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.

You've heard about 'Thrifty Scotsmen'. I'm sure the service people would be
very pleased with your 'normal generous tipping'.

Skip Gundlach wrote in message
nk.net...
Tipping customs help???

I'm about to go to Scotland for a funeral. I'm wondering what the norm is
there.

I'll be in the highlands, arrive via Glasgow. I don't know how much
eating
out, or other sort of services I'll use (staying at a family home with
only
perhaps one hotel night), but this thread has me wondering who I'd offend
with my normal generous tipping (several of Lydia's family are in the
hospitality biz so I have a better perspective than most of what they go
through and how little they make, even in an alcohol establishment). I'll
be taking a shuttle to the rental car and back to the airport, for
example,
and may be forced into skycap service (don't know how it works over
there),
when I'd ordinarily take them to the counter myself, that kind of thing.

Anyone know??

L8R

Skip (and Lydia), gone for a couple weeks Wednesday

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

x-no-archive:yes "Skip Gundlach" wrote:

Tipping customs help???

I'm about to go to Scotland for a funeral. I'm wondering what the norm is
there.

I think at a restaurant 10% is usual.

I'll be in the highlands, arrive via Glasgow. I don't know how much eating
out, or other sort of services I'll use (staying at a family home with only
perhaps one hotel night), but this thread has me wondering who I'd offend
with my normal generous tipping (several of Lydia's family are in the
hospitality biz so I have a better perspective than most of what they go
through and how little they make, even in an alcohol establishment). I'll
be taking a shuttle to the rental car and back to the airport, for example,
and may be forced into skycap service (don't know how it works over there),
when I'd ordinarily take them to the counter myself, that kind of thing.

Anyone know??

L8R

Skip (and Lydia), gone for a couple weeks Wednesday


grandma Rosalie

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message ink.net...
Tipping customs help???

I'm about to go to Scotland for a funeral. I'm wondering what the norm is
there.

I'll be in the highlands, arrive via Glasgow. I don't know how much eating
out, or other sort of services I'll use (staying at a family home with only
perhaps one hotel night), but this thread has me wondering who I'd offend
with my normal generous tipping (several of Lydia's family are in the
hospitality biz so I have a better perspective than most of what they go
through and how little they make, even in an alcohol establishment). I'll
be taking a shuttle to the rental car and back to the airport, for example,
and may be forced into skycap service (don't know how it works over there),
when I'd ordinarily take them to the counter myself, that kind of thing.

Anyone know??

L8R

Skip (and Lydia), gone for a couple weeks Wednesday


In Scotland, tips are viewed as a reward for good service,
unlike in the US where tipping seems to be mandatory.
You would typically tip in a restaurant, hotel or taxi,
but that's about it - anything else might be embarrassing
to the recipient (though gratefully received no doubt).
In a bar '..and one for yourself..' might be a useful way
to ensure prompt service in a busy establishment, but it
isn't the norm for small rounds.


Alisdair

In general (all generalizations are false), Brits tip less than we do
and in fewer places. There also tend to be service charges applied
automatically more often, in which case there's no need for a tip.
So, while you certainly won't offend with USA style tipping, you can
think of 10-15% instead of 15-20%.

I wouldn't tip the shuttle driver at all, unless you have heavy
luggage and he/she helps -- then a pound coin will be received with a
big smile. I've never seen a Skycap there, although I'm sure they
exist. Four wheel carts are everywhere, usually free.

In pubs with a group the custom is to buy a round for the whole group,
so unless you like to drink a lot, buy your round early.

Jim Woodward
for our British adventure, see www.mvFintry.com



"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message ink.net...
Tipping customs help???

I'm about to go to Scotland for a funeral. I'm wondering what the norm is
there.

I'll be in the highlands, arrive via Glasgow. I don't know how much eating
out, or other sort of services I'll use (staying at a family home with only
perhaps one hotel night), but this thread has me wondering who I'd offend
with my normal generous tipping (several of Lydia's family are in the
hospitality biz so I have a better perspective than most of what they go
through and how little they make, even in an alcohol establishment). I'll
be taking a shuttle to the rental car and back to the airport, for example,
and may be forced into skycap service (don't know how it works over there),
when I'd ordinarily take them to the counter myself, that kind of thing.

Anyone know??

L8R

Skip (and Lydia), gone for a couple weeks Wednesday

"Don White" wrote in message
...
You've heard about 'Thrifty Scotsmen'. I'm sure the service people would
be
very pleased with your 'normal generous tipping'.

:{)) I'm torn on the matter. On the one hand, you have third world
experiences, where even an outrageously generous tip (say, the amount of the
bill, but perhaps equal to a day's wages) is a totally insignificant amount
to USofAmericans, and on the other, agonizing over how much to leave (trying
to do the 'right' thing).

I'm reminded of the Vegas experiences of celebrities routinely adding $500
or some such totally unrelated-to-bill-or-service amount. It's something
which is basically meaningless to them, but incredibly meaningful to the
recipient.

In my case, even though I'm long-term unemployed, I tend toward generosity
on a percentage scale. The difference between that and parsimony is
relatively insignificant in dollar terms, so I'd rather make someone happy
(and maybe they'd remember me the next time, too!) for its minimal impact on
my life.

Just me, of course - and long-timers here already know I'm weird :{))

L8R

Skip

Subject: OT - Lousy Canadian tipping
From: "Don White"

What areyou blathering about?
I am Canadian......and a sailor.
I tip at least 15% and often 20%
I even tip the counter clerk at my local Tim Horton's when I go for a coffee
& donut.
The minimum wage here has just risen to $ 5.85 CDN per hr.

It's was joke son, a joke!

Capt. Bill

x-no-archive:yes
"Skip Gundlach" wrote:

"Don White" wrote in message
...
You've heard about 'Thrifty Scotsmen'. I'm sure the service people would
be
very pleased with your 'normal generous tipping'.

:{)) I'm torn on the matter. On the one hand, you have third world
experiences, where even an outrageously generous tip (say, the amount of the
bill, but perhaps equal to a day's wages) is a totally insignificant amount
to USofAmericans, and on the other, agonizing over how much to leave (trying
to do the 'right' thing).

I'm reminded of the Vegas experiences of celebrities routinely adding $500
or some such totally unrelated-to-bill-or-service amount. It's something
which is basically meaningless to them, but incredibly meaningful to the
recipient.

In my case, even though I'm long-term unemployed, I tend toward generosity
on a percentage scale. The difference between that and parsimony is
relatively insignificant in dollar terms, so I'd rather make someone happy
(and maybe they'd remember me the next time, too!) for its minimal impact on
my life.

Just me, of course - and long-timers here already know I'm weird :{))

It is very often the case in the UK that a non-optional gratuity is
added to the bill. Check first before you tip. It's all very well to
be generous, but don't tip 15% on top of a 10% added gratuity,
especially if including the 10% in the total that you are taking the
15% of.

In addition with the current situation with regard to $ to £ exchange
rate, a tip of a £ ISN'T really insignificant. And stuff can be very
much more expensive to begin with.

In London for 4 days we spent an average of $99/day for the two of us
not including the hotel ($103/ or £65 night which included breakfast),
and being very careful to go to mostly free things and get the best
possible bang for the buck in transportation (no taxis).

London Meals $155.06 £12.95 to 18 for two including one dinner
at McDonalds when we were in a hurry to get to the theatre.
Transport $90.24 tube/bus, and one boat trip from Greenwich
back to London.
Admissions/souveniers $152.68 Big Bus, Mikado &program,
London Eye, rubbing


grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/

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.