bonsai barry
Omono
If you participate in a lesson for a small group of people or if you take a private lesson, is it appropriate to tip the bonsai teacher beyond the established fees?
By all means , YES!
Actually, in Europe nobody ever does this. They don't even have the decency to purchase a CD if they had a demo for workshop for free. When a magazine did not pay money and paid me in 100 copies of an issue with my trees in I had these issues for sale for US$ 15. People who got a free ride said 'but YOU did not pay anything for these, I'll give you 10!' - in Europe
In the USA I do remember being tipped quite frequently. Once I had a lecture agreed with a club for US$ 400. It was supposed to start at 7 pm officially. I was there at 5 pm and folks started to come in. So I started with these already and said 'the official start will still be at 7 pm'. At the end of the whole thing I got an envelope from the club and in the hotel when I opened it there were US$ 600 in it. This would have NEVER EVER happened in Europe. When I had these magazines for sale in the US and asked 15 I often got 20.
One can say many things about Americans , but they certainly are genuinly friendly and generous, much more so than most Europeans.
...They don't even have the decency to purchase a CD if they had a demo or workshop for free...
If you participate in a lesson for a small group of people or if you take a private lesson, is it appropriate to tip the bonsai teacher beyond the established fees?
NO!!!!!!!!
No one will ever accuse you of excessive elocution. Emphatic maybe.
Just an observation here, but if the audience didn't have the "decency" to purchase these items, then the most obvious conclusion is that they didn't like what the presenter had to offer or they didn't believe the promo items were worth buying. I work in a service industry and often receive extra compensation for the services I provide. Some people simply aren't tippers, that's just the way it is. But by and large, the tip is indicative of the amount of service received.
To answer the original poster's question, yes. By all means provide a tip if you feel that you have received service above and beyond the call of duty. And to service providers who believe they aren't getting what they deserve, I would implore them to take a hard look at themselves before point fingers at others.