Group Math

I've decided that as a waiter, I'd rather have 3 tables with 2 people each than 1 table with 6 people. While it's the same table and would be roughly the same amount of money, there's a threshold for how many people can be present before the ability to do math decreases dramatically. Generally, smaller tables will tip higher than 15%, likely because they aren't interested in figuring out the math and just put down a couple bucks per person. However, if the group exceeds 4 people, I can pretty much count on not getting a good tip. Sometimes I'm proven wrong, but more often than not I won't even get 10% on bigger tables.

But this is just an underlying factor of group situations as a whole. If I'm having talking to someone about politics, it's usually very civil and we can express ourselves honestly without bickering or name-calling. Once we get to larger groups, suddenly all liberals are baby-killing hippies and all conservatives are Bible-thumping rednecks. It's a shame we can't keep the social dynamic of small groups in the larger settings.

The problem is anonymity. With a group, while it's made up of people, it's easy to label "them" as one thing and stop thinking. And it's not just about other groups. People within the group are faceless in a way simply by being in the group. How many times have you been at church and seen someone you only vaguely recognize? And that's at one of the more intimate group settings. I'm not saying that we should know everyone everywhere. Not only would that be incredibly difficult, being lost in the background is okay at times. One thing I miss about Southern California is the acceptance of anonymity, whereas here people feel that they need to get to know everyone. Well, not everyone, but a lot more than I'm used to.

What's my point? I guess just that groups make people stupid. No, that's wrong. Groups can make people stupid. Being part of a group without losing track of who you are can be tough, but it's so important.

So the next time you go out to eat with a group of people and realize the tip is smaller than it should be, don't be stupid.