[lbo-talk] tipping and control

[michael yates]

Thanks, Shag, for these interesting comments on the tipping research. These ring true to me. In the motels we stay if for long periods of time, the dynamic is somewhat different, but the basics are the same. The motels are probably the equivalent of diners, in that they are inexpensive. The women who clean the rooms are also almost always immigrants from Mexico, and some are not native Spanish speakers but Indians. So there are, as far as I am concerned, gender and ethnic/racial differences. The women sometimes bring their kids to work, and they will share the duties of looking after them. They are almost always friendly, although you never know what they really think of you or what they say among themselves. The older women are usually more assertive and assume that you are no better than they. My guess is that most customers do not leave tips, so the fact that we do is viewed as making us worthy of at least a smile. Service often does not improve because of our tips. The women also have various ways to make their days pass in a slightly more enjoyable way: having lunch together in a room they are cleaning, working in teams, watching the Spanish tv stations while cleaning, etc. We interact as much as we can while we stay. It would seem just too screwed up not to. The status and income differences between us and them are obvious. There is no way to eliminate them. But at least if you make an effort to have conversations, talk about their work, commiserate with their ridiculous work loads and poor pay, and so forth, then if you offer some money or goods, it isn't seen so much as a perverse gift. still, like I said in a previous post, we move on sooner or later and they are still there. I am sure they work to feed their families and also with the hope that their own kids won't have to clean rooms. Yet the inequality remains and always leaves a bad taste in our mouths.

Most money transactions involve status differences between the money owner and the person who takes the money, either as a gift or as part of a market transaction. Money is power, no doubt about it. This is completely fucked up and all attempts to cover this up, ideologically or otherwise, are doomed to failure. I can't for the life of me see the logic, for example, of market socialism. Markets are always going to be alienating and they are always going to hide inequality.