<p>“The people who own the big houses have huge mortgage bills, pay lots of money in property taxes, and have a lot of expenses. They are also the ones who are good about saving their money.”</p>
<p>And that’s why they don’t tip well, or don’t tip at all? Because they need to save pennies for their nest Porsche or vacation in Vail? Too funny! Sorry, if you “can’t” afford to tip where appropriate, you need to downsize to a smaller McMansion or forego the next pair of Louboutins–or send your kid to a cheaper camp. I think you’ll find that if you talk to people who depend on tips as part of their compensation–chambermaids, waiters, taxi drivers—you’ll find that the best tippers are often those who are blue collar or middle class and can empathize with the little guy, while servers are frequently just invisible to the wealthy. It goes beyond tipping. We employed nannies when our kids were young and H and I worked long hours. The nannies in the area all socialized together and told stories. Inevitably, it was always the most affluent families (I’m talking Wall Street bonus types or inherited wealth) who treated their employees the worst–returning home hours after they were due, with no regard for the nanny’s personal plans, demanding services way beyond the scope of a nanny’s duties, paying then days late or with rubber checks. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald called the trait “vast carelessness”.</p>
<p>BTW, let me put a little perspective on my D’s camp–it charges well over $5000 per camper for the full summer. No one who sends a child there is hurting financially from mortgages, taxes, or medical bills such that they can’t afford to spend a few hundred dollars on tips. D has also worked, for free, at an after school program for low-income kids, and never dreamed of receiving a penny in gratuities. It’s all relative. And yes, if my child got special services from an individual counselor who was charged with handling her medical needs–or who particularly comforted her when she was homesick, or patiently taught her a skill at which she was less able than her peers–I would certainly take that into account in determining a tip, because that counselor would have spent more one-on-one time with my child than the other counselors.</p>
<p>From the trend on here, I wonder how many parents are first time camping parents and have no idea about tipping. MommaJ, did you mention if the camp notifies parents that tipping is expected?</p>
<p>I asked my friend who sends her children to a very expensive 4 week camp in Vermont if they tip. She said the camp expressly forbids it, but you can make a donation to the camp in honor of a counselor. I don’t know much about this camp but Michael Eisner went there and wrote about it in his memoir, “Camp”.</p>
<p>I don’t really care whether camps expect their counselors to be tipped or not, but I do hope that the camp I sent my D to when she was a kid didn’t have a tipping policy that I was unaware of and that the counselors didn’t make the “L” sign on their foreheads after we drove away. </p>
<p>This reminds me a bit of when we went to Jamaica and we had to come up with all kinds of surreptitious ways to tip the people who worked at the resort. They would have been fired had anyone caught them taking a tip.</p>
<p>My kids went to overnight camps in MA, NH, VT, and ME, ranging from $450/week to $1200/week, and numerous day camps in eastern MA.</p>
<p>None of the literature mentioned tipping, no one from the camp ever mentioned tipping, I never saw any tipping, at most tipping would have been logistically impossible (for example, one camp dropped off at a rest area on the Mass Pike). </p>
<p>Maybe I am just oblivious. Or maybe tipping is on a per-camp basis, not even a regional basis.</p>
<p>So, did you tip the captain of the airplane last time you flew? If not, why didn’t you fly a cheaper airline so you could afford to tip, or just drive instead?</p>
<p>Did you tip your doctor after he cured you of an illness? </p>
<p>Did you tip the lawyer the last time you needed one and he assisted?</p>
<p>Notrichenough… my D also went to a Maine camp with a pickup at a rest stop on the Mass Pike. My son I had to deliver, but they picked him up at the dock. That camp was on an island.</p>
<p>I never tipped any counselor with money. I did bring a bottle of nice wine for the owners and I donated to their scholarship fund.</p>
<p>“And that’s why they don’t tip well, or don’t tip at all? Because they need to save pennies for their nest Porsche or vacation in Vail? Too funny! Sorry, if you “can’t” afford to tip where appropriate, you need to downsize to a smaller McMansion or forego the next pair of Louboutins–or send your kid to a cheaper camp”</p>
<p>My H went to a summer camp attended mostly by reasonably affluent upper middle class kids for a dozen years, as both camper and then counselor. His parents were friendly with the owners. As a family, we vacationed there for post-camp and then sent our kids there for many years. We were / are friendly with the owners, enough to make a 600 mile round trip to the funeral when one of the owners passed away. We’ve donated to scholarship funds. We know many of the directors and senior staff well. We’ve recommended other families to this camp. You’re just going to have to trust that we feel quite confident that we haven’t missed out on tipping over the past 40 years of association with camp and no one has let on. Your insistence on tipping appears very NYC rooted – so it’s an aberration in one small part of the country, but please stop assuming that it sets the standard for everywhere else or that they need to reexamine what they do because of what NYC people apparently do.</p>
<p>“BTW, let me put a little perspective on my D’s camp–it charges well over $5000 per camper for the full summer. No one who sends a child there is hurting financially from mortgages, taxes, or medical bills such that they can’t afford to spend a few hundred dollars on tips.”</p>
<p>I just checked the rates online and my kids’ camp now charges $7400 for the full season (8 weeks). Still no tipping. Sorry.</p>
<p>^For every article quoted here, one can find articles that are contrary.Teachers don’t get tipped but they get gifts and money cards, etc. Government employees are not allowed tips but they get giftcards, gifts, etc. Some articles say to tip your golf instructors, other say not to. it really is all over the place. These are all forms of appreciation for a job well done. So what it comes down to is what you are comfortable with.
No one way is THE WAY. Just because you haven’t heard of it or disagree with it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist nor it isn’t common practice in areas of the country. It is perfectly acceptable for anyone to choose where they send their kids to camp and what they are willing to pay. It is unreasonable to flame the OP because it is what is the norm for her area. geesh. </p>
<p>Kids attended camps in Maine and Minnesota where tipping was forbidden. I think a previous poster has explained there’s a rule against tipping for camps belonging to a particular camping association. </p>
<p>I take offense, though don’t know why I bother, with this lumping and disparaging of “New Yorkers.” I’m a resident, not a native, and we come in all stripes, accents and incomes. The camps my kids attended provided financial aid. </p>
<p>As for tipping the counselor who provides child with a special service, while my kids attended camp I was not in daily contact with them and was not keeping a score card as to who was deserving of even a special thank you. Each camp had a nurse on staff who administered meds and cared for injured kids. I appreciated and thanked all the staff we met on pick up day and have made my own small financial contributions in the years since. </p>
<p>It does sound to me like the tipping is more likely in a day camp or sports camp, which is a very different animal from a sleep away camp. Parents have more contact with counselors if they’re picking up kids on a daily basis. I learned about counselors from the stories that would unfold weeks after camp ended. There was no way I could have rewarded differential performance if I’d wanted to.</p>
<p>I understand that there are people who are opposed to tipping. Such persons should avoid places where tips are are a vital part of employee income. Thus, for example, if you don’t want to tip wait staff in restaurants, you really shouldn’t eat in restaurants. If there is a camp where tipping of counselors is expected, don’t send your kids to that camp.</p>
<p>Oh, I thought from the title, Parents, Tip those camp counselors!, we all had to tip. Maybe it’s time to consider tipping in a larger context for the health of everyone involved, campers, counselors, directors. Is it better to have a decent pay scale for counselors or allow tipping to recognize individuality? </p>
<p>About “with this lumping and disparaging” I wonder if that’s how Muslims and African Americans feel in this country. This group characteristic and conflicting individuality is an interesting subject. I don’t think we can deny that there’s a group identity. I have yet to meet protest when I say, New Yorkers are so sophisticated. Where do you place the responsibility of a group?</p>
<p>“Is it better to have a decent pay scale for counselors or allow tipping to recognize individuality?”</p>
<p>The problem is that tipping does not recognize individuality when it is expected regardless of performance because of low wages, which is really how it is.</p>
<p>The only things I do which require tipping is going to the hair dresser and eating in restaurants. I am an extremely generous tipper, I very rarely only leave the 20% expected when I eat out. However, if you just plain suck at your job I don’t give a tip and I don’t care if it’s expected. You can say that if someone does not like tipping they should not do things that require tipping. I am inclined to think people who so egregiously suck at their jobs should find other places to work where the quality of their work does not determine whether they make a livable wage. I have only ever not left a tip maybe two or three times in my life. Because the tips are factored into their wages, I accept workers who do the bare minimum and still tip them generously, but I don’t reward genuinely bad work.</p>
<p>So why not charge well over $5k + a few hundred dollars and pay the counselors what they’re worth? It’s more convenient and less awkward for the parents. The counselors don’t get stiffed. Win-win.</p>
<p>My kids attend(ed) a camp in this same price range. No tipping expected or allowed. Getting a staff position is extremely competitive, and the counselors are ecstatic to be working there. Which isn’t to say that they don’t deserve to be paid (they are), just that there are other rewards besides monetary.</p>
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<p>Not in my experience. This can be seen as a very very serious ethics violation.</p>