leads me to a table in the back and before I take a seat, I place a crisp dollar bill in her hand. “Thank you, this is a tip for you.” Although most people only tip at the end of their meal, I am an iconoclast when it comes expressing gratitude within the hospitality service. This is why I tip throughout my meal instead of at the end.
No sooner than I have sat down, my waitress Jenny comes over and introduces herself. Prompt service – I like that. So I pull out another dollar and hand it to her. Surprised, she takes a step back and asks what I am doing.
I explain, “Well sweetie, if you were training a dog, would you give it a treat right after it performed a trick? Or would you only wait until the very end of the day to give it all of its well-deserved treats?”
Seeing she was still perplexed, I knew I had to answer for her. “So when I see something I like, I’ll give you a tip. The psychologists call it positive reinforcement. It’s that easy.”
Jenny slowly started nodding her head and reluctantly took the dollar bill from me.
Not long after she returns to take my order. I order a plate of onion rings, a burger, and tell her to keep the margaritas coming. Before she can leave I hand her another bill to thank her for her attentiveness.
Not long after I order I see Jenny hurry buy with a delicious looking chocolate lava cake. “Jenny!” I exclaim, waiving a dollar bill at her. Promptly she runs over and asks what she can do for me.
I explain, “I know I haven’t gotten my onion rings yet, but I like the look of that dessert. And I want to make sure I have room for it so I want it now. What do you say? You give me that dessert right there and I tip you $3.”
Hesitantly she responds, “Isn’t that a bribe?”
“No, I’m just showing my appreciation that you were able to predict I’d want a chocolate cake now. It’s just a tip” I assure her.
Then she places the dessert down on my table.
And so my meal continues, Jenny delivering my food and margarita after margarita, and I tipping her. It’s only just as my entrée arrives that I feel that familiar pang of loneliness hit me.
Before Jenny leaves I ask her, “Darling, today is my birthday. Do you think you and the other wait staff could sing me happy birthday?” Now it’s not my birthday, but a white lie isn’t bad if it makes me feel better.
“I’m sorry sir, but we don’t normally sing happy birthday at Applebee’s…” Jenny responds.
“But for a $5 tip surely you and the staff would reconsider?” I retort.
“Fine” she says while snatching the bill from my hand. And for the next minute I relish being the center of attention of the entire restaurant while my special day is celebrated. Not bad for only $5.
Finally the evening comes to a close and I get my bill. With the three course meal and the constant supply of margaritas I’ve hit $105.92. But what do I tip? $0 since I’ve been tipping throughout the meal. Counting up all the tips I’ve given tonight, I’m at $11.
Some might say that a 10% tip is low for a dinner experience like mine, but tipping throughout the meal kept the wait staff informed of their current bonus, similar to a gymnasium scoreboard. If they felt like they deserved more, they simply needed to provide me better service – they knew the score. And all those tips do add up. So that’s why I tip throughout my meal instead of at the end.
