INBOX: The $18 Insult
We all know the cycle: staff work 20-hour days and feel betrayed by a small tip. But who is really to blame?
“Who do they think they are not to tip me?? You know what I did for their kid??”
The same complaints are heard each year. Staff in camps around the world are working tirelessly, and they feel underappreciated.
From Modeh Ani in the morning until Hamapil late at night, the staff are around, working, worrying, helping, providing and preventing. And what do they get from the parents? “TYSM for the summer!!” Or a stupid $18 tip. That’s called appreciation!?
But then you hear the parents, “I’d love to tip you, but I’m already paying $4,000 for my kid. Do you want me to sell my house?”
In my opinion there’s one person at fault. Not the parents, not the camps, but the staff.
The parents can’t afford tips, the camps can’t afford to pay their staff either. So why then did you accept the job? You knew you were only getting paid $180 in canteen! No one asked you to work here. Especially since you probably squeezed your way to get the job, or would’ve been devastated without it. Don’t pretend like you’re selfless.
I’d love to vouch for you, but you’re the doofus. Don’t accept a non-pay job, and then become the victim of poverty. There are many good paying options for the summer. Camp just isn’t one of them.
Let’s be vocal about this now, in Adar. Before we see all the articles and complaints this upcoming summer.
Don’t pretend you didn’t know what was happening. Camps don’t pay, and parents don’t tip. Now make the decision, take it or leave it.
Inyonim
This is so true the writer explains the inyonim so thoroughly
CONFUSED!!!!!!!
WHY EXACTLY cant camps pay their staff, the camps charge the parents to have their children in camp ???
Ben Yehuda
What are the camp’s expenses divided per camper?
Ben Yehuda
What are the camp’s expenses divided among the campers? (Do they have any leftover change after paying all expenses?)
CH’er
It sounds like the decades old controversy with waiters & waitresses in restaurants.
Same Question, why cant restaurants/ diner owners pay their staff properly.
Why i as a customer feel obligated to support your wirjer that you aren’t sufficiently paying.
Even though this may be a very different scenario.
Terrible comparison
A restaurant is a business — as greedy as it sounds, the owner’s job is to make the most profit possible. No one hides that. Business is business.
But a camp calling itself a Chabad mosad won’t put itself in that same category, even if it’s doing the exact same thing. If you operate like a business, call it what it is. A BIG FAT BUISNESS.
zundel
don’t come to work if you not guaranteed payment. tips is out of control everywhere
if the camp can’t pay to hire staff it’s their problem, not the parents.
if you can’t run the camp, close it
Ben Yehuda
Slow down…..
It’s very easy to say: “If you can’t run the camp, close it.” Have you ever run a successful camp?
How about: “If you don’t like the camp, don’t send your child there”….
Mushkie
Suppose I took a jb as a janitor in BRHS, getting below minimum wage. Can I complain that I work so hard mopping the floors, but they pay me so little?! Suppose I took a volunteer job – pumping gas at the gas station, can I complain that I am not getting paid and the customers aren’t tipping me? Oh, but camp is “holy” work. Reall? You want holy, stay in yeshiva and learn all summer or go on mercaz
Mushkie
If camp directors were a bit smarter, they would charge counsellors and waiters for the food, lodging and providing a placement for them. Pay for the privilege of working in camp, or stay home in the hot city.
Josh
On of the dumbest responses I have ever seen
Mushkie
Josh, is it dumb because it’s so true, that you are not able to reply, other than saying it is dumb. Your comment displays your level of articulation, intelligence and maturity. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest, you would get a 0.
Shmerel
No offence but in my opinion if you’re going to camp for any reason other then the shlichus and kavana don’t go! This is one of the many reasons. If you’re looking just to have a good time make a travel camp with your friends or something.
Non tipper
I stopped tipping altogether. Once, a tip was a surprise a way of making someone feel good. I felt good about it. Now, it’s a mandatory payment that I am always not sure, did I give enough? Either I feel guilty for not giving enough or I the reciver felt they got what I owed them. Honestly, being that horrible non-tipper is as uncomfortable as tipping. I just save the money. I’m for canceling tips