I always did the 1-2-2... thing when I was CA. It broke it up so you didn't see DTW, MEM, and MSP the entire trip!

As far as the first leg, if it was a brand new guy (very frequent), I would take the first leg to set the tone. If I'd flown with them before and knew they were good stuff, I'd offer the first leg up for their choice.

A lot of guys on fifi are the same way... I like it!