The Shift

I wish to take a quick poke at disputing that human behavior or ireactions to similar experiences can be predicted.

Tonight I was driving a complimentary service van for a hotel I work for. A man from rural Minnesota was in town for Lasik surgery and obviously could not drive.  He had his surgery, and he had his two cute kids along at the hotel--s little red heads, one a boy about 12 and a girl about 10. They were well-behaved polite children. I was dispatched to pick him up after the surgery.

He went to the car to get something, and the kids were lamenting that they had no swim wear along, so they would not be able to use the hotel pool. I said If their Dad approved, I would drop the 3 of them at Target nearby so he could buy them swim wear, and then they could enjoy the pool.

He agreed so I took them to Target a mile away, and they spent about 25 minutes getting their purchase done. I waited for them, and gave them a ride back to the hotel. He did not offer a tip which is fine, but an unwritten rule is if the driver goes out of his way to do extra things for you, you tip. He  did not, and seeking a tip was not my motive at all. I just liked the kids and wanted to help them.

At 8 pm, I drove to MOA to pick up 2 pretty brunette sisters, their kids and their mother. I gave them a ride back to the hotel, and Grandma had the kids give me a $4 tip, which I thanked them for and appreciated.

Now the first party should have tipped well, and tipped nothing, and the second party received just basic service from me and tipped  quite generously.

i could not predict any of this, nor lay out a law of behavior that explained such response to free shuttle rides, let alone anticipating future behavior by passengers.

This is why I believe  life is more open-ended than we wish to admit