Do I need to tip the garbage collector too?

eminenz2

eminenz2

Cathlete
DH found this note taped to our garbage can:

Enjoy the blessings of the holidays. If you would like to give tips, please send it to the B&B Office. That would be very helpful.....


Do you tip your garbage collector? How much? Do we make a check out to the company or what?

Is there anyone who doesn't get a tip?

I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow - do I have to tip her more than I usually do because it's Christmas?

Are these people going to be miffed if I don't tip them?

Just feeling a little overwhelmed...

Thanks!

Susan G.
 
I tip my hairdresser a little extra if I go in right before the holidays. The garbage collector? I've never heard of that! Mailman, yes, garbage collector, no.
 
Hairstylist and any other individual who offers personal services, yes. Mail carrier and newspaper delivery, too.

But garbage collector? I haven't heard of it, either. If you do, dude better be putting the lids on those things and carrying 'em to your backyard for ya. :eek:
 
I understand tipping for personal service providers such as hairdressers and waitstaff. Buy why do we have to tip the mailman? They get paid a salary that isn't a commission. The list of people we need to tip is waaaaay too long in my opinion, especially in these hard economic times.
 
I always tip the garbage collector and recycling collector $20 cash apiece. Why? Because they often take my extra stuff that the garbage company would charge me for if they knew. ;)

I also tip the mail carrier, usually cash, but this year he's getting a box of TJ Truffles. Why do I tip him? Because he always brings my mail to the door if I have package, instead of leaving it out in the wind/rain,snow or cramming it in the box at the street.

I'd tip the bus drivers too when my kids took the bus. I still send in teacher gifts and my kids are in 8th and 6th grade.
 
mabdoo said:
I understand tipping for personal service providers such as hairdressers and waitstaff. Buy why do we have to tip the mailman? They get paid a salary that isn't a commission. The list of people we need to tip is waaaaay too long in my opinion, especially in these hard economic times.
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I agree. I have never tipped my mail lady and do not plan to. I talk to her. She's nice. She is somewhat of a pain. I watched her place a box on top of my traditional style mailbox because she didn't want to walk it up to my door. The minute she drove off....the box fell to the ground.

No, my hairdresser gets a big tip from me today.
 
Jonanah,

That makes sense. :)

I guess generally, I holiday tip those whose service I feel goes above and beyond. But I also have to say, sometimes a generous tip elicits better service.

A late friend of mine, so very wise, once told me that when it comes to bartenders, tip early and tip well. I think this is applicable to any other service. If it's a service that's important to you, and you tip well, you're likely to receive excellent treatment.

True, the mail carriers work on salary, and I totally appreciate the idea that the tipping list never seems to end, but I have to say, accurate, timely delivery is important to me. If it were consistently delivered late, mixed up, or sopping wet, then no, I wouldn't keep tipping.
 
mabdoo said:
I understand tipping for personal service providers such as hairdressers and waitstaff. Buy why do we have to tip the mailman? They get paid a salary that isn't a commission. The list of people we need to tip is waaaaay too long in my opinion, especially in these hard economic times.
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From what I read on forums the tipping ettiquette seems to be regional...I live in Houston (16 yrs), one of the largest US cities & I know of no-one that tips postal/garbage etc..I was born & raised in CA until age of 30 and we never did it there either.. My impression is that East Coast tips more of these types of services? I could be wrong..... When I do "tip" extra for holiday its only if I'm seeing my hairdresser the week or two of holiday...I bake for my gardener & security peeps.... Especially in this economy I think most service providers are very happy that we arent cutting out the service (IE: lawn care, hair, nails etc...)
 
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I think the list of who to tip and when has the potential to get way out of hand. My sister seems to tip every single person she bumps into (yet she and my SIL insist on figuring a waiter's tip on the bill pre-tax).

Wait staff always gets a generous 20% (many times, more) tip from me year round. Same with my hairdresser. Special stuff like vacations (housekeeping staff) and cab rides aside, that's where it ends. No extra holiday tipping.
 
I actually think its kind of tacky for the garbage collectors to have basically solicited a tip.

I think the US is an over-tipping country. Much better in France, where tips aren't expected, and 5% is not a bad tip.

Though people should be well paid, and not have to rely on tips to get by.

An example of how our tip-happy society is getting out of hand: a student once wrote a letter to the editor in our school paper about tipping. She's a waitress, and stated that if someone can't afford to tip 25%, they shouldn't go out to eat. 25%?! Greedy much? For that kind of tip, she'd have to give me some extra special service, like a back and foot massage.
 
I have stopped tipping, except for hairdressers and waiters, or in exceptional circumstances. I refuse to tip the mailman; they are federal employees, just like I am, we are well-paid and have excellent benefits, and have nearly 100% job security.

I have stopped tipping the maids in hotel rooms too, because I end up getting worse service! I would tip $3 a day, and guess what happened. I wouldn't get my soap refills, or the washcloths wouldn't be folded. I "forgot" one day, and *gosh*, there's all my soap and shampoos refills! It's like the maid saw the money and ran, and took me for a chump for leaving the money in the first place. I've experienced this at different hotel chains, in different cities. Maybe it's a code with hotel maids to blow off the people that tip them! ;) Anyway, I pick up after myself in a hotel, I don't turn into a slob just because I'm on travel, so I don't see why I should pay them to bring me fresh towels.

Unbeleivably, the cashiers at the deli at my agency put a tip jar next to the register. At first it was a penny jar, then they attached a "tip" sign to it and planted a couple dollar bills in it. All they do is sit and collect money, why should they be tipped? Apparently that didn't go over too well' about 2 weeks later it was gone and it went back to being a penny jar.

Basically, I refuse to tip for anyone that makes a salary and is simply doing their job by rote. If they go above and beyond, then yes, of course I will tip them. But it just kills me to see a tip jar at some place like Dunkin' Donuts. I mean, come on!
 
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My brother was a garbage collector for a number of years. I could not believe the haul he got every Christmas! He got tons of homemade baked goods, boxes of candy, even beer!!! Maybe got money but I don't recall that. Heck, I didn't even know who my garbage collector was. Turned out, it was him, on our route! We live in a rural area and I know that the few times I forget to put my dumpster out on the street, the driver will come and get it (and it's not my brother now).
 
I think it is very kind of people to tip, but I don't have the money to do it and I really don't get any personal services done one myself (like having a hairdresser or nail technician).

Also, my mail carrier is someone different every couple days.

I was tipped a few times already this week by my personal training clients. I was so thankful. They didn't have to do that. It never even crossed my mind that they would, either.

I have never heard of tipping the garbage man though. How do you do that? Ours comes at 3 or 4 in the morning on Mondays at the end of our driveway where we leave our trash... I don't know how I would even tip them...
 
Govtgirl said:
Unbeleivably, the cashiers at the deli at my agency put a tip jar next to the register.
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Yep, that's what did it for me too. When I saw a tip jar next to the register of our local take-out place, I couldn't believe it. Exactly what am I tipping for again?

My niece insisted on tipping some balloon performer dude who approached our table at a restaurant and made a hat for someone in our party. Uh...okay. She was very haughty about it too, like the rest of us should have been ashamed for not jumping up and tipping him right away. Forgive me, but I didn't ask him to come over and chat us up. (Nor did I want a balloon hat in the shape of a beer mug.) He invited himself over, and quite forcefully.

I tip cab drivers, but I don't really feel the same way about them as I do wait staff and housekeeping. I'm not really sure what "extra" service they provide when they take you from Point A to B. Are they paid well, or do they depend on our tips for gas money?

I like to tip housekeeping, but I usually get great service. If they blew me off, I wouldn't feel quite as generous.

Netta, that's funny about not knowing who your garbage collector was and it turning out to be your brother. :D
 
It seems like everyone wants a tip these days. Here's a tip "Don't bet on the horses" :p

I find it tacky that our newspaper carrier, who drops off the Sunday paper, leaves a tip envelope with our paper. Talk about presumptuous!

I do give a holiday gift to the awesome drivers who take my mother to and from her weekly medical appointments. They drove her home through a blizzard last night and apologized for being late! They work their arses off and they are very kind to my mother.

I also will leave a Dunkin Donuts giftcard for the trash dude. He never says a word about the occasional extra bag and he's even backed the truck up for my SO who came running to the road with the trash we forgot to put out the night before.


And on a side note, I find it interesting that people are so willing to tip for what really constitutes piddly tasks when you consider the context of other things they complain about. We recently had massive power outages in upstate NY (and a good chunk of the northeast) after an ice storm and people were outraged to see linemen (and women) who completed 18 hour shift have the "nerve" to eat a hot meal in Denny's. I got into an argument with a woman I overhead in the grocery store complaining "Can't they pack a lunch or eat a candy bar? We're without power!" So next time you ponder tipping your well paid job secure mailman consider tipping, or at least extending common courtesy, to the line person who risks their life working interesting conditions to provide you with the creature comforts you have grown accustomed ;)
 
tipping

Hi,

I'm not a big tipper, but DH tips if he gets a chance. Last year he tipped the guy who delivers the bottled water. All I can say is our service has improved 10 fold. Before he did his job and I had no complaints, but now it is great! He calls me before he comes to remind us to put out the bottles and much more. I know it's a small part of life, but it does go to show that sometimes people will go the extra mile if they know they are appreciated. Personally, I would never have even to thought about tipping him last year, but I wrote the check this year. We don't tip any other service providers.

Tracy
 
I always understood that the tip jars by the cash registers were for the people PREPARING the food, not the cashiers. I don't mind throwing a couple of bucks in there at my favorite pizza place. I love those guys and I see them way too often. We're on a first name basis now...:D
 
I do try to tip most of our service providers around the holidays. It does kind of annoy me when the paper delivery person sends an envelope, but DH would probably forget to tip him if he didn't. And he does give us good service. We also tip the mail carrier and trash collectors, although sometimes it's hard to catch the trash guys, since I don't want to leave an envelope out on the curb. Our mail carrier definitely deserves the tip; he is a great guy, and has been known to take in our papers when we're away if we forget to have a neighbor do it. I do think we get better service from the trash pickup guys when we tip them. We chip in money towards class gifts for the kids' teachers. I also tip my daughter's bus driver, my hair stylist, the kids' piano teacher, and our cleaning people. I am fortunate to be able to afford their services, and to afford to give them a gift, and I just think it's the right thing to do, especially since so many people are having financial difficulties lately.
 
I tip really well..I live in Vegas, and believe me, it goes a long way here in this cynical, seen it all city!

We tip our mailman, he and DH love to shoot the breeze...we tip the housekeepers, we tip the garbage guys and hum, oh, of course if I am having my hair done, I tip the color guy and the stylist, even though they charge a ridiculous amount of money anyway, its not their fault, I go to a salon in one of the strip hotels, so they mark up the cost alot.

I used to work for tips only, so am always aware of tipping for good service. But will no hesitate to leave a small tip if the service sucked.
 
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