Could a Robin Hobb character get a boob job?

Robin Hobb

In a blog post today, fantasy master Robin Hobb mused about some rather odd potential sources of inspiration – including writing about a character getting breast implants.

Most of the author’s works are set in fantastic, mostly medieval worlds where modern surgery — including complicated cosmetic surgery — does not exist.

But, the author wrote on her LiveJournal, in an attempt to explain where writers get inspiration, that she had discussed the topic of “naked barista” coffee kiosks with a retail assistant during a shopping expedition:

“Well, the girls aren’t really naked, but they wear skimpy bikinis or outfits that are semi-fetish . . . the lowcut, too short nurse uniform, the naughty school girl look . . . you get it.  Anyway, she told me about the one girl there who hadn’t had her breasts ‘done’ and how all the other women who worked there were urging her to get implants so she could get more tips.  ‘I told her, don’t you do that!  You just be happy being natural with what God gave you.’”

As she drove home, Hobb added, she mused that if she were writing about a character getting a ‘boob job’, getting more tips as a coffee barista would be an unlikely motive to come up with.

“Then I wondered exactly how much jiggly jugs would yield in tips,” she added. “Could it possibly make economic sense?  How many months would that woman have to work before the extra tips equalled or surpassed the cost of the plastic surgery?”