Auction goers: Tip your helpers? (rant)

[Chickenmaven]

I am wonder if y'all tip your helpers or pay them a "fair hourly wage" or what.

I have just started going to auctions. I am starting a business and need alot of stuff. My 18 y.o. son often pulls together a moving team for me, if my bidding is especially "successful."

We borrow a big truck & he shows up with a buddy of his, a kid that stays at our house ALOT. This young man has a great attitude. He is always happy to help us & I am happy to help him (packing lunches, buying dinners out, paying his college application fee when dad couldn't, etc.) So, I flip this kid a few bucks (like $40) for a day's help, just like I give me own son some money or a tank of gas for his help. Both kids get a meal out, snacks and such. This worked pretty well the first couple times.
Well, yesterday, my Great Attitude Kid was unavailable. No worries, my son has other nice friends. So, New Friend comes to help with dismantling and transporting some shelving and equipment. Because this is all very technical, I hire my friend Mr. Handy-guy to do the actual hard stuff. So the boys & I spent a few hours helping Handy-guy: holding the flashlight, eating chips, moving small items, etc. THEN, we do what we are there for - loading a trailer FULL of stuff and unloading it. The entire project, start to finish was seven hours, including a lunch break, an icecream run and a fair amount of flashlight holding and hammer fetching. Mr. Handy-guy out worked the boys & I by far! Since the boys only hauled & loaded & unloaded for about 3 hours, I felt like $40 was a generous tip to New Friend. I gave him the money at my home (after I cooked him dinner) & he thanked me. Later, my son approached DH and I (as we sat on the front porch) and said that $40 was not enough for his friend's help. My husband likes to give DS little lectures about Managing People and Wealth Building and such. (Think Brady Bunch - sage words of wisdom...

). So, my DH says something along the lines of "you cannot just give away money to people, if you want to be a successful business person you must understand that people WILL work for less than $10 or $12 an hour..." Just then, New Friend came out of our house and said to DH and I "Yeah, just stab the little people in the back" and off he goes!

Am I wrong, here? Obviously, I need to be clearer with people in the future. However, I was raised that you just help when you can. As kids, we canned veggies with people, washed windows - just because we were needed. My son helped a friend's brother dig a pond. I think he got a pizza dinner out of it.

I bought this kid lunch and icecream. I fixed him a special dinner, because he didn't like what I had planned... Even without all the fussing, I felt like $40 was a fine "tip". Am I out of touch?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

You have to remember that this is the generation of entitlement. They want a $100,000 salary immediately.

I teach college kids. Every now and then I have yard chores that I cannot get done on my own for a variety of reasons. The first year I needed help I posted a Help wanted sign and offered $10 an hour for five hours worth of work. This was years ago before the minimum wage increased. The job was for some light weeding and then shoveling mulch over flower beds. I had kids tell me that it wasn't worth it for that money. Seriously? Almost twice the minimum wage and it is not worth your while? They would rather take mommy and daddy's money than come work. I ended up hiring a landscaping company to do the parts I couldn't.
Now that the economy is bad and the kids are hungry, I am having no trouble finding workers. They come and ask me when they can come work. It is still $10 an hour and the work is still landscape drudgery. The two that are coming right now do a GREAT job and are happy to be here. I am now recommending them to friends and family. The kids are happy because they are making more than they would elsewhere AND I cook them a hot dinner. They now have more work than they have time for.

These two are still an anomaly among their peers. I think you might try to be more specific with your son and his friends. If you tell them, " I have work that needs doing and I will pay you $40 total and will feed you" then they know exactly what they are getting into. Most young people today will not work just for food. Very few will work just because it needs to be done. They all want something out of it.

Good luck. It's frustrating and hard when they act like ungrateful snots.

 

[newchickgal]

I agree, let them know upfront what the pay will be and that a meal and snacks are included. That way there is no question and no resentment. It's too bad that he was such a jerk about it, but gone are the days of good manners it seems, with the exception of a few anyway. Just chalk it up to a lesson learned and find some one else next time.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Quote:
And good, qualified people often won't. Sure, I can probably find somebody that will till my garden for $40 bucks, but frankly, I'd rather pay $200 to the guy who will show up on time, completely sober, with insurance, who doesn't require constant supervision, isn't creepy, won't steal tools from my garage, and will actually finish.

However, I was raised that you just help when you can. As kids, we canned veggies with people, washed windows - just because we were needed. My son helped a friend's brother dig a pond. I think he got a pizza dinner out of it.

I bought this kid lunch and icecream. I fixed him a special dinner, because he didn't like what I had planned... Even without all the fussing, I felt like $40 was a fine "tip". Am I out of touch?

As a teen and college student, with a lawnmower, carpet shampooer, and a willingness to change litter pans, I could regularly bring in $25-$30 an hour on the weekends making the loop of the local senior community, and that was pretty light work all said and done. And I'd get loaded up with enough food to last the week.

Now there were people I'd go all out for and do 'freebies' or 'work cheap' for, but I had an existing relationship with them, such as the one you have with 'Great Attitude Kid'. For Ester who was habitually broke, I'd mow her lawn and clean her foyer for $5, but I also knew that if I ripped my good slacks I could take them to Ester and they'd be better than new fifteen minutes later, and several times my friends and I would be hanging in the front yard and Ester would come over with a HUGE platter of fudge or cookies for us. But if a new friend asked me to help out his parents and I cleared my schedule to help, then I ended up getting paid half of what I usually could make doing my rounds AND got a lecture as to why I should be grateful for what I did get and treated like I was entitled and unmannerly, well, yeah, I can't say I'd have a very good attitude about it either, and I'd certainly never do them the favor again.

Next time, be upfront. This is what the job is, this is what I am paying and I will feed you as well. That way he can decide if it is worth it for the work involved.

I used to 'just help when I could'. I got consistently taken advantage of, so I started demanding money up front. Interestingly enough, the folks I liked where willing to pay me, and the folks who were taking advantage weren't and called me snotty, lazy, and ungrateful because I wasn't willing to sacrifice my entire weekend to watch little Suzie for free while they went off and had fun. So, I'm probably biased here, but frankly... after being dropped an entire letter grade for missing a class when little Suzie's parents asked me to watch her as a favor for an hour and then finally showed back up NINE hours later, well..., yeah, I'm biased.​

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

IMHO, the kid shoulda been greatful for lunch, ice cream, and the nice dinner you fixed. It's a shame the way the majority of the youth of this country act nowadays.

 

[cluckcluck42]

So the kids are 18, when I was 18 I was living on my own and working full time for 12 bucks an hour and supporting myself. Does this kid live at home and not have to pay rent? If so, I would think 40 dollars and free dinner/lunch/ice cream would be quite enough money. I know lots of kids around that age who would be willing to do a few hours of work for that amount of money and when I was younger (12-16) I would work for my parents and never expect any money in return. If I was lucky I would get a twenty but most times we just did what we were asked.

You're right though, you need to tell the kids upfront what the pay is. Also a meal is worth at least 5-10 bucks, little punks! I doubt that kid pays for his own meals the way he spoke back to you.

 

[pips&peeps]

Minimum wage in your State is $7.40 X 7 hours is $51.80. But, he didn't work the whole time and you fed him. I think he got overpaid............................

 

[Cindiloohoo]

I'd give the kid $60 and then tell him he owed me for all the food he ate and time he was sitting eating chips. He'd then leave with nothing. Young people are such brats these days. $40 for what he did in 3 hours of serious work was more than enough. Deny him coming back to work for you even if he wants to. You can get good help with a better atttitude for the same money, and it's worth it. I wouldn't pay more. If one of my kids friends behaved like that, they'd not be allowed back at my place for anything.

 

[humm-n-cluck ranch]

Quote:
Agreed! I am astonished at the level of entitlement these days. You dont get what you really want out of life with that kind of attitude.

 

[Opa]

While I own a construction company the problems with employees is the same. I found that when I gave employees raises they didn't work harder to earn another raise. What I started doing was paying bonuses if a job went well and came in under schedule.