Thank you, for the service!

It was a cold winter night on 13th December 2014.  Oumar Maiga was working in the late night shift for "Freedom Taxi" company during the holidays and slowly driving his taxi, near Market Street & South 2nd Street in downtown Philadelphia, PA, USA.  He stopped and picked up a fare at 01.33.33 AM EDT.  The person hiring the taxi got down at Race Street North.  Total distance traveled was less than a mile and the journey took less than two minutes. During the short journey, the passenger casually enquired of Oumar Maiga, "how was the night?". Maiga replied that it was a little hectic, but not bad.  The passenger said he would make it a great night. Actual fare payable for the trip was 4 US dollars and 31 cents. The passenger paid for the trip with his credit card. When Oumar Maiga saw the charge slip, he was amazed.  "You probably made a mistake, Sir" he said repeatedly. The passenger said that there was no mistake and the amount paid was deliberate.  "I know what I did.  I appreciate how professional you and your cab were and I wish to give you an enormous tip before wishing you Good Night", said the passenger as he walked away.  Oumar Maiga did not believe the tip until the amount was actually credited to his account.  The amount of tip for the trip costing 4.31 US Dollars was an unbelievable 989.98 US Dollars!  To put things in perspective, the amount of tip was an astounding 22,969 per cent!!  There was no better way of appreciating a service rendered, indeed.  Freedom Taxi co-owner Everett M Abitbol said that this episode could not have happened to a better guy than Oumar Maiga.

A month later, on Thursday, 15th January 2015, a Pizza was delivered by one Rob to a group of real estate agents at a meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.  He got a tip in the form of a package comprising of a 2,084 US Dollar tip, a visa gift card, lottery tickets and letters of encouragement.  This tip was also some 21,000 per cent of the bill value! The participants at the Regional conference of Keller Williams county said they wanted to show their appreciation from the service industry.  Rob could not believe the tip and exclaimed, "All I did was to deliver a Pizza!".  If he wins a prize on the lottery tickets, the tip percentage could go much higher.

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Tips is a small present of money given directly to someone for performing a service or menial task; it is a gratuitous payment that is given voluntarily by the one receiving the service.  Some also say that it is acronym for "To Impart Prompt Service".  It is usually given to workers in service sector.  Government employees are not supposed to receive tips as it can be termed as "bribe".  Ideally, the service provided should be without expecting any tips; there should not be any difference in the quality of service rendered between the one giving a tip and another who does not give any tips.  Some establishments have the practice of pooling all the tips received from the customers and dividing it equally among all the workers.  The amount of tip given depends on the local practices and customs.  Ten percent of the bill amount is considered as a fair tip in many countries, while in some other countries twenty percent is considered as the norm.  In some countries, notably Japan, giving a tip is considered as insulting!  Tourists have this problem of knowing what should be the amount of tip that should be given.  Most of the tourist guide books and travel agent brochures make it a point to indicate the tipping pattern in different locations.

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There are many interesting anecdotes about tipping.  John Davison Rockefeller (1839-1937) once held a meeting of his senior employees in a hotel.  The service given by the hotel staff was awful and very unsatisfactory.  When the bill was presented, JDR left a tip of 100 dollars.  The hotel staff were shocked when they saw the amount of the tip.  He had another meeting in the same hotel on the next day.  This time the service was lightening fast and unbelievably wonderful.  JDR left a tip of one dollar.  He told the service staff, "The tip I left yesterday is for today's service.  What is given today is for yesterday's service".  There is no wonder he was one of the most astute businessman of his times! 

There are many anecdotes about John D Rockefeller.  Once he went to a hotel and asked for a room with a bath.  Hotel manager was surprised.  He said that when Rockefeller's sons came to the hotel, they always took presidential suites. Rockefeller calmly replied, "They have a rich father.  I don't".

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The above types of anecdotes are attributed to different personalities and sometimes one wonders which one is correct.  There is a "Quote Investigator" that explores the origin of such quotations and anecdotes.  

One of the most famous quotation is mentioned as belonging to John D Rockefeller, J P Morgan and Henry Poor.  The story runs thus:

A worried looking young man approached the dignitary and wanted some tips (not the tip discussed earlier!) about movement of stock markets.  The veteran thought for a moment and replied, "Young man, I believe the market will fluctuate".  This was one of the perfect prediction about the markets!

Quote Investigator investigated this story and found that the story was mentioned in the pages of Wall Street Journal of October 1922, as belonging to Henry Varnum Poor, the founder of Standard & Poor's.   The funny side of it is that Poor had died in 1905, seventeen years before the article was published!