deeper, more meaningful relationships too. He cites his cigar shop buddies, who are all egalitarian, tip well, and purportedly have many friends and play well with others. He also gives the major example of his mechanic, whom he tipped regularly, who rewarded him by fixing his car immediately when he needed it. (There are plenty of other examples throughout the book of such rewards). Supposedly, he had built this relationship that really paid off at a crucial time. This thesis is pretty striking, though. Another way of looking at this is that you're buying your relationship--which, as a purely economic relationship, may be a worthwhile transaction, but Dublanica wants to say more, that tipping is a sign of interpersonal empathy, a necessity for any relationship. Not necessarily. Tipping a lot may be from empathy sometimes (even the general empathy that people work for money), but not always. And, does tipping less show the opposite? There can be empathy without agreement. Tipping Dublanica's way more likely is just an indication of knowing how to get things from people, of economic street savvy. More importantly, the values behind the quid-pro-quo at the heart of tipping transfer poorly to non-economic relationships. Some would argue that the best, most meaningful relationships involve no money at their core; that the best people will help you without any consideration of reward, monetary or otherwise. Many will say the paragons of virtue are those who help complete strangers for free, maybe without being asked. As it is,