Tipping Is Not a City in China
The writer versus the musician
Gustav and Gregory had been friends since childhood. They both considered themselves to be artists. Gustav was a writer who dreamed of seeing a novel of his on the New York Times bestseller list. Gregory was a musician who dreamed of seeing one of his songs on the Billboard charts.
They were both still in their twenties and had not yet met with any success. They both worked low-paying jobs that just barely covered living expenses. Gustav spent most of his off-time typing away on his ratty old typewriter and Gregory spent his spare time playing his ratty old guitar.
On weekends they got together and Gustav would read aloud to Gregory the newest story he had written on his ratty old typewriter. Then Gregory would play for Gustav the newest song he had written on his ratty old guitar. They would then talk for hours.
One weekend their conversation centered on the life of artists. Gustav complained about how hard it was to make money as a writer. “Thanks to the darn internet, people expect all writing to be free,” he said.
“Bullshit,” replied Gregory. “You think it’s different for musicians? Thanks to radio and the internet, people expect music to be free, too.”
They argued back and forth for a few hours then finally decided to conduct an experiment. There was a block downtown that had a bookstore on one end and a music store on the other end. They would take their experiment downtown and let people walking down the sidewalk determine which artist had it the worst.
Gustav went to the bookstore and asked the manager if he could stand on the sidewalk in front of the bookstore and read aloud his stories for tips. The manager agreed.
Gregory went to the music store and asked the manager if he could stand on the sidewalk in front of the music store and play his guitar for tips. The music store manager gave his consent.
The next Saturday afternoon Gustav and Gregory went downtown and set up in front of their respective stores. Gustav brought his ratty old typewriter case which he opened up on the sidewalk for people to throw tips into. Gregory brought his ratty old guitar case and left it open on the sidewalk for people to throw tips into. Whoever made the least tips after performing their art for two hours would win the argument for their art being the hardest to make money at.
Gustav read aloud his stories and poems and Gregory played the many songs he had written. After the two hours were over they got together to count their tips.
In Gregory’s ratty old guitar case was a total of $26.45. It was more than he thought he would make. In Gustav’s ratty old typewriter case there was only $6.13 (and a couple pieces of trash).
One would think that Gregory would have been overjoyed at collecting the most tips even though Gustav won the argument. But this was not the case. You see, before the experiment commenced the two friends had made a bet. They agreed that whoever made the most tips would give their tips to the one who made the least tips and won the argument. It was Gustav who was jumping for joy.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Gustav thought about the $6.13 he made in tips sharing his writing for two hours. That just did not seem worth his time. He could make better money flipping burgers at McDonalds. So he never, ever again read his writing aloud for tips.
Thinking about the $26.45 in tips that he made playing his guitar for two hours, Gregory realized that that was a little more than what he made at his job for working two hours. So he talked to the music store manager and arranged to play his guitar out on the sidewalk in front of the store every Saturday. Most days he did not make quite as much money as that first Saturday but one time he actually made a little more. Except for one Saturday when it rained, Gregory performed every Saturday and after several months he had saved enough money to buy a brand new shiny guitar.
Although it seemed he may have won the argument, Gustav was stuck with his ratty old typewriter.
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
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