Category: etc.

I was at a local quick subway-style food place, and had to use the restrooms while they finished my to-go order, when I started thinking about incentives. I used to teach economics, to I feel I understand some things about incentives, from an economic perspective, and how it relates to people’s behavior.

“What if they spit in my food?”

Basic economics suggests that they won’t, beacause they’ll want me to come back, right? But, who most likely works in a place like this? Not necessarily the long-term type, right? In a regular scenario, employees are incetivized to perform, to make more money, keep their jobs, etc. But, not employees that are there for the short term!

So, hypothetically, an employee who works for the short-term, has no incentive to perform, and hence can essentially perform however they want. Unless they want a reference, I suppose.

So, the next time I’m in one of these places, I’ll definitely think twice about leaving the service counter while they prepare my food, since I value “clean” sandwiches.

However, I still know nothing about what took place five minutes before I entered the establishment, or if the employees even bother washing their hands. The worst is when they take cash payment, using the same gloves they use to prepare my food. The glove keeps their hands clean, not necessarily my food. What kind of solution is that?