STUFF STONERS LIKE

First things first. Did you feel comfortable in the shop? This isn’t always the fault of the budtender if you don’t, but a good budtender will pick up on your uneasiness and put forth an effort to set your angst at ease. Andrew Tessier, the owner of Growers Outlet says, “I choose my employees based on their knowledge, and their ability to convey that knowledge to the customer.”

Although having a gentle, easy on the eyes appearance is helpful, I definitely can’t base my decision on what weed to buy based on how sexy a budtender looks. Sure, those of us who know what we’re doing when it comes to picking out the weed we need will probably be more apt to be a repeat customer to a shop that has sexy budtenders, just like we do with the coffee shops we frequent. Staring at a ganja goddess or a 420 nurse is always nice, but they might not always have the best information, unless they are actually active in the cannabis industry and community.

But you don’t tip doctors
We had a great discussion about this on my Facebook page. The point came up about recreational versus medical. You don’t tip your doctor right? They are basically recommending you which drugs to take, as a medical marijuana dispensary budtender might recommend certain strains depending on what ails you. Granted doctors make way more than budtenders, and if you see a tip cup at your next doctor visit, you might want to rethink your healthcare plan.

One of my Facebook friends had a slightly different opinion. He says,

“Right now in a recreational capacity I would have to say no. Medical (while it still lives and breathes) is a different story altogether. My reasoning is in the difference between the two tenders and the assistance they can offer. In a recreational capacity the bud tenders hands are tied as to the advice they can give. They are free to sell based on the recreational aspects of the product but are unable to offer any medically viable suggestions due to legal concerns and constraints. In my opinion this limits their advice to a cool dude in the beer isle telling me which Craft Brew to try next.

A medical bud tender, on the other hand, is in many cases, expected to introduce someone completely ignorant to all that is cannabis to the world of choices in front of them. They make recommendations as to what medicine, method of delivery, potency as related to desired effect, and even cost effectiveness will suit the patient best depending on their individual needs. I believe this is a service that warrants gratuity.”

In response to this, another of my Facebook friends said,

“I disagree. I would tip my bartender for advising me on my choices in craft brew and then selling me my choice, whereas I would not tip my doctor for medical advice, though I do agree that the medical budtenders do deserve a tip, but isn’t that breaching the “medical” format it purports to be? And then we get into the secondary issue of if you could smoke in a designated venue, or in the rec store for example, does it then become proper to tip the budtender? A bartender mixes your drink for you.”

All really great points on both sides of the discussion. There’s one more quote I would like to share with you, from my friend Nathan Betts from Canna 4 Life in Clarkston Washington. If you remember, we talked to Nathan about the problems they are having with their city council in episode 158 of the Hot Box podcast.

Nathan says,

“I worked in a recreational shop for 8 days before it got shut down by our city council recently and the largest tip cut I got to take home was 44 dollars in one day. I dunno the right answer. Do it. Don’t do it. It doesn’t bother me one way or other. But I can tell you after a customer comes in and hammers me with 20 questions and asks me about nearly every product we got and I fire off a decent reply to every question and ultimately they put their enjoyment or health into my hands, it feels really good to see them stuff a buck or 2 into the tip jar. Makes me feel like my “extra mile”‘effort has paid off in that moment. Or it shows they have faith in everything I’ve just said. Make a dude feel special. Idk. That’s just my 2 cents worth. Happy tending. Can’t wait to get back to it someday when our council pulls their collective heads out of their hind quarters.”

Personally, I’ve worked in lots of shitty service industry jobs, and I know what it feels like on both sides of the discussion. I’ve had days where everyone was a bunch of assholes and didn’t tip, or tipped poorly, and honestly, it’s a real shitty feeling. Regardless of whether or not it’s a reflection of the work you do, it still sucks to get stiffed on a tip. But then there’s those days where someone drops you a 20 spot because you smiled at them and it brightened their day or went that extra mile to help them out.

When you can guide someone towards achieving that perfect cannabis comfort they’ve been looking for, you can see it in their eyes, regardless of if they tip or not. They are so grateful to connect with someone on a new level. If that isn’t at least a little part of the reason why you are a budtender, then maybe it’s time to look for a new line of work. I hear they are hiring people to trim weed all over the place.

If a budtender changed your life recently, I hope you did the right thing and gave them a tip. Of course, if there isn’t a tip jar out, it’s probably more awkward than anything to try and slip them a five spot, but if they are openly accepting tips, I say that as an industry, nay, as a society, we should all do our part and pitch in a little to show our appreciation for the beautiful men and women who toil over the subtle nuance this plant has to offer in order to match you up with your best bud.

Everyone is different and every strain is going to affect every individual differently. Countless hours are spent reading and absorbing and learning all this new information we are discovering and pioneering each and every day. If you appreciate that sort of thing, tip your budtender. Trust me, it will make their day, and the next time they come in, they will remember you, and a relationship will start to grow.

Before you know it, the place you used to go to buy weed will become the place you go to have an intellectually stimulating conversation with someone just as passionate as you are about a plant that has created a whole industry to support not only us, but future generations to come. That right there is a beautiful thing, and we should all be so humble and gratified to participate in it.

For Stuff Stoners Like, I’m Mat Lee.