Jars

For mad scientists who keep brains in jars, here's a tip: why not add a slice of lemon to each jar, for freshness?

~ Jack Handey

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I think you have to be careful if you put out a jar and expect people to put money in it.  They might not.  They might put other things in it (chewed gum, coupons, urine, sand, beets).

They might also just take your jar.  Then, not only do you not have have a jar full of money, you have to use some of the money you already saved to buy a new jar.

But if you go somewhere and they have a tip jar sitting out, you should give them some money - if the service is good.  Like when Joe and Sara and I went to Dunkin Donuts and I took a nickel out of the tip jar to pay for my purchase.  

And then I realized it was a tip jar.  It was actually a cup, I think.  And I asked the person, "Um...  is that a tip jar?"  She said, "Yeah.  But that's okay."

So I put a dollar in the tip jar and said, "See how you being nice worked out to your benefit?"

I like to think that better tip was "Be nice to people," but I bet she thought the better tip was the dollar.  Or maybe a better tip from her might have been, "Don't steal my tip money to pay your bill."

We all have so many good piece of advice to share.  Too bad we can't jar them up and sell them.  Maybe a good company would be, "Advice in a  Jar."  But the label-makers might have typo and our jars might read, "A Vice in a Jar."

(pause)

I bet "A Vice in a Jar" would sell better than "Advice in a Jar."

What does that say about our culture?

Mainly, I think it says that we love stuff in jars.