[alfa] tipping (long)

[Tessie McMillan <tessmc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gwynne, what class! Thanks for bringing this topic up; it's one of my pet 
issues.

When the NWARC hosts track events at Pacific Raceways, we pay to have a 
tow-truck standing by, parked to the site of pregrid. The poor guy can 
get pretty bored sitting there -- inasmuch as he can only see Turn 8. 
Nonetheless, he remains alert the entire time, usually with naught but a 
radio to keep him company, and ready to drive out on cue to retrieve 
wayward vehicles mired in the gravel or the grass. 

I've often wondered how cost-effective it is to run a tow-truck. I've 
expected the hours to be long, the work somewhat solitary, and the pay 
perhaps... not so good? I also remember a story told by some engineers I 
used to know who worked at Kenworth. They talked about the designs of the 
cab interiors -- especially drawing attention to the rubber mats, which 
were ribbed sideways so that any fluids dropped on them would flow out of 
the cab. Apparently, some of the trucking companies offer extremely low 
wages and incentives for making trips in the shortest possible time -- 
enough that some drivers decided not to make "pit" stops.... The U.S.'s 
own version of slave labor.... &:-)

Anyway, once one of our NWARC track drivers launched his very sweet and 
extremely fast 944T into a gravel trap, got stuck there, and had to be 
towed out of the gravel and back into the pits. As I was attending to all 
the excitement at pregrid -- we got tow and rig off the track then 
circled the hot cars, and got them back out for the remainder of the 
session -- I noticed the driver of the 944T very casually and easily 
going back to the tow truck driver, thanking him warmly, and then 
slipping a folded bill into the other's hand. That was genuinely classy. 
We've had some truly _expensive_ cars (owned by some folks who are 
amazingly well to do) hauled out of the trees. Quite often the tow-truck 
driver gets not even a nod of thanks from them.

While we think tipping reflects the quality of the service rendered, I 
think it really is a mark of the tipper -- how well they think of their 
fellow man, and how much they realize that pretty much everyone needs to 
make a buck doing what they're doing but not everyone is even in a 
position where they could strike it rich.

I have no idea what kind of pay a truck driver makes, but I'll bet it's 
not much and that high gas prices these days eat much of any profit 
margin, if he's in business for himself. I'd tip out of concern for the 
fact that he took care of my car day and night, and lovingly (my word) got 
it to its destination in one beautiful piece, and was courteous and kept 
the whole process low key. I'd especially be inclined to tip if it looked 
like he didn't pee on my car....

Tess
in Bellevue, WA USA
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