On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 12:07:49 GMT, "Geoffrey W. Schultz"
wrote:

In a large part of the world %10 is the average tip. Now what does this
have to do with sailing?

Well, if you cruise long-term, it's important to know the gratuities
customs--if any--of the places you visit.

A for-instance is the British Isles and in this case including
Ireland. You simply don't tip the barman...it's considered insulting.
You do, however, say "and one for yourself" when placing a table-ful
of orders, for, say, eight pints of lager. Then you give the guy the
price of nine pints of lager.

And so on.

R.

What happens if you order just four pints? Is their a rule of thumb how much
one can order without feeling like he should?
The whole tipping thing is way to confusing. I think they should just pay
everyone a decent wage and forget tipping and if your service sucks you get
fired just like any other job.
I never even know who to tip anymore.

Do you tip the guy that works at the marina that grabs your lines for you
when you come in?

How about the guy that pumps your fuel?

Do you tip the girl at the drive in Sonic burger joint that rollerskates out
with your food even though you have no choice to go in and get it yourself?

We get the best service from Smithfields Chicken N' BBQ and they don't get
tipped by anyone and they are always happy. Go figure!!

When I was a teenager, I went to a chinese food restaraunt with a bunch of
people and in the end I got stuck with the whole bill. I paid it in cash and
had very little for a tip but left what I had and was going to an ATM to get
more and go back. I had some chinese dude come out in the parking lot with a
carving knife screaming What the matter!!!!Food no good??? Lousy tip!!!!!!!
I will never forget that night, you would think one of the cheap asses I was
with would throw a few bucks in. Needless to say I never went out with them
again.

Phil

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 12:07:49 GMT, "Geoffrey W. Schultz"
wrote:

In a large part of the world %10 is the average tip. Now what does this
have to do with sailing?

Well, if you cruise long-term, it's important to know the gratuities
customs--if any--of the places you visit.

A for-instance is the British Isles and in this case including
Ireland. You simply don't tip the barman...it's considered insulting.
You do, however, say "and one for yourself" when placing a table-ful
of orders, for, say, eight pints of lager. Then you give the guy the
price of nine pints of lager.

And so on.

R.

x-no-archive:yes "Phil" wrote:

What happens if you order just four pints? Is their a rule of thumb how much
one can order without feeling like he should?
The whole tipping thing is way to confusing. I think they should just pay
everyone a decent wage and forget tipping and if your service sucks you get
fired just like any other job.
I never even know who to tip anymore.

Yes it is confusing - that's why you need to know. In the States it's
usually 15% for waiters unless it's a buffet, in which case we usually
leave less. If the wait person has done a significantly wonderful
job, or if we've got little people who have spread cracker crumbs all
over the floor or something, we might up it to 20%. Bob's method is
to take the MD state tax (5%) and multiply by 3 and then round up to a
whole number (or down in the service was bad) - that way you don't tip
on the tax. Of course it doesn't work if the tax isn't 5%.

Do you tip the guy that works at the marina that grabs your lines for you
when you come in?

We do if he or she does more than just grab the lines. If he has to
wrestle the boat into the slip against wind and current (as we have a
full keel), or if he's out there in the freezing rain, then yes. If
he drops the lines or doesn't catch them and doesn't know how to tie a
knot then no.


How about the guy that pumps your fuel?

No. And I don't tip the guys at the full service fuel pump at a gas
station either.

Do you tip the girl at the drive in Sonic burger joint that rollerskates out
with your food even though you have no choice to go in and get it yourself?

I don't know - we don't have those places, but probably we would - you
don't have the choice in a regular restaurant either do you? One of
my kids worked as a breakfast waitress and two were pizza delivery
people so I know how hard those jobs are. I don't tip the fast food
places where you drive up to the window or where you go to the counter
to get your food.

We get the best service from Smithfields Chicken N' BBQ and they don't get
tipped by anyone and they are always happy. Go figure!!

When I was a teenager, I went to a chinese food restaraunt with a bunch of
people and in the end I got stuck with the whole bill. I paid it in cash and
had very little for a tip but left what I had and was going to an ATM to get
more and go back. I had some chinese dude come out in the parking lot with a
carving knife screaming What the matter!!!!Food no good??? Lousy tip!!!!!!!
I will never forget that night, you would think one of the cheap asses I was
with would throw a few bucks in. Needless to say I never went out with them
again.

Phil

wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 12:07:49 GMT, "Geoffrey W. Schultz"
wrote:

In a large part of the world %10 is the average tip. Now what does this
have to do with sailing?

Well, if you cruise long-term, it's important to know the gratuities
customs--if any--of the places you visit.

A for-instance is the British Isles and in this case including
Ireland. You simply don't tip the barman...it's considered insulting.
You do, however, say "and one for yourself" when placing a table-ful
of orders, for, say, eight pints of lager. Then you give the guy the
price of nine pints of lager.

And so on.

R.



grandma Rosalie

I have seen "little people" trash a restaraunt and mom and pop leave a buck
tip when they should leave a fifty.
Restaraunts are easy and I always leave 15%+. My confusion isn't a
restaraunt or the pizza delivery person.

What is considered normal job duties and what isn't. At a marina, is it the
dockhands job to help you in a slip when you call in? They say someone will
meet you at the slip and help you with the lines. Is that considered his
regular job and is part of the $2 a foot? Whether your boat is heavy or not?
I don't usually need help but they always send someone anyway and the guys
stands there waiting for something to pull on.

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
x-no-archive:yes "Phil" wrote:

What happens if you order just four pints? Is their a rule of thumb how
much
one can order without feeling like he should?
The whole tipping thing is way to confusing. I think they should just pay
everyone a decent wage and forget tipping and if your service sucks you
get
fired just like any other job.
I never even know who to tip anymore.

Yes it is confusing - that's why you need to know. In the States it's
usually 15% for waiters unless it's a buffet, in which case we usually
leave less. If the wait person has done a significantly wonderful
job, or if we've got little people who have spread cracker crumbs all
over the floor or something, we might up it to 20%. Bob's method is
to take the MD state tax (5%) and multiply by 3 and then round up to a
whole number (or down in the service was bad) - that way you don't tip
on the tax. Of course it doesn't work if the tax isn't 5%.

Do you tip the guy that works at the marina that grabs your lines for you
when you come in?

We do if he or she does more than just grab the lines. If he has to
wrestle the boat into the slip against wind and current (as we have a
full keel), or if he's out there in the freezing rain, then yes. If
he drops the lines or doesn't catch them and doesn't know how to tie a
knot then no.

x-no-archive:yes
"Phil" wrote:

I have seen "little people" trash a restaraunt and mom and pop leave a buck
tip when they should leave a fifty.
Restaraunts are easy and I always leave 15%+. My confusion isn't a
restaraunt or the pizza delivery person.

What is considered normal job duties and what isn't. At a marina, is it the
dockhands job to help you in a slip when you call in? They say someone will
meet you at the slip and help you with the lines. Is that considered his
regular job and is part of the $2 a foot? Whether your boat is heavy or not?
I don't usually need help but they always send someone anyway and the guys
stands there waiting for something to pull on.

Well at our regular marina we don't get people helping with the dock
lines, and the marina sometimes doesn't send anyone to help with the
dock lines of transients even if you ask, so there's no problem with
tipping.

If we are going into a strange marina we usually DO need help. I
don't jump, don't throw lines very well, and while I suppose I could
handle the helm, I am scared to do it because our boat is big and
heavy and could easily trash or sink any boat that we ran into,
including some very pricey ones. And I don't want to do that.

Some dockmasters have very strange ideas about what we can and can't
do with our boat, which is 37,000 lbs, and has a modified full keel
(so is susceptible to current and does not turn easily), significant
windage and only has a 65 hp engine (at best).

We've had them tell us to turn across a significant current and come
in with the other side of the boat to the dock - forgetting to tell us
that there WAS current. And then in a trice we are being carried
helplessly down the fairway sideways. Sadists.

Or the face dock where they motioned us to come into a small space
between two other boats with the wind blowing toward the docks at 25
knots. If Bob had miscalculated it would have been bad. As it was
the boat slammed into the dock so hard (with the engine in neutral
after he lined us up) that one of our fenders was permanently
deflated.

Some marinas do NOT send people out to help and expect you to get into
the slip by yourself. Two that I remember particularly were
Lighthouse Marina just north of Ft. Lauderdale and Marathon Marina.
And some will send help only if you are pretty positive that you do
indeed need help, and then only if they feel like it.

Some marinas are really good about helping, and those are often the
ones where help is REALLY needed, mostly because of current. And some
are not good about it and in addition have unnecessary obstacles set
up to entrap the unwary. Like there's a marina which shall remain
nameless where the marina manager keeps his boat at the gas dock so
that the slightest miscalculation and we'd mash his boat. When he
could keep it just a few feet down the dock where it wouldn't be in
danger.

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
x-no-archive:yes "Phil" wrote:

What happens if you order just four pints? Is their a rule of thumb how
much
one can order without feeling like he should?
The whole tipping thing is way to confusing. I think they should just pay
everyone a decent wage and forget tipping and if your service sucks you
get
fired just like any other job.
I never even know who to tip anymore.

Yes it is confusing - that's why you need to know. In the States it's
usually 15% for waiters unless it's a buffet, in which case we usually
leave less. If the wait person has done a significantly wonderful
job, or if we've got little people who have spread cracker crumbs all
over the floor or something, we might up it to 20%. Bob's method is
to take the MD state tax (5%) and multiply by 3 and then round up to a
whole number (or down in the service was bad) - that way you don't tip
on the tax. Of course it doesn't work if the tax isn't 5%.

Do you tip the guy that works at the marina that grabs your lines for you
when you come in?

We do if he or she does more than just grab the lines. If he has to
wrestle the boat into the slip against wind and current (as we have a
full keel), or if he's out there in the freezing rain, then yes. If
he drops the lines or doesn't catch them and doesn't know how to tie a
knot then no.



grandma Rosalie

Phil wrote:

What is considered normal job duties and what isn't. At a marina, is it the
dockhands job to help you in a slip when you call in? ...

Dunno about that, but we found our boat, and those near it, in their
slips unharmed after Isabel. Seems the dock hand had gone out on the
piers while they were a foot and more under water to loosen then
retighten lines to make sure "his" boats neither swamped nor banged
around. I gave him $100 cuz that's all I had - too little in my
estimation.

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 00:09:06 GMT, "Phil" wrote:

What happens if you order just four pints? Is their a rule of thumb how much
one can order without feeling like he should?

No, although if the barperson was prompt, you could just order single
pints for yourself and tip them "one for yourself" when leaving. It's
not expected there, they are paid properly, and it's simply a token of
your esteem...like buying rounds.

The whole tipping thing is way to confusing. I think they should just pay
everyone a decent wage and forget tipping and if your service sucks you get
fired just like any other job.
I never even know who to tip anymore.

I tend to agree it's a contemptible custom when extorted.

Do you tip the guy that works at the marina that grabs your lines for you
when you come in?

Not if it's his job. If he fends you off or performs minor heroics,
buy him a beer. Our dockmaster, who wouldn't be at my dock unless I
radioed ahead, CAN'T by club rules take tips or drink with members. In
which case I would commend her to her manager and recommend a bonus...

How about the guy that pumps your fuel?

Hell, no.

Do you tip the girl at the drive in Sonic burger joint that rollerskates out
with your food even though you have no choice to go in and get it yourself?

No.

We get the best service from Smithfields Chicken N' BBQ and they don't get
tipped by anyone and they are always happy. Go figure!!

If you love them so much, slip 'em an envelope at Xmas or offer to
give $20 to their favourite charity. Many little places support sports
teams or charities...drop something in the jar by the till.

When I was a teenager, I went to a chinese food restaraunt with a bunch of
people and in the end I got stuck with the whole bill. I paid it in cash and
had very little for a tip but left what I had and was going to an ATM to get
more and go back. I had some chinese dude come out in the parking lot with a
carving knife screaming What the matter!!!!Food no good??? Lousy tip!!!!!!!
I will never forget that night, you would think one of the cheap asses I was
with would throw a few bucks in. Needless to say I never went out with them
again.

That's not your fault...it's the sons-of-bitches you hung with. The
cook was rude and homicidal...tips are and shall ever be voluntary, or
they are tips, they are "service charges".

R.