This weekend I had the pleasure of grabbing a beer at a restaurant/bar with a couple of friends and just enjoy their company. Who wouldn't want to do that? But, like many experiences, we had a waitress who decided she wanted to "hang out" with us at various times during the evening. Now, as far as waitresses go, she was not an annoying, overly-intrusive, obnoxious one, however she was also our waitress and not our friend. This may seem cold, and it is, however she was trying to blur the lines between a market relationship and a social one. I think they probably do this on purpose. Once they infiltrate the social norms of finances, all of a sudden a simple 15% tip seems too harsh to put upon a "pal." We stop valuing them as simply providing a service and thus providing them with an adequate tip based upon their level of performance (a marketing norm). And thus, we end up paying a $2.00 tip for a beer that cost $3.50, roughly a 57% gratuity. Why? Well she was our "friend" and friends don't go stingy on each other right?
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