Tipping Line Handlers

[valhalla360]

I generally tell them that I have it as I've had far too many "helpful" people start yanking on a line as soon as it's passed to them and it messes up an otherwise uneventful landing.

Now if conditions are crazy and I ask for help, that would be a different matter.

[markpierce]

What linehandlers? Here, fellow boaters often volunteer to take a line, but I'm able to dock without assistance. Having accessible, low, walk-around decks as well as mid-deck cleats and plenty of fenders eases the task.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

......Why the hell do people tip someone for doing their bloody job?

If they did something extroadinry outside the perameters of their job I might tip but as a day in day out occurence when you are paying the marina to do the service then you pay them again! Why?

Do you not tip in restaurants? Do you not tip your barber?

Like it or not, tipping is customary, at least in the USA and people's wages are based on them getting tips from customers as well. You don't have to tip if you don't mind being viewed as a cheapskate.

Remember, you are pulling up to a dock in your second home (boat) that's probably worth more than their first home.

At least these people are trying to make a living, not sitting home collecting welfare and free cell phones. You can afford $5.00, can't you?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Do you not tip in restaurants? Do you not tip your barber?


Remember, you are pulling up to a dock in your second home (boat) that's probably worth more than their first home.

I tip at restaurants because they bully, imply you are cheap and threaten to do stuff to your food, you if you don't. I would much prefer the owner manage and pay his staff directly and not require me to manage his staff. If everyone would just refuse for a week, the owners would have to start paying thier staff and the whole issue would go away. Instead, it gradually creeps into more and more jobs as an expectation.

So if my boat is less expensive than thier home, does that mean I'm not expected to tip? Expecting someone to pay more because the staff didn't pursue a better career or handle thier finances intelligently is illogical.

[ben373]

I always help with lines and would be embarrassed if offered money. So glad we do not have this tipping epidemic in Australia.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by ben373

I always help with lines and would be embarrassed if offered money. So glad we do not have this tipping epidemic in Australia.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

That's a pretty strange (and incorrect) use of the word "epidemic". While I am not in favor of tipping and believe employers should pay their workers for what their services are worth, tipping for service has been the custom in the USA for a very long time.

It's unlikely that this custom will be going away anytime soon and the person who intentionally "stiffs" those who expect a tip is likely to be last in line for service.

It may not be right but that's how it is.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

I tip at restaurants because they bully, imply you are cheap and threaten to do stuff to your food, you if you don't. I would much prefer the owner manage and pay his staff directly and not require me to manage his staff. If everyone would just refuse for a week, the owners would have to start paying thier staff and the whole issue would go away. Instead, it gradually creeps into more and more jobs as an expectation.

So if my boat is less expensive than thier home, does that mean I'm not expected to tip? Expecting someone to pay more because the staff didn't pursue a better career or handle thier finances intelligently is illogical.

The dockhand could pee on your boat.

You are fighting an uphill battle here and no good can come of it. I think the illogical thing here is that you tip the waitress but not the dockhand. You should be tipping both or neither.

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by rwidman

That's a pretty strange (and incorrect) use of the word "epidemic". While I am not in favor of tipping and believe employers should pay their workers for what their services are worth, tipping for service has been the custom in the USA for a very long time.

It's unlikely that this custom will be going away anytime soon and the person who intentionally "stiffs" those who expect a tip is likely to be last in line for service.

It may not be right but that's how it is.

Ive been sailing for over 40 years and Never heard of anyone tipping someone for grabbing a line on your boat.. Fact is, I've always believed that if you cant get your boat in by yourself, you dont need to own it..
And I've always had my wife setting on the rail, or if the wind is off our beam, she is let off at the transome to the dockand then to tye off a springline to get us in.. She's even gotton pretty nasty with folks who reach out to grab the boat, saying and I quote "Back Off, We Do Not Need Your Assistance".. Or in a masterfull voice, "Dont Touch My Boat"

What I have seen amoung the "power boater crowd" is someone comming in without any knowledge of how to dock a boat, and 10 or more of his buddies running down the dock to help him in..

If the wind is to strong for me to park my boat in a slip, I drop anchor outside the marina until the wind dies off.. and it uasally happens around dark time..

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Do you not tip in restaurants? Do you not tip your barber?

Like it or not, tipping is customary, at least in the USA

At least these people are trying to make a living, not sitting home collecting welfare and free cell phones. You can afford $5.00, can't you?

No of course I dont tip a barber! Who the hell would? The sign says Haircuts $10. Only an imbicile is going to pay $15

If a person is on a low wage they should get off their fat ass and go study for a better job.

Remember tipping is customary ONLY in the USA. So get off your high horse. This is an international forum.

Do I have to give you $5 to read the above?

[SURV69]

tipping may have been a custom in the USA, but the custom was(as in "used", to be) ... a GRATUITY for service ... for a warm smile, friendly demeaner(sp), that timely refill and a feeling satisfaction for the previous half-hour's meal.

Tipping is no longer a "gratuity", it's an expected supplement to the profit margin of the establishment, by allowing lower wages.

Why not just stop lying to ourselves and make a $2 hamburg become a $2.50 hamburg... make a $5.00 breakfast special cost $6.00?

Why not get the IRS out of the pockets and purses of hard working, deserving waiters and waitresses? You do know..... that all these tips are pooled between the hard workers and the slackers ... right? THAT'S because the business owner is not required to pay a living wage.

A "gratuity", should be a "GRATUITY" ... a "FREE WILL GIFT", to someone for "that little extra", that seemingly, fewer and fewer workers offer.

SLACKERS, do not deserve to benefit from the hard work of others and sub-pay employers do not deserve to "expect", a hidden-charge bailout for their cheapness.

If these #&^@#%$#%& tips were truly gratuitous, this discussion would be moot.

[nimblemotors]

The fact they pool tips just turns the whole thing on its head.

Can I also complain about state sales tax being added to the prices?
I mean it says $199, but when you pay for it, the price is $214!! WTF
Why do we let them get away with this scam? The price should say $214,
and don't tell me the store can't do it, btw, the $99 cent store it is actually $00.9999 cents they round up to $1, plus .08 tax is $1.08, and you must tip the cashier $1, and donate $1 to Breast Cancer Research, so your 99 cent toothbrush actually costs you $3.08

[zboss]

Originally Posted by rwidman

We usually tip $5.00 for docking assistance. At out own marina, if we are on the boat or dock we will often go to help someone else coming in or going out but we back off if the dockhands show up. We don't want to get in the way of their tips.

I often wonder why so many people resist tipping a guy or gal who runs down the dock in the rain and catches your lines and protects your $150K boat but then tips a waitress or waiter 20% of the cost of a meal for bringing them food someone else cooked.

Actually, its what they did or did NOT do out of eye shot that earns them a tip For example, you may laugh but waiter have been known to spit in food if you are a jerk (or worse - remember the cook at the restaurant that was caught wearing your pancakes around in his underwear? That wasn't just in a movie!). Hand sanitation, clean utensils, etc.

If you come back to the same resturant time and again and don't tip you are asking for trouble.

Personally, having worked for many years in the service industry I like to be known as a good tipper.

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Remember tipping is customary ONLY in the USA. So get off your high horse. This is an international forum.

You'll get a kick out of this one........

Couple years ago on our way south to mexico from the Northwest, we happeded to stop in Schoonmaker Marina in Sausalito, San Francisco Bay..
Had called ahead so they were expecting me..
When I pulled into an empty slip, I asked the guy on the boat next to me if he knew if the Harbor master was in..
With a VERY deep accent from our friendly country down under, The Man from Oz replied, asking if there was something he could do for us..
I said "No Thanks" I just needed to touch base with the harbormaster and pay for our stay there in the Marina.

He Started Laughing out loud and Stated, "you could tell an American anywhere in the world, as he was the one running up and down the docks with a hand full of money, wondering Who To Give It To"......

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

SNIP

He Started Laughing out loud and Stated, "you could tell an American anywhere in the world, as he was the one running up and down the docks with a hand full of money, wondering Who To Give It To"......

Thread winner.

[SURV69]

If patrons who tip less(or not at all), must worry about shenanegans(sp), from the waiters, waitresses or cools, then in reality EVERYONE must worry about food being spat upon or flapjacks from one's crack.

In fact, maybe it's time to consider cooking at home where the cook's spital might be the spital of one's spouse's bedtime kiss.

Maybe it's time for disconnected Americans to sit down and eat with family members who truly love them, instead of trusting their food to potential mercenaries of greed, who use the tools of bodily fluid to punish undeserving customers.

I eat out less than most, but still often enough to know that service and food is often much less than stellar. I habitually tip 15-20 percent ...don't ask me why.

I have many friends who eat out often ... very often who have just as many horror stories about service and/or food quality ... often too afraid to complain for fear of some unknown retribution.

AND THIS IS THE CARRAPP, that we secretly crave, when we leave our homes to patronize the local diner. To save the time of preparing a meal, by driving 20-30 minutes(one way), to wait for our orders to be taken ... to wait for food that might be undercooked or overcooked(or worse) ... to be too afraid to complain about the service and too obligated to forgo the all important "reward" for a night out, which on return to home, we often wish we hadn't made?

This whole concept is sheer idiocy.

Maybe instead of a frozen/reheated, rotted potato soup, or a watered-down chile, or fat-soaked over buttered toast with rock-solid over easy eggs, or knife-cutting hour-old coffee, along with a stale piece of yesterday's key lime pie ....

Maybe, just maybe, a can of beef raviola, frozen corn, or canned chicken noodle, along with a well-baked Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie with a small scoop of $2.49 half gallon of "adequate", ice cream, will ... in the long run, make everyone feel a little better, more secure and safer in mind.