I was speaking with an old colleague who is retired and travelling extensively. He mentioned a life lesson that he applies in his travels, as he has often grappled with the level of poverty that he sees in some of the countries he travels to:

                “Tip the working poor well. You can’t save the beggars”

It is a statement that I have pondered multiple times over the last week. I am one of those guys who will drop a fiver on a homeless person in the street. Sure some of them can be working but I just know that to get where they are today, some terrible things have happened (whether because of their own choices, or because of something that was done to them). Not sure if I agree, but an interesting thought.

The author of Waiter’s Rant wrote a book on tipping, profiled in Men’s Journal in December, covering when tipping has a result …

In the worth tipping column:  waiters, doormen, babysitters (for sure!), Concierges, Car Valets (Remember Ferris Buller?).

In the not worth tipping colum:  bartenders, landscapers, maitre d’s.

Worth pondering.