RE: [Paddlewise] Tipping Guides/Instructors

As an instructor primarily (not a guide), I think there is essential 
difference between a guide and an instructor. Guides cook the food, wash 
the dishes, and generally micromanage everything to maximize the comfort of 
the namby pamby participant who wants exactly that. Guides should be 
tipped. Instructors do everything possible to push the student beyond their 
comfort zone so that they actually end up *extending* their comfort zone. 
Should someone be tipped for purposefully making someone uncomfortable? For 
some reason, I think not.

But then again, if the student wants to be made uncomfortable (as many 
students do), and if the instructor fulfills that wish admirably, then 
perhaps the instructor ought to be tipped too.

Perhaps there is an interesting corollary question to all of this.... if an 
instructor finds himself acting as a guide, should he try to teach the 
participant? Or should he just do the bare minimum expected, and not 
exercise his value-added skill of being able to train students into better 
paddlers?

Kevin, who perhaps has gone off the inebriated deep end....


At 01:17 PM 7/17/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Awwww, come on Jed (not his real name), I like spirited discussions not
>flame wars.  If I'm leaving another impression it's not my intent.
>
>I should have maybe been more specific.  On a multi day trip the guide
>prepares 3 meals a day plus snacks, pitches tents, washes dishes and
>generally provides far more service than a waiter or waitress ever thought
>of.  When I started doing that I was paid $50.00/day for those services.  A
>guide day usually started at 6:00 am and ended sometime around 9:00 or 10:00
>pm.
>
>Anyway, just food for thought.  Would you prefer a tamer topic such as boat
>washing technique?
>
>Cheers,
>
>--
>Rob Cookson- a displaced Yankee
>
>"I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the
>Atmosphere." Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Abigail Adams, February 22,
>1787.
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
> > [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of LedJube_at_aol.com
> > Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 12:22 PM
> > To: paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
> > Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Tipping Guides/Instructors
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 7/17/00 6:56:34 PM, rob_cookson_at_mindspring.com writes:
> >
> > << Anyway how do you folks feel about this? >>
> >
> > Hmmmmm, let me think.....this is a Rob Cookson post so I don't
> > want to start
> > a flame war....but on the other hand......
> >
> >     I am an uncertified instructor. Yeah, I know, it's almost an
> > oxymoron.
> > Anyway, I am not paid at all for the services I render. Maybe I'm
> > being paid
> > exactly what my services are worth. But as a Yankee, and of Irish
> > heritage, I
> > find the very thought of tipping an instructor well over-the-top.
> >  Some of my
> > "students" offer to pay me, but I would rather wait until I am
> > certified and
> > then just charge for the lessons.
> >
> >     I can see, that maybe on a special occasion, I might consider
> > allowing
> > someone to explain their reasoning behind tipping a guide, but only if my
> > mother asked really nicely. I personally find the idea
> > unattractive but then
> > I have never used a guide so my opinion might be construed as somewhat
> > worthless. Hmmmm, kind of like the value of my teaching services.
> >
> > Jeb  ;-)
> >
> >
>
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Kevin Whilden
Your Planet Earth
http://www.yourplanetearth.org
(206) 788-0281 (ph)
(206) 788-0284 (f)

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