Tipping the Beer Cart girl

[soup]

Played with some guys from work last week. One guy, who is 35 and one of the smartest people I know, stops the beer girl. He buys two waters - one for me, one for him. Cute college girl, very pleasant, chatty, good sense of humor....the two waters come to $4.70...he hands her a $5 bill.

I nearly fainted from embarassment. She got quiet pretty fast - but not in a bad way - and politely asked if he needed change. He said, "No, that's ok" without even blinking and proceeded to carry-on.

I know tipping is a touchy subject with people - but the cute beer cart girls work off their tips. I wanted to chase her down and giver her $2.

Without sounding like a dick - I would say our foursome had a combined income of about $600k and we're all in our early to mid-30s. How does a 35 year-old professional making a nice lioving blow off the beer cart girl with a $.30 tip?

Do situations like this boggle anyone elses mind? It's like all of the booksmart people were raped of common sense when they came screaming out of their mother's vagina.

You have to give the beer cart girl $1 tip per drink - no? If it was me, I'd have bought the waters (we were on the second hole), give her a $20 and tell her to keep coming around. Maybe I'm the idiot.

[twomey7]

they get tips? i'll have to remmeber that. now i feel terrible, thanks.

[soup]

"How about a little something, you know, for the effort?"

[powerfade]

Played with some guys from work last week. One guy, who is 35 and one of the smartest people I know, stops the beer girl. He buys two waters - one for me, one for him. Cute college girl, very pleasant, chatty, good sense of humor....the two waters come to $4.70...he hands her a $5 bill.

Yeah, you blew it but your co-worker is a stingy %^$

[Terrier]

Always have tips and cash readily readily available. Or ice. Or water...in your bag. And be polite when you refuse their service.

Or have money for tips in your golf bag if you're that ill-prepared (or cheap)

That is a sad tip.

There was a thread on this recently. I didn't bite or comment.

That guy that loads up your clubs? Washes your clubs after your round? And you didn't tip him?

He's probably a 3-handicap or better at that home course and knows the cart girl.

Some of the bag drop guys are also mini-tour pros making extra money...or sizing up hustlers.

[TheNextBen]

What if he didn't like her services that much? maybe the guy is giving that money away to charity instead?

[iacas]

Beer cart girls don't qualify as waitresses, right? So they make at least minimum wage as I understand it.

Though it may have been cheap to tip only $0.30, perhaps he thought the waters would only cost $3 and he thought he was prepared with a five. Or even $4 for a $1 tip. Perhaps he then faced the question of "oh crap, I don't have any singles... I don't want to fumble through my wallet, she's staring at me, waiting...." and just gave her the five. Perhaps he's embarrassed too.

I said in the "other" thread that I don't normally partake of "tipped" services at the golf course - I prefer to clean my own clubs, I usually have my own drinks, etc. - but when I do, I tip generously as I do at restaurants.

P.S. I played a course recently where the beer cart had a large "I do not accept tips" sign. Everything was priced at even dollar intervals so making change would be easy.

P.P.S. And to go off-topic, your repeated use of the word "cute" hints at one of the bigger problems with tipping the beer cart girl: golfers rarely seem to tip based on service but rather how hot or cute the girl is. If she weighed 300 pounds, and your friend tipped only $0.30, I wonder if you'd have started this thread or been upset with your friend.

[Jeepthrills]

For me, the tip will largely be based on how long I will be out there. If it's going to be a short round and I only plan on that one drink, I'll give her a about a buck per drink. If I am going to be out there for a while and plan to see her a few times, I will give her a little extra up front and tell her to look for us every few holes.

I worked in a resturant for 8 years, so I am used to people who rely on tips. I have always done 20% for good service on food and a bar tab. If I am just getting drinks, it will depend on how much change comes and if there will be several rounds.

[doublesuited77]

wow. I am going to get on the wrong side of this argument. Why is it that so many jobs are now asking for tips (starbucks barista, dry cleaners, etc.) when they are simply doing their job.

If you bought a beer at the halfway house from a guy behind the counter, would you tip? most people don't. So why do you necessarily need to tip the beer cart staff? Obviously, if you want to tip her, you should do so. Especially is she goes above and beyond her normal duties.

But creating a system where someone is expecting a tip for doing their job, no more no less is my mind is wrong. I agree with the golf course who promotes no tipping. At my home course, the only people who are allowed to be tipped are caddies and valets (neither of whom are club employees). As part of our club dues, we pay $60 per month to go to staff tips. you tip the same whether or not you are at the club 1 time or 20.

Since I am going to get flamed her anyway, let me talk about another rant. Often on the 18th hole at a public course I play alot, our cart is stopped from leaving the 18th green (and effectively holding up the group behind us) Until a bagroom attendant can wipe down our club. Problem is the staff hasn't been trained in how to do this correct and usually have so much water on their towel that it gets on the grips.

[stevestrike]

At first, I agreed with you--$.30?!?!

But then, after considering that your friend just paid $4.70 for 24oz of WATER, I have second thoughts. I think your friend was probably assuming (rightfully) that a couple of waters would be $1.50 - 2.00 each. Leaving the cart girl with a just-fine tip of $1.00.

$4.70 is cart path robbery.

[lhshurdl3r]

it feels good when the cute cart girl drives up and asks you your name and age hahaha.

[Dent]

Im only 15 so im not going to tip because im soo short on money, but playing at a tournament yesterday with my dad this cart girl was a real ass. And he tipped her 2 bucks i was like whaaat?

[waynem80]

Played with some guys from work last week. One guy, who is 35 and one of the smartest people I know, stops the beer girl. He buys two waters - one for me, one for him. Cute college girl, very pleasant, chatty, good sense of humor....the two waters come to $4.70...he hands her a $5 bill.

I would have atleast gave her a buck, but more like two :)

[Roody]

We have a regular girl who works our weekly league. We know her by name, and most of the guys in our league usually take care of her. And yes, she's a college-age girl who has very nice assets. She's also very fond of wearing clothing that shows off these assets.

Guys in the league have repeatedly made jokes about how depending on what she is wearing for the evening determines the size of the tip they will give her. Just last week we had a windy evening for golf, and it was a little cooler than normal. So she came dressed in pants and a wind-breaker. Her lovely assets were all covered up. One of the guys in my foursome says "well screw that, she's not getting any sales from me tonight".

Another story I've got about tipping her is one week I had about $8 in cash left in my wallet. She came around and I asked my partner if he wanted anything. He asked for a Heineken, and I was going to do the same. What I didn't realize is that they charge $4 for a Heineken. So she told me the total, and I said "oh shit, I don't have enough to tip you. Let me put the Heineken back and get one of your cheaper beers".

She insisted that I keep the two Heinekens, even though I tried fighting her. I then vowed that I would remember this and make up for it the next week. When next week rolled around, I tipped her $5 instead of my normal $1 tip.

I used to be of the mindset that it's silly to tip people for doing a job they're already getting paid to do. But I eventually came to the realization that unless I'm poor and hurting for cash, that tipping is a decent way to show that you appreciate the work they're doing. I especially think it's important to tip people who you're going to see on a regular basis.

[soup]

All good replies to my original post. It doesn't matter what they really look like - I was using the word "cute" as more of a description of her personality - I tip the same anywhere.

As for the cost of the two waters - we were playing at Bethpage on Long Island - everything is more expensive in NYC area.

I don't like tipping the club cleaners - but I do. I guess it depends on who they are - as long as the beer cart girl and the other people doing odds and ends are college kids, I don't mind giving them a couple of bucks.

I do refuse to tip at my local take-out restaurant - when the heck did they start putting jars out?

[Everardo]

My first comment really only applies to restaurants. I grew up in restaurants, my parents and the rest of my family lived off of the tips we received. Sadly there are so many people that don't understand servers make less than minimun wage and rely on those tips. So there are so many people that don't even tip 10% and heaven forbid you ever saw a tip calculator come out or worse people who have a certificate for 1 free meal and only tip on the net bill. One of the coolest things I ever saw was a little sign on the table explaining the below minimun wage for servers, the history of tipping, etc.

Now, all that being said. I wish we didn't have tipping in the US. Also I don't like how more and more places and people are expecting tips as someone mentioned, Starbucks for one.

[AndrewM]

On the subject...

With a foursome whose average income is 150K each... a couple bucks tip would be reasonable.. I dont care if she is making $15 an hour... if making that kind of dough you cant part with an extra buck, something is amiss in the world.


On tipping in general... I went out to dinner once with my g/f and her parents... Her dad had a $100 gift certificate, he was doing some consulting for the company and part of it was eating at the place we were at.

Our bill was about $105 or so... he left ONE DOLLAR as a tip... ONE DOLLAR.

I actually walked everyone out, said our good byes etc... then walked straight back in and gave the waitress $20. She was one of the most knowledgeable, prompt and professional waitresses I had ever encountered.

[The Rambler]

I work in a tipped service and you are more "taken care of" if you are more generous with your tips. You do not want to be know as the cheap SOB member or cheap guest(should you come back). I am NOT saying tip $5 per drink or other small service but if i come to your car, haul you smelly bag up to the tee, clean your clubs, restock your cart with waters and a wet towel, i would appreciate at least a dollar for basically doing every thing but swinging your clubs. At my club we don't have cart girls, the caddies do everything for you. We will know you by name, by car, by bag, and basically everything you do because it is our job to make your life so easy at our club that you will want to come here every day of the week.

I might have been ranting a little bit because some loser decide to stiff me . I caddied for a guy who's daughter threw an MTV sweet 16 party and he only gave me $20 for 18 holes (it is an unspoke rule that at my club the minimum is $40, even for a cruddy caddy and i did everything right because i am perfect .... kidding of course but this guy was a total loony . whew got that off of my chest