5 ms·

The 20 Dollar Millionaire

42 points by DarrenMills 17y ago

DarrenMills 17y ago
There's another version where he takes his stack of 20s to Manhattan. Both are amazingly well written and quite intriguing.
- mattyb 17y ago
  This one? http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0303-MAR_20DOLLARS http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0303-MAR_20DOLLARS
  - DarrenMills 17y ago
    Yea... the search feature was being flaky for me... nice job.
swolchok 17y ago
Is the "millionaire" as in "People will treat you like a millionaire for 'only' 20 bucks"?
- anigbrowl 17y ago
  I think the hack here is that $20 is the price of renting someone's loyalty. $10 isn't worth it, $50+ makes you a bit crazy and possibly dangerous, bu $20 will get people to bend the rules temporarily without worrying about whether you're a criminal.
hughprime 17y ago
This article is less interesting than the original, mostly because most of the stuff he gets isn't all that outrageous or interesting. Of course the hotel staff will bring you random objects for $20, and a stripper doesn't care if you want to talk about your dog. It's only interesting on those odd occasions where you get something which is worth, in some sense, more than $20. The final paragraph, though, about the power of calling service staff by their names, is is interesting. Maybe I should try that. Anyone got any experience with habitually learning and using names (or just reading off their nametags)?
- dtby 17y ago
  I do this as a matter of course. I don't do it to achieve any goal beyond recognizing the humanity of those who are serving me. That being said, it does seem to result in more attentive and personal service.
- bena 17y ago
  I find that not treating them like service staff works wonders. I think that's part of the $20 and name tricks, it relaxes you into a state of sublime confidence. You begin talking to people as if you know them. This faux-familiarity makes them start treating you like they actually do know and like you. And no one wants to deny a favor to a friend.
- philwelch 17y ago
  It seems to have good results for me. People remember my usual order and are more friendly. It seems to work best if you're subtle about reading their name tag so by the time they look at you and interact with you, you can just use their name very naturally. If you're a regular customer and you remember their names, that works even better. I won't say I've ever gotten anything out of it (I get free extra cheese on my pizza sometimes?) but it's a far more rewarding way to interact with people.
- blhack 17y ago
  People really open up to you when you call them by name... I never realized it, but almost every conversation I have on the phone goes like this: ring ring "Thenks for calling hacker news, this is PG, how can I help you?" "Hey, PG, whats up?" This totally throws the customer service rep off. Most people just ignore the name and start screaming off their question. It makes you different and "fun" to them. Think about answering the phone all day. Suddenly somebody showing an interest in you goes a long way. I never realized that I did this until a good friend of mine pointed it out to me. I now feel kindof bad about being manipulative :( (although unintentionally). The same thing also works for most other service people. Be nice to them. Treat them like people and suddenly things happen for you :) (there is a restaurant in Tempe, AZ that does not serve fried pickles. However, if you're nice enough to the server, they'll generally pull some strings for you and BAM! friend pickles. I emphasize that they don't serve them because, if you get a server who is in a particularly bad mood and you ask for them, they will get sortof angry at you. I think they're a pain in the ass for the cooks.)
ShabbyDoo 17y ago
Bribing service employees to steal from the store for you (figuratively) seems like a good ROI: http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/ http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/ I'm not much for the false feeling of status resulting from bribery, though.
- dchest 17y ago
  This is how almost everything works in my country. Road police stopped you? Give money and you're free. Want bureaucrats to process your documents faster? Give money. Want better medical service? Money. The thing is, people are now _demanding_ bribes, and are not willing to do what they are supposed to do without money.
quellhorst 17y ago
You could get much of what he asks for if you asked for it and told the people why you wanted / needed it. Doubtful? Look at what some will do for Mardi Gras beads.
- hughprime 17y ago
  Mardi Gras beads are a good example -- nobody does anything for Mardi Gras beads that they aren't sort-of looking for an excuse to do anyway. Offering them a trivial reward just gives them an excuse.
Tichy 17y ago
"So I went to twenty blackjack tables and offered twenty dealers twenty bucks for their best advice." That would have made a fine N-List. Also just noticed that Esquire has an interesting Javascript running if you copy text. If the text is long enough, it will add a link to the article to the copied text.

42 points by DarrenMills 17y ago

There's another version where he takes his stack of 20s to Manhattan. Both are amazingly well written and quite intriguing.

mattyb 17y ago
This one? http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0303-MAR_20DOLLARS http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0303-MAR_20DOLLARS
- DarrenMills 17y ago
  Yea... the search feature was being flaky for me... nice job.

swolchok 17y ago

Is the "millionaire" as in "People will treat you like a millionaire for 'only' 20 bucks"?

anigbrowl 17y ago
I think the hack here is that $20 is the price of renting someone's loyalty. $10 isn't worth it, $50+ makes you a bit crazy and possibly dangerous, bu $20 will get people to bend the rules temporarily without worrying about whether you're a criminal.

hughprime 17y ago

This article is less interesting than the original, mostly because most of the stuff he gets isn't all that outrageous or interesting. Of course the hotel staff will bring you random objects for $20, and a stripper doesn't care if you want to talk about your dog. It's only interesting on those odd occasions where you get something which is worth, in some sense, more than $20. The final paragraph, though, about the power of calling service staff by their names, is is interesting. Maybe I should try that. Anyone got any experience with habitually learning and using names (or just reading off their nametags)?

dtby 17y ago
I do this as a matter of course. I don't do it to achieve any goal beyond recognizing the humanity of those who are serving me. That being said, it does seem to result in more attentive and personal service.
bena 17y ago
I find that not treating them like service staff works wonders. I think that's part of the $20 and name tricks, it relaxes you into a state of sublime confidence. You begin talking to people as if you know them. This faux-familiarity makes them start treating you like they actually do know and like you. And no one wants to deny a favor to a friend.
philwelch 17y ago
It seems to have good results for me. People remember my usual order and are more friendly. It seems to work best if you're subtle about reading their name tag so by the time they look at you and interact with you, you can just use their name very naturally. If you're a regular customer and you remember their names, that works even better. I won't say I've ever gotten anything out of it (I get free extra cheese on my pizza sometimes?) but it's a far more rewarding way to interact with people.
blhack 17y ago
People really open up to you when you call them by name... I never realized it, but almost every conversation I have on the phone goes like this: ring ring "Thenks for calling hacker news, this is PG, how can I help you?" "Hey, PG, whats up?" This totally throws the customer service rep off. Most people just ignore the name and start screaming off their question. It makes you different and "fun" to them. Think about answering the phone all day. Suddenly somebody showing an interest in you goes a long way. I never realized that I did this until a good friend of mine pointed it out to me. I now feel kindof bad about being manipulative :( (although unintentionally). The same thing also works for most other service people. Be nice to them. Treat them like people and suddenly things happen for you :) (there is a restaurant in Tempe, AZ that does not serve fried pickles. However, if you're nice enough to the server, they'll generally pull some strings for you and BAM! friend pickles. I emphasize that they don't serve them because, if you get a server who is in a particularly bad mood and you ask for them, they will get sortof angry at you. I think they're a pain in the ass for the cooks.)

ShabbyDoo 17y ago

Bribing service employees to steal from the store for you (figuratively) seems like a good ROI: http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/ http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/ I'm not much for the false feeling of status resulting from bribery, though.

dchest 17y ago
This is how almost everything works in my country. Road police stopped you? Give money and you're free. Want bureaucrats to process your documents faster? Give money. Want better medical service? Money. The thing is, people are now _demanding_ bribes, and are not willing to do what they are supposed to do without money.

quellhorst 17y ago

You could get much of what he asks for if you asked for it and told the people why you wanted / needed it. Doubtful? Look at what some will do for Mardi Gras beads.

hughprime 17y ago
Mardi Gras beads are a good example -- nobody does anything for Mardi Gras beads that they aren't sort-of looking for an excuse to do anyway. Offering them a trivial reward just gives them an excuse.

Tichy 17y ago

"So I went to twenty blackjack tables and offered twenty dealers twenty bucks for their best advice." That would have made a fine N-List. Also just noticed that Esquire has an interesting Javascript running if you copy text. If the text is long enough, it will add a link to the article to the copied text.