Steve Ballmer was an underrated CEO

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

Everyone, chill

Regardless of how you feel about tipping culture we're not talking about the average person nor are we talking about the average *experience*. The dude is worth north of $100bn, and is making nearly $10k per minute![0]. Someone who cannot spend his wealth. Someone who'd have to spend tens of millions of dollars every single day just to stop his wealth from growing. Someone who makes money faster than he can throw hundred dollar bills handfuls at a time.

We're not talking about anything normal here because no one here *literally* makes thousands of dollars in the time it takes to wipe their ass. You can become poor, he would need an act of god to do so.

We can have a conversation about tipping and how much everyone hates it, but to ignore the fact that we're talking about someone with this kind of money is... ludicrous[1]. Throwing down a hundred bucks means literally nothing to the man. It is not even what a penny is worth to most of you. He's not you and framing the discussion this way is obtuse. Rage on tipping, I don't give a fuck and I'll probably join you. He's not "sticking it to the man" or "standing up for his values" he *is*" the man. He's playing an important role in creating this machine you're raging against. I just don't understand any of you

  [0] 1e11*0.05/365/24/60
        |   |    |   |  |_ minute
        |   |    |   |____ hour
        |   |    |________ day
        |   |_____________ Conservative 5% yearly return
        |_________________ At least 25bn less than he is worth...

  [1] FWIW, I hate tipping too. Fuck the till based tips with the ever increasing percentages. I frequently click 0. But fuck it man, I'm a grad student. Still, if I'm a regular somewhere and they are giving me special service, I'm gonna throw a few dollars into the tip jar. Tipping culture or not they're going out of their way for me and I should show gratitude in some way (you can also do by other means)

This is eye-opening. I make a fraction of what Steve does and am still dumb enough to be hitting 20% at the machine every time I go out.

If 0% is good enough for Mr. Ballmer, it's good enough for me.

There's a difference between being frugal and being an asshole.

If you have enough money that tips are a rounding error for you -- not tipping just makes you an asshole.

It's none of your business to ever tip anywhere UNLESS you explicitly want to thank somebody for their service. How hard is that to understand?

It is the workplace's responsibility to pay their staff adequately. NOT YOURS.

0% tip all the way everywhere. No matter if I have $10 or $10k on the bill.

This is a pretty heartless reply. I will be downvoted for expressing my view here.

    > It is the workplace's responsibility to pay their staff adequately. NOT YOURS.

Yeah, except that most of these (low income/low skill) service workers don't have the negotiation power to change this power dynamic. Thus, you, someone with enough means to eat out, can offset that gap, just a little bit, by tipping.