It’s like tipping, in the USA — so pervasive that it’s invisible. And these days with digital point-of-sale systems, you have to take affirmative action _not_ to tip, and people in line around you can see, so the social pressure is enormous.
So the note is proof that the person not paying the bribe is not alone, that they are part of a movement, that their actions are acceptable to at least some portion of their society. This makes is feel safer, and puts the onus on the briber to either escalate or to back down.
It also relies on the sense of shame of the briber. Since bribes are commonplace, some civil servants depend on them for their livelihood, or at least their lifestyle. Confronted with the evidence of a social movement saying that their actions are not ok, they’re more likely to feel some shame, versus just feeling anger at a random citizen confronting them.
You meant the sense of shame of the person being bribed? I ask to avoid a misunderstanding.
The person requesting the bribe payment = person being bribed or "bribee"
The person paying the bribe = briber
However GP wrote "shame of the briber". Oops!
Incidentally giving out fake dollar bills as tip is or was a thing. At least enough for a handful articles:
https://www.businessinsider.com/20-tip-bible-pamphlet-2015-1...
The difference is that wait staff effectively get paid 20% less than they would otherwise, on the expectation of getting a 20% tip. According to US labor law you can even pay servers less than minimum wage, as long as their tips make up for the difference. So by not tipping you're shorting workers of their wages.
If you want to end tipping culture, call the restaurant owners and tell them to bake tips into the menu prices.
Yes, and the only reason restaurant owners can get away with this is because there is a labor market of servers willing to work for 20% less based on the expectation that they'll get the rest back in tips.
I agree that you should apply pressure to the system at multiple points, not just by foregoing tips. Tell managers straight up that you don't intend to tip and to pay their staff proper wages.
By definition, the server cannot get paid less than minimum wage for wage+tips, regardless of many people stiff the tip.
(Normally I wouldn't mention this since minimum wage is often lower than market rate anyway, but apparently min wage was significant enough for you to mention it.)
Not in California they don’t. Not for years. The tipped minimum wage is $16, same as the minimum wage for the people at Burger King (whose jobs are actually harder and worse, incidentally). Tipping is toxic and should die. And while I’ll tip at a sit-down restaurant I’m done. Counter service? Kiosk service? Mobile app ordering? No. I have a tip for management though: pay your damn employees yourself and leave me out of it.
A foodtruck I watch on twitch has everyone choose an option. No tip, some pre-set amounts, or custom. So no social pressure there, as no one else will know. They are using the square register.
It seems to me the note is a socially well known form of protest, which may go down better than a direct interaction.
Stuff like:
If you have to pay, then paying a portion in Zero Notes so the total money is reduced.
Hiding fake money in the real money, so it will be obvious it was bribe money.
Allow you to tip off police, while mostly looking innocent if you're caught "I thought it was a real ruppee!"
Filling suitcases full of fake money, because they can't check before you leave (if you meet in public).
Making them with electronics, so the bribers can be followed (has other creepy issues though).
Making them with ink, that ruins other bribe money.
I dunno, like every con movie trick that Hollywood's used in money capers.