As a bellman/Doorman (the positions are combined at my hotel) I have a quick piece of advice for all you hotel guests out there, Don't tip your bellman with coins!!
There are several reasons for this rule (yes, I have deemed it a rule.) As a bellman, I am on my feet, walking around for all eight hours of my shift. As the shift progresses the wad of bills (primarily composed of singles and fives) in my pocket grows and becomes more and more uncomfortable. I can deal with that wad of bills because I know that money is instantly useful and convenient as soon as my shift is over. What I can't deal with is somebody giving me a handful of silver because they are either out of bills or want to get rid of the change that is currently burning a hole in their pocket. Because this guest doesn't have any bills to give me, I have to walk around with change jangling in my pocket for the next several hours. It is noisy and after a while the sound drives me insane. Further more, it's a constant reminder of that one guy who couldn't just cough up a couple dollar bills or bite the bullet and, (gasp!) give me a nice tip of $5 or even $10. God forbid he bestow some goodwill towards someone who can make his hotel stay extremely pleasant but instead he just unloads the things that he doesn't want to the guy lugging his bag around. If you have a choice of giving $1 or 8 quarters, I'd prefer the $1. Chances are I'll forget about the cheap guy who gave me $1 whereas I will remember the guy who gave me noisy quarters for the rest of the week.
Now some of my co-workers (and I'm sure a lot of you out there) will say, "hey man, money is money!" True, but when was the last time you paid your bar tab with coins? (If your answer is within the last month, than you are an alcoholic and should seek treatment.) This is not Europe, a pocket full of change will not pay for your lunch. A pocket full of change here is something you put in a jar, wait until it gets full, and then roll up in coin rolls and cash in at your bank. Or change is something that your give to the cashier to make sure that you are not given more change after making a purchase. As in "the total is $16.67? I think I have the $.67, I want to get rid of this change."
Often times when I see that a guest is getting ready to give me change I will refuse and say something like.
"No thank you sir, I prefer to not have change jingling around in my pocket for the rest of my shift."
To this they often get a little offended and insist I accept. If this occurs I will accept the money, only to leave it on the ground in front of the door of their hotel room so the next time they exit, they will see their "generous" tip of rejected coinage on the ground and hopefully learn the lesson that they should carry some paper money on them from now on.
Now, If I receive the tip outside, I will purposely mishandle the exchange and let the coins fall on the sidewalk with a noisy clatter at my feet and the feet of my cheap guest.
"Oops," I exclaim. "Oh well" I say as I turn to walk away.
The guest now has the decision to bend over and pick up every last dirty little piece of money and try to give it back to me or leave it there, hop in the cab and travel to his destination trying to figure out why the Doorman didn't want to pick up the $1.57 in nickels, dimes and pennies. I'm sure about half way to JFK he realizes that it was just a cheap tip. That the money itself wasn't worth the effort to pick it up and he should have bucked up and tipped a $5 bill. Either that or he just thinks I'm an asshole, I'm fine with either, so long as he remembers that exchange for a while.
When all is said and done, don't give your bellman change. You are either giving him the task of rolling it up and taking it to his bank in the future or you are giving him the embarrassing situation where he stands in line at a deli counter, tallying up the cost of his sandwich in silver and copper, only to have it recounted by the cashier to make sure it is right while people watch in line and get aggravated at how long the check-out process is taking. The whole process is one that can be easily avoided by making sure you have $1 bills when you know you will be in a tipping situation or just not be such a cheap bastard and throw out a $5 or a $10 every now and again. This is New York City People Change sucks and "Cash rules everything around me Cream get the money, Dolla dolla bill y'all!!!'
P.S. $1 coins are acceptable, but just barely!
There are several reasons for this rule (yes, I have deemed it a rule.) As a bellman, I am on my feet, walking around for all eight hours of my shift. As the shift progresses the wad of bills (primarily composed of singles and fives) in my pocket grows and becomes more and more uncomfortable. I can deal with that wad of bills because I know that money is instantly useful and convenient as soon as my shift is over. What I can't deal with is somebody giving me a handful of silver because they are either out of bills or want to get rid of the change that is currently burning a hole in their pocket. Because this guest doesn't have any bills to give me, I have to walk around with change jangling in my pocket for the next several hours. It is noisy and after a while the sound drives me insane. Further more, it's a constant reminder of that one guy who couldn't just cough up a couple dollar bills or bite the bullet and, (gasp!) give me a nice tip of $5 or even $10. God forbid he bestow some goodwill towards someone who can make his hotel stay extremely pleasant but instead he just unloads the things that he doesn't want to the guy lugging his bag around. If you have a choice of giving $1 or 8 quarters, I'd prefer the $1. Chances are I'll forget about the cheap guy who gave me $1 whereas I will remember the guy who gave me noisy quarters for the rest of the week.
Now some of my co-workers (and I'm sure a lot of you out there) will say, "hey man, money is money!" True, but when was the last time you paid your bar tab with coins? (If your answer is within the last month, than you are an alcoholic and should seek treatment.) This is not Europe, a pocket full of change will not pay for your lunch. A pocket full of change here is something you put in a jar, wait until it gets full, and then roll up in coin rolls and cash in at your bank. Or change is something that your give to the cashier to make sure that you are not given more change after making a purchase. As in "the total is $16.67? I think I have the $.67, I want to get rid of this change."
Often times when I see that a guest is getting ready to give me change I will refuse and say something like.
"No thank you sir, I prefer to not have change jingling around in my pocket for the rest of my shift."
To this they often get a little offended and insist I accept. If this occurs I will accept the money, only to leave it on the ground in front of the door of their hotel room so the next time they exit, they will see their "generous" tip of rejected coinage on the ground and hopefully learn the lesson that they should carry some paper money on them from now on.
Now, If I receive the tip outside, I will purposely mishandle the exchange and let the coins fall on the sidewalk with a noisy clatter at my feet and the feet of my cheap guest.
"Oops," I exclaim. "Oh well" I say as I turn to walk away.
The guest now has the decision to bend over and pick up every last dirty little piece of money and try to give it back to me or leave it there, hop in the cab and travel to his destination trying to figure out why the Doorman didn't want to pick up the $1.57 in nickels, dimes and pennies. I'm sure about half way to JFK he realizes that it was just a cheap tip. That the money itself wasn't worth the effort to pick it up and he should have bucked up and tipped a $5 bill. Either that or he just thinks I'm an asshole, I'm fine with either, so long as he remembers that exchange for a while.
When all is said and done, don't give your bellman change. You are either giving him the task of rolling it up and taking it to his bank in the future or you are giving him the embarrassing situation where he stands in line at a deli counter, tallying up the cost of his sandwich in silver and copper, only to have it recounted by the cashier to make sure it is right while people watch in line and get aggravated at how long the check-out process is taking. The whole process is one that can be easily avoided by making sure you have $1 bills when you know you will be in a tipping situation or just not be such a cheap bastard and throw out a $5 or a $10 every now and again. This is New York City People Change sucks and "Cash rules everything around me Cream get the money, Dolla dolla bill y'all!!!'
P.S. $1 coins are acceptable, but just barely!
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