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Steve Ballmer was an underrated CEO

(danluu.com)
371 points greggyb | 2 comments | 28 Oct 24 21:48 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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not_a_bot_4sho ◴[29 Oct 24 01:19 UTC] No.41978402[source]▶
Funny story. I used to see Steve almost every weekday for a couple of years.

I can't speak to his business skills, but I can attest that he never once offered a tip for his daily black iced tea. We'd even have it ready for him before he showed up so he never had to wait! He would pay with cash, and I'd hand him his change and drink, and that was that.

It's funny to me now: one of the richest men in the world and he never once offered a tip.

Frugality aside, he was always very polite and warm so I can't be mad. Makes for a good ice breaker story.

Edit: holy moly, this is a sensitive subject. Please remember this was from a time before tipflation. Tipping meant you left your change behind once in a while only if you felt the desire to show appreciation. It wasn't an obligation. Yes, I still do think it's a funny story. Roast me for being entitled lol

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arandomusername ◴[29 Oct 24 01:28 UTC] No.41978457[source]▶
What frugality? He was paying the full price that it was being sold at.
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AdieuToLogic ◴[29 Oct 24 02:21 UTC] No.41978734[source]▶
> What frugality? He was paying the full price that it was being sold at.

By that logic, most reading these comments should expect to hear from their employer:

  What annual bonus?
  What stock options?
  The company is paying full price that your time was being sold at.
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1. devsda ◴[29 Oct 24 03:03 UTC] No.41978957[source]▶
Yeah no. Your annual bonus and stock options is between you and your employer. Your end customers don't pay for it directly, they are paid for within the cost of whatever product your employer is selling.

When tipping is no longer customary to receive good service and seeps into other aspects of lives it leads to all sorts of problems and situations.

This[1] is an extreme example of that situation in a different country but are we really ready to accept similar consequences and say they should've just paid the poor nurse ?

1. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/up-mainpuri-infant-die...

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2. Talanes ◴[29 Oct 24 05:59 UTC] No.41979862[source]▶
>Your annual bonus and stock options is between you and your employer. Your end customers don't pay for it directly

In the service industry, you wouldn't need to say end customer, because the person you're delivering to is already the end customer. Either way is still a results based cash reward paid by the entity receiving the direct output of your work.