Wednesday, September 23, 2020

A bit of fiscal common sense...

Some skewed logic on over 202,000 deaths being 'virtually nobody', a better coffin as it seems we'll need some more, and a plethora of Ocean Cruising Club lectures to take your mind off things...

A whole bunch of years ago I was working on a day sailor in St Thomas as a replacement for a crew member who'd gone walkabout. Apparently, the job was a bit too much like work for his liking and he considered the tips to be paltry. The owner of the boat had pointed out that if he wanted better tips he might want to consider losing the $5K Rolex on his wrist and replace it with a cheap Casio during day sails because people seldom tip folks exhibiting possesions they cannot afford themselves.

I mention this because I was recently privy to a conversation concerning how someone with a sixty-foot catamaran felt ill-used because he needed some work done and no one was willing to give him the sort of deal or discount he felt he deserved.

To be honest, I don't know if the cat owner was wearing a Rolex when he was trying to negociate a better deal but having a Million-plus dollar yacht pretty much establishes that said yacht owner does not need a discount no matter how poor he might say he is.

I'll also add that in decades of experience working around boats, I've learned that the more expensive the boat or flashier the Rolex adds greatly to the chance that getting paid for agreed upon work is, at best, going to be problematic. Just about every yard or marine tradesmen I know in the Caribbean has a list of rich and famous folk who skipped out on their yard and marina bills.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that if you want a discount lose the Rolex.

Listening to the Bonzo Dog Band

So it goes...