Monday, September 27, 2010

Tipping point


So, we had a wedding party staying at the hotel Saturday night. The Best Man contacted me to let me know that they needed a mini-fridge in the Bride's room to hold the top of the wedding cake. Having seen to the delivery of the mini-fridge myself, the Best Man decided to give me a tip: 3000 Costa Rican colones that he happened to have burning a hole in his pocket. Since businesses in Rhode Island don't take Costa Rican money, if I wanted to spend my tip, I'd have to take it to the bank and convert it into American dollars. At the time the Best Man gave me the money on Saturday night, it was worth about $5.93. By the time I got to the bank on Monday morning, the exchange rate had fallen to the point where my 3 rojos were worth $5.19. Deducting the three dollars the bank charges for currency exchanges, my tip brought me $2.19. Still, it's $2.19 I didn't have before, so I'm not complaining.

1 comment:

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

When I was in high school, I worked in the local deli, and my boss decided to try delivering to local businesses. I delivered about thirty-three dollars and twenty-five cents worth of victuals to a local office, and was given thirty-four dollars and the admonition to "keep the change". When I returned to the deli, my boss asked me if they gave me a tip.

Tip? They gave me the whole shaft.

Deliveries ended the day they began.