
A few years ago when I was writing a story on tipping, I interviewed Michael Lynn, an associate professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration who has studied the subject for years. My daughter was working as a waitress in Washington at the time, and when I told her about Lynn she thought she'd give some of his techniques to increase tips a try. Yes, they worked.
Now he's offering a free pamphlet for servers about his research. (If it helps, you can send him a "tip.") It's also interesting reading for the rest of us. Here's the link.
Some of his "tip enhancing actions" seem pretty off the wall, but he says he's got the data to back them up. For instance, waitresses who wore a flower in their hair saw a 17 percent increase in tips. (He adds that many of these wouldn't be appropriate for very formal restaurants.)
I won't list them all, but here are some of the more surprising ones: ...
(Nanine Hartzenbusch/Sun Photographer)
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