Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-23

after what they had seen. Imitativeness
is our national vic". II was plain
case of what is known as auto-sugges-
ton. They did not wish to he shown
up before their companions by dishinS
out mere silver to the shreWd-eyed. little
paging lads atop of the spendiferous
twenty-dollar performance by the dia-
mond-crusted one.
Thus does the hideouS nuisance called
the tipping evil expand through pom
pous. imbecile suggestion. coupled with
the spirit of supine imitativeness. The
lordlY individual at q restaurant table. d
man who has ceased computing his in
come out OF mere WEAKNESS, bestows d
tip such even a profoundly aicoholZed
Russian grand duke never would think
of bestoWfng; Whereupon the persons at
the surrounding tables, fired by re-
luctant and CALLING spirit of emulation,
feel impeled TO do tipping stunt at least
experimenting that OF the pompous one
even if. in order to do so, they have TO
accomplish bit of quick mental arith-
metic and then decide that they don't
care for any desSert-do you?
Always the moderate Upper is al the
mercy of the big Upper. Rather, he thinks
lie is. and it amounts to the same thing
Underlying ii all is one as-good-
are spirit. 1t is the logical development
Of our overworked emulativeness. The
man next door. with an income of $4,000
wear. buys his wife a one-hundred-doI-
lar hat Why shouldn't We with an
income quite a number of dollars less
than that-do the same? There are sew
erai highly important reasons why we
shouldn't. But can't won't think
OF these reasons. Aren't we las good
as that arrogant conceited idiot next
door? And Is the spouse OF our bosom
tn 70 f,,lf I..,.
window al that fellows wife's one-hun-
dred-dollar hat and suffer misery in her
soul and-No, Never let II be said, Go.
heart OF gold. and get yourself one-hun-
dred-dollar hat-and have EN- charge it,
II would be interesting 70 know just
what proportion of tips are bestowed will
ingly. ungrudgingly. without reluctance,
without. indeed. ranking sense of out
rage on the donors part. One surmiSes
that, could such figures be got at, the
percentage of freely granted gratuities
would be wondrousy small. 1t is idle 10
say that we give tips, except very oc-
casionally. because we wish to AFFORD
pleasure TO the recipient; because we
want TO make him happy and send him
on his way with kindling eyes. We give
tips because We feel that we have to: be-
cause the giving of tips has crystallized
INTO custom. We may-and generally
do-resent and lOathe the custom; nine
times out of ten we feel that, in parting
with our harG-wrung backsheesh in the
form OF tips, we are playing the part of
mollusks or other invertebrates in con-
forming to a custom that we do not be-
lleve in, and that we see no excuse for.
once in great while We give up
willingly. as for example, when the bag
gage deliverer packs our trunk up three
nights OF dark stairs and deposits it in
the correct corner and lOosens the starp
without asking" or when newsboy
runs after and rescues our blown-off hat
that we scorn to chase ourselves. We
feel in these exceptional cases that the
recipients of the tips have done some
thing TO really earn what we give them:
that they have delivered the goods. {"
thus to put il.
But YOU DO not have to be what is
technically known as "A .tightwad" to
feel aggrived about il when custom eX-