>By the time most of you read this, it will probably be a moot point. Here’s my dilemma: There’s a man in my backyard, hired by my landlord, who has been sanding and staining/sealing our deck and dock for three days now. He is working hard, it has been quite hot. I have not seen him stop for meal breaks. I took him a glass of icy lemonade yesterday, which he thanked me for and quickly drank. I do not see a bottle of water with him.
My question is this – am I expected to feed him? Give him water? It would certainly be no big deal to take out a large pitcher of lemonade and a glass of ice and let him go at it. I know my mother had men work on her home before who would simply stop at noon and sit around, waiting for her to guess that it was time to feed them.
On the West Coast, when people worked in our home, they took 45 minutes or so at lunch time and went to McDonald’s around the corner, and came back! Am I missing out on some East Coast rule of etiquette here?
>So I’m a West Coast girl…but I think if he wants you to feed him, he should ask politely.
>Typically, I would say yes to the drinks (water, juice, lemonade, whatever) and no to the food.I’m a little late to the question, though, huh?
>yea something I can help with!! I knew being from the east coast would be helpful someday. hehe!! So most of the places that I have lived in on the east coast, don’t feed people. Especially when I lived in CT the family living in the house might offer only if they knew the person. We are kind of stuck up most of the time on the east coast. Not every person is but generally most people don’t really help strangers. It also depends on the area.I think it is safe to say you don’t need to feed him.
>james says no to the food!
>Yeah, East Coasters are generally inconsiderate. If you don’t bring your own food you can starve. If a gap in traffic opens up a couple inches longer than your car, you take it. It’s the way it is. None of this pansy west coast get to an intersection and wave the other car through. If you can’t take care of it yourself, and you can’t ask for it, you don’t deserve it.
>I’m late to the party, but I’m going to ditto the above. With the weather we’ve been having, he’s probably very grateful for the water (if he hasn’t any of his own), but he’s not expecting to be fed.