I earn my wages as a waiter. People pay me to enter into a brief form of quasi-slavery, to let them treat me poorly, to serve and satiate them. The tips they give me are my only income, so every cent I make each day goes directly towards purchasing necessities. Food, car parts, clothes. It's almost as if the people I wait on give me the things I need... literally. So why don't they? Instead of having to exchange funds, why not hand me a loaf of bread, Resident Evil 5, or a gallon of gas?
It'd be so much easier.
"Need change, sir?"
"It's exact, so no. But I did hear that one of your windshield wipers broke the other day, so... here, take this one. It's all yours."
Of course, it'd be all the more crushing to receive a bad tip. Rack up a huge bill, but instead of a month's worth of electricity, you're rewarded with a tube of toothpaste.
This is an idea best left to theory.
