Tea for workmen

[Givemecoffeeplease]

We've had a team of workmen round to trim hedges in our garden. It's a cold, grey day. I'm on work calls so I ask my husband to make them a cup of tea (this is Britain.. tea flows in our veins.). When I go downstairs, he hasn't made them tea saying 'I'm not a maid to make tea for every Tom, Dick and Harry who comes to our house.'

Husband is Australian, so perhaps doesn't understand the culture of making tea, at any time, for any reason, but ALWAYS for guests and workmen/women especially on a cold January day. I make them tea, take it outside, start inevitable small talk about the weather. They drink the tea, do an awesome job, and leave.

Is he BU for not making tea? Or am I a British cliché....?

I always offer a choice of tea, coffe or a cold drink plus biscuits and chocolate bars.

My DH is foreign but would always offer a drink to workmen. Biscuits too of course.

I always offer a drink as well. Apart from it being polite and a nice thing to do, it fosters goodwill. For example I always make our window cleaner a drink. In return he sometimes does a little extra cleaning for us (convservatory gutters for example). A little consideration always goes a long way.

It's basic courtesy

Yeah your husband is a prick.

Always offer tea, coffee and cold drinks + biscuits.

I always make drinks, even if it's a quick job. I last made coffee for three carpet fitters who were only in the house 40 minutes.

I often buy KitKats or nice biscuits too to offer.

Your DH is a snob.It sounds,its below him to make a workman/woman a cup of tea.I would be livid with him for having such an appaling attitude.thank goodness the workpeople got a cuppa from you.it is common courtesy to offer a drink,specially when working in cold weather outside.

Yup , I always offer a hot / cold drink and biscuits .It’s a nice gesture and not exactly hard work .

You may wonder why your hedges aren't straight...

A few years ago my mum's neighbours moved out to give their house a total rebuild.

My mum made the builders tea several times a day for about 6 weeks. They weren't even working in her house.

Pretty certain if she couldn't find any builders nearby she'd flag down passing Transit vans and hand out tea.

New Zealander here I do a cooked lunch for my Builder when he's here, anyone else doing work on the property as a minimum has coffee and snacks.
I offer delivery people a cold drink in summer and use of the toilet if needed,I always think about how would I like to be treated.

I am northern, I brew up for anyone
Workman drilling up the road outside my house? Kettle on
Man who's car set on fire outside my window? Brew
Police? Brew
I've had to stop myself making one for the postman before now, it's ingrained

I'm lazy. I give them mug, a kettle, teabags sugar and milk. They can then make their own.

I always smile when I remember my mother, on a very hot day, taking the window cleaners a tray of Roses Lime cordial. They lapped it up gratefully.

YABU, if they want tea why don’t they bring a thermos? Your husband is correct.

@JumperJump

YABU, if they want tea why don’t they bring a thermos? Your husband is correct.

Because fresh tea from a mug is much nicer. Bet you never get tradesmen willing to come back again to work at yours!

We had workmen round in December, we offered them a coffee and mince pie.
I always offer a drink unless it’s literally a 5 minute visit. Especially on a cold day.

It’s the law isn’t it?
Anyone doing work on my house gets offered hot drinks and biscuits.

@SnowyPetals I think this must be a cultural thing, for one tea tastes the same thermos or not (yep!), and secondly we find it a very strange expectation that you give workers food/drinks just because they are doing something at your home, you wouldn’t expect your boss in the office or supermarket to offer tea endlessly, why so would gardeners expect it? If anything the workers are a bit rude if THEY expect it.

I also think it might be one of those left over traditions that started because it was woman’s work to be at home and look after the men helping.

In Australia the people who come to your home to do things would bring all their own food/drinks, plus often you’re not home anyway, you just leave them the key if they need to be inside or they do their own thing outside.

I don't make it for them. I leave milk, tea and coffee by the kettle and tell them to help themselves

[quote JumperJump]@SnowyPetals I think this must be a cultural thing, for one tea tastes the same thermos or not (yep!), and secondly we find it a very strange expectation that you give workers food/drinks just because they are doing something at your home, you wouldn’t expect your boss in the office or supermarket to offer tea endlessly, why so would gardeners expect it? If anything the workers are a bit rude if THEY expect it.

I also think it might be one of those left over traditions that started because it was woman’s work to be at home and look after the men helping.

In Australia the people who come to your home to do things would bring all their own food/drinks, plus often you’re not home anyway, you just leave them the key if they need to be inside or they do their own thing outside.[/quote]
It's very cultural. I've said it before on here but British DH once panicked because I said I wasn't going to offer drinks to the men working at our US house, because we don't do that in the US and Canada. He insisted it HAD to be done or else terrible unspoken things would happen. So I went out and told them they were welcome to use our kitchen if they needed it for anything, and where the bathroom was, and they looked at me like I had just grown an extra head. Worked five full days at our house and no one even used the bathroom once, much less the kitchen - I think one of them might have filled up a water bottle from our fridge. They go elsewhere for their breaks and are happy to do so - they don't exactly want to hang around with the people they're working for.

(There's probably a big element of not having a tea-addicted culture here too, as well as it being much more common to have huge drive-thru fancy Venti drinks instead of something homemade.)

Your husband IBU!

I always offer workmen tea or coffee - and they usually get a bacon sandwich too!

Unpopular opinion but is it possible your husband was intimidated by the big burly workmen outside doing a real man’s job while he was presumably sat in front of a screen all day keeping his hands soft and clean?

Totally cultural. Anyone on the premises for any reason must be offered a hot beverage of their choice on arrival and at least once an hour, unless in a heatwave when a cold beverage may be offered as an alternative. UK law, surely?