I have had two people in my life who were pre tippers. They tipped waiters and waitresses up-front for their meals. I believe I learned a few things from this craziness:

1. If you are going to pre-tip, do it well. Don’t be the guy who gives them $2 up front and say “there’s more where that came from”. People aren’t stupid.
2. It can be a nice ice-breaker. Often pre-tipping shows just enough corkiness and playfulness to open up a channel of more meaningful communication.
3. People like $2 bills. They are rare enough to be a fun little story.
4. On average, it does accomplish it’s aim of getting better service.

Thank you Steve and Grandpa for teaching me about pre-tipping.