Greedy ****ers

[JAK]

This thread is totally messed up.

Personal attacks against DAJA are totally messed up, even by Bearpaw, which surprises me.

DAJA isn't a freeloader.

Many long hikers are, and it sounds like many hostel owners on the AT are too.

Most of the posters on this thread are messed up because they support one set of freeloaders and not the other.

Fortunately, DAJA and I have our own set of BS to put up with up here, but it ain't all that different.

[JAK]

get a clue already...

Eat me Tin Man.

[JAK]

This isn't about how lame and irresponsible 20 something kids are.

This is about how to make as money as possible from them and their lame ass parents.

More power to you all, but don't look to me for sympathy.

[Tin Man]

Eat me Tin Man.

i take it back, you ain't even close to getting a clue

[JAK]

Geez, JAK, so you consider someone like Bob Peoples, who doesn't have a set fee, but who happily accepts donations from his guests, to be a scumbag?

Do yourself a favor......keep comments like that to the Internet, as I assure you you won't much care for the outcome if you were to ever talk like that in public.

Honestly, some people need to think a bit before they post.

Thought we weren't naming names.

I don't know Bob Peoples, and I have nothing against him.
But I know people, and you people seem seriously messed up.

Sounds like a bunch of people trying to make a living, which is fine. But I don't like the way people on this forum trash hikers in support of service providers. You want to play that silly game, I'm not taking sides. Do your own dirty work.

[JAK]

i take it back, you ain't even close to getting a clue

I don't really give a **** what you think.

You guys want to make a living, fine. Don't come crying to me.

[Jack Tarlin]

JAK:

You said that it sounds to you like "many" of the hostels on the Trail are run by freeloaders.

Just purely out of curiousity, how much of the A.T. have you actually done, and how many A.T. hostels have you actually patronized?

Maybe before telling us how things "sound" to you on the A.T. maybe you should actually spend more time actually on it.

Gosh, what a novel idea.

This just might give your posts some credibility.

[JAK]

This isn't about how lame and irresponsible 20 something kids are.

This is about how to make as money as possible from them and their lame ass parents.

More power to you all, but don't look to me for sympathy.

I think I pretty much pegged it right there. Match made in heaven.

Count me the **** out.

[JAK]

JAK:

You said that it sounds to you like "many" of the hostels on the Trail are run by freeloaders.

Just purely out of curiousity, how much of the A.T. have you actually done, and how many A.T. hostels have you actually patronized?

Maybe before telling us how things "sound" to you on the A.T. maybe you should actually spend more time actually on it.

Gosh, what a novel idea.

This just might give your posts some credibility.

I've seen enough of your posts and people like yours. **** you Jack.

[JAK]

I don't want to spend any time on the AT if its run by people like you Jack.

[Jack Tarlin]

Wow, what a mature comment there, JAK.

You were asked a real simple question, i.e. how much of the A.T. have you actually done, and what Trail hostels have you actually visited.

Simple question.

Your response was to curse me out under a pseudonym from hundreds of miles away, JAK.

Classy.

You don't yourself proud, son. Have a nice day.

[Jack Tarlin]

Doesn't seem to me like you spend much time on the A.T. anyway, son.

[Tin Man]

JAK:

You said that it sounds to you like "many" of the hostels on the Trail are run by freeloaders.

Just purely out of curiousity, how much of the A.T. have you actually done, and how many A.T. hostels have you actually patronized?

Maybe before telling us how things "sound" to you on the A.T. maybe you should actually spend more time actually on it.

Gosh, what a novel idea.

This just might give your posts some credibility.

JAK? no miles and no clue, but lots of time. sad.

[chomp]

Seems like a double standard of ethics here.

Why is it ok for scumbag hostel owners to exploit a loophole and not scumbag hikers?

Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Have you ever stayed at a hostel? While money can be made running a hostel, its rarely possible to make a living doing it. There are only a few cases that I can think of where a hostel near the AT can be legitimately run as a business.

So, if you want every hostel on the AT to register itself as a business and a hotel - 80% of them would just disappear. Think about the fee's that these places charge.

If you have any examples of "donation only" hostels that charge high fees and have owners that live like fat cats, I'd love to hear about it. But most of the AT hostels ask for donations to cover their expenses and perhaps put a couple of bucks in their pocket for their time. Nobody is getting rich, or even making a living, by asking for $15 per night.

So if you want these "scumbags" to close their doors, that is your right. Or if you want them to charge $35 because they have to pay room tax, that is your right as well. Personally, I think that most of the hostels are run by kind people who are working for way below minimum wage if you looked at how much they are profiting. Not kicking in a few bucks for the services you are using, required or not, is being a scumbag. IMO.

[Hooch]

JAK, by his own admission on another thread some time ago, has never set foot on the AT. But, of course, is a know-it-all on nearly every subject imaginable.

[Jack Tarlin]

Hey Chomp....even if these places were to close their doors, it's not like JAK would be bothered by this, as he's never gonna see or patronize these places anyway.

You kinda actually have to spend some time on the Trail to be affected.

[Bearpaw]

JAK, you're way off on this one. This is a place where not having hiked the AT really throws off your frame of reference. So please, let me make an analogy that would help out.

If you stayed over with a friend's parents for the night, you wouldn't necessarily offer them money for the favor, but I'm confident you would certainly pick up after yourself and help out if there any small chores that arose out of basic courtesy. It seems the OP is complaining about helping out a little bit and claiming a $5 donation makes the hostel owners "greedy f****s".

Most of the hostels that operate on a donation basis ask for a few dollars, maybe 3-5, to help offset basic costs of operation. Most probably lose a little money in fact. These places are essentially opening up private property to help out hikers on the trail. And most hikers respect that fact and act with the same courtesy I'm confident you would.

But then compare this arrangement with another private residence open for a night's stay, the B & B. A room there typically costs at least $50 and more often closer to $100. Why, because the owner has to have licenses and insurance and so forth to run a business AND they want to earn a profit. Take away a big chunk of the profit and you get the "business" hostels with 12 people in a room that must charge $20+ a night to hope to make any money after adhering to business regulations.

Then you have folks like the OP who lack the basic decency to offer any compensation or even help out in the slightest way with the expectation of receiving services. It's extremely troubling.

Thankfully, the massive majority of hikers don't fall into this group.

[JAK]

Doesn't seem to me like you spend much time on the A.T. anyway, son.

Don't want to. Sounds too ****ed up. Its all about the money for you isn't it Jack. AT hasn't taught you a damn thing. If you want respect, act your age, and stop complaining so much. Don't call me son you stupid old man. I knew a generation or two that deserved some respect. You ain't it.

[JAK]

Bearpaw. I ain't that far off.

[mister krabs]

A donation is a gift, independent of services rendered and with no consideration of reciprocation.

Entitlement is the feeling that one deserves gifts independent of value of services rendered.

Sounds to me that those folks who ask for donations rather than payment should treat them as gifts.

Those who are receiving services with no formal demand of payment should do the right thing and give according to their conscience.

No one should bitch about gifts *not* given, regardless of which side of the equation you happen to be on at the moment.