Generous Tipping Experiment

As our weekend in the Windy City was coming to a close, we dropped our rental car off and climbed on the rental car shuttle to make the 5 minute trip to Ohare Airport.  The mini-bus was full and since Delta was the last stop, I got to examine everyone as they got off the bus.    Our driver was a young lady, probably in her early 20s , who was very helpful….one of the shuttle drivers that actually help you get your bags unloaded.  As we kept stopping, I noticed that not one person tipped her but yet that never stopped her from continuing to help people with their bags.  This made me want to lay a big tip on her.  Here’s the problem:  we were completely out of cash.  I actually looked in my wallet twice during our driving time to see if I had any spare cash.   

And that’s when I noticed the change in my nature when it comes to tipping.  My wife has always naturally been a much more generous tipper than I.   My typically MO before the Generous Tipping Experiment was to tip the minimum amount, thinking that it was prudent money management to do so.  My thought was ”how much should I tip?”  But now I feel myself asking, “how much can I tip?”  And not having a couple of bucks (or $50) to tip the shuttle driver was truly disappointing to me.