At #Minnebar18 yesterday we laid out our initial vision for a Ride Sharing service based on a Cooperative entity structure to a warm reception!

The audience was familiar with coops in general and some were members of food coops.

When I suggested that Riders could “advertise” their tipping history and mentioned that the word “TIPS” had an apocryphal meaning of “To Insure Prompt Service” I was met with a pretty dramatic woke-scold reaction from a gentleman that tried to say it had its origin in slavery which is only partially true in the context of the US post the Civil War.

The word “tip” likely comes from the German word “tippen,” which means to tap or pat, as the act of discreetly giving someone a piece of money could involve a light tap. This evolved into the practice we know today as tipping, where money is given over to service personnel in addition to the basic payment for the service provided.

I reminded the audience that we (the presenters) were NOT “the deciders” and that the coop members would ultimately decide if they wanted tipping or not and recounted my experience at the “Delta Diner” in Delta Wisconsin which has a strict “no-tipping” policy and prices their food to account for a “living wage”.

Thankfully Jade Barker was on hand to suggest to the agitated gentleman that Riders could just price it in, and I shared that I believe in appreciating good service above and beyond what was “expected”.

Personally I’m inclined to having a “no tipping policy” like they often promote at “all inclusive” resorts, but know in practice that the staff actually REALLY appreciate them.

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