Tipping...Does Money Say Thank You?

[cabinetman]

This time of the year is nice to give a special thanks for services. Our paper delivery person pulls no punches. We find a self addressed envelope with an address on it. OK, so it's not an overt act, they just want to make it easy.

Well, the last few years have been different. We used to have the same mail person, and at times we've had some short friendly conversations. We would tip him. But, now it's maybe three or four. Adding to the problem, our mail delivery isn't as accurately delivered as it used to be. We get other people's mail, and they get ours. Sometimes we just don't get what was mailed.

I like showing appreciation for good service. So, this year, no tip to the mail carrier. Since we only get the paper on Sunday, and it lands on the corner of the property, instead of even near the front door, I was thinkin' to take the self addressed envelope with the thank you card inside, and writing a note as follows:

=========================================

Dear paper person,

This time of year we have the heartfelt desire to say thank you for your services. Please accept this warm greeting instead of a check, as we felt it was a more meaningful way to show our appreciation.

=========================================

There's just too many to list...the gas delivery guy, the water meter guy, the power meter reader, UPS, and Fedex, our pharmacist, our favorite check out girl at the grocery store, our favorite deli meat clerk, our pizza delivery person, and our veterinarian.

I do make a point of a cash envelope to my materials delivery guys, as they have control of what and when I get my goodies. So, my question is...what do you do at this time of year?

.

[sweensdv]

"Tipping...Does Money Say Thank You? "

It does to the person receiving the money.

[Dal300]

It did to me.

I just made a couple of 10X14X1 1/4" end grain cutting boards for a neighbor to give as gifts to her DiL's. I left it up to her what they were worth, (I only had time and glue into them, the wood was shorts and cut-offs glued up and cut).

She decided $50 each and then this morning I found a check for another $50 in the crack of my shop door.

[All Thumbs]

It did to me.

I just made a couple of 10X14X1 1/4" end grain cutting boards for a neighbor to give as gifts to her DiL's. I left it up to her what they were worth, (I only had time and glue into them, the wood was shorts and cut-offs glued up and cut).

She decided $50 each and then this morning I found a check for another $50 in the crack of my shop door.

How do you know the $50 in the crack of the door wasn't an order for another one?

And whatever you do, don't fix that crack.

[Dal300]

Cause she's gone to her families place until after Christmas. Besides, when she wants something she has no problem calling me or my wife and hinting....
You know those kind of hints.... I sure wish I could find someone to wash the siding or I just don't know how I'm going to get that 11' long Roch Maple desk into my house through those tiny little 32" doorways and around the corners and up the stairs........

The first thing you know, I have been volunteered. (That's me, Strong back and a weak mind)!

How do you know the $50 in the crack of the door wasn't an order for another one?

And whatever you do, don't fix that crack.

[JoeyGee]

I used to be a paper boy and I appreciated holiday tips, but never expected them. I was already paid to do the job. We not only had to deliver to the door, we had to collect money, too. Nowadays, our paper is thrown somewhere on our driveway by somoene in a car, and we pay online. We never see anyone, let alone talk to them. We do get nice "I hope you appreciate our timely delivery (hint, hint)" cards this time of year. I feel no obligation to tip for this.

Now, I know wait staffs are often paid based on also getting tips, and I understand that and tip well--exceptionally well if the service is good.

It drives me bonkers to see tip jars at almost ever counter now--like you deserve extra for taking my money, making change and handing me my order.

I honestly don't have anyone to tip at the holidays. Like you, our USPS carrier is different almost every day--and they are paid to deliver my mail, without tips factored in. I don't get tips at work from my co-workers if I do somehting for them. Call me stingy, but I just don't get it.

[JimD]

Waitresses in restarants get little or no salary because they get tips. Paper delivery people don't make much but most of the others you mention make a reasonable wage. Even the paper guy is not paid figuring he will get tips. I guess I am stingy. I give a little money to various charities helping homeless - that sort of thing - but I do not tip any of the people you mention. I like the mail carrier, I talked to him a little today, but I don't tip everybody I like. I don't want a tip for doing my job. It seems a little demeaning to me to tip people.

Jim

[Richard in Smithville]

My wife works in a diner making "servers wage" She puts extra effort into how she treats customers and it shows in the amount of tips she brings in opposed to the others. She has also come home with a few extras this past week.

[newbie2wood]

I’m not stingy about tipping if the service is good. I will gladly tip the waitress, furniture delivery person, or tour guide. With that said, I am not tipping my newspaper delivery person or my mail carrier this year. My wife subscribes to the Sunday edition of the local paper mainly for the sale ads and coupons. Every week some of the coupons are missing. We know this because one of our friends orders the same paper but has a different person delivering it. My wife has complained to the newspaper but the same thing happens every week. As for the mail carrier, I am constantly getting my neighbor’s mails. On one occasion, I observed the mail carrier, from my window, damaging my mailbox with his vehicle and drove off as if nothing happened.

BTW, I think it is against postal policy to tip the mailman with cash.

[LinuxRandal]

BTW, I think it is against postal policy to tip the mailman with cash.

It is. I don't have a clue who or how many postal carriers run my route. I don't normally see them and when I do, it is a different one from one time to the next. That, and the limited range they have to leave their routes (bathroom use, lunch, etc) means there are few choices of where to buy gift certificates for lunch.
Since I don't get much mail in (mostly junk plus monthly bills), and always take my outgoing to the post office or a mailbox at work, I (and my bosses) take care of our work carriers. I know they do earn more money then me but it isn't all about money. I was raised that TIPS was an acronym for To Insure Proper Service.
If we had to tip everybody, it would be as bad as the year I had half off (due to surgery) and my brother and sister in law were expecting me to buy expensive presents (for them, not for kids) on CC. Christmas time is stressful enough for some of us, I don't even like going out this time of year. (can't wait till this **** is over)

[Pappy]

I am a mailman and you are right, policy is that we are not supposed to recieve cash or large gifts. Falls under the same guide lines that prevent a congressman from taking a gift or 'donation' that would obligate him to the donor.

A tip to say 'thanks for the service' is not quite the same. I give a small gift and along with a tip to my floater (the sub that works my route on my days off). I also leave something for my mailman at the house.

As far as my customers, I have been doing the same route for 13 years. I know many of them by first name, have watched their kids grow up, and too often consoled them in times of tragedy. I try to give them the best service I can and will go out of my way when I can, like going back on a package if I have time because they weren't home when I delivered their mail. While a small tip is appreciated, it isn't something I expect. As was said, I am paid to do my job.

[cwsmith]

I had a paper route for three years when I was a teen. Some people would tip or "gift" me at Christmas and all but one or two would make me happy with just a terrific Christmas greeting or even maybe a couple of cookies. There was one customer who always asked me to share some hot chocolate with them (an eldely couple); and that of course was most memorable for me, and I still remember their names well. But that said, the cheeriness of the greetings probably meant just as much to me as most anything else.

One of my first jobs after highschool was working in a restaurant. Here in NY State, the waitresses received tips and therefore their hourly wage was significantly less than even mine, as a bus boy! I felt sorry for that, because frankly the young, pretty girls got a lot more tips, than the much older waitresses. (Bussing all of the tables, that fact was pretty evident, even at my young seventeen years. I always felt that was terribly unfair and clearly discrimminatory.)

I'm not much for tipping, (or for so-called "awards"), as I think people (other than waitresses) are usually paid to do their jobs. Some people are pretty, some are not (and I mean not just good looks), but generally speaking, a good job is a good job and a bad one... well you get the idea. Tipping is nice perhaps, but it can also be demeaning I think.

In any case, I always tip the waitress and after that it will pretty much depend on "above and beyond", which I always feel it is necessary to recognize in some way.

Merry Christmas to everyone,

CWS

[woodturner]

Waitresses in restarants get little or no salary because they get tips.

FWIW, in the US all worker are required to be paid at least minimum wage - including servers. If a server does not collect enough in tips to make minimum wage, the restaurant pays the difference.

[sparkeyjames]

FWIW, in the US all worker are required to be paid at least minimum wage - including servers. If a server does not collect enough in tips to make minimum wage, the restaurant pays the difference.

That's not quite correct. It differs by state.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

[woodturner]

That's not quite correct. It differs by state.

As the link you posted shows, federal law sets the minimum wage, currently $7.25 for tipped employess. So all tipped employees have to be paid a minimum of $7.25 an hour, as I posted. What does vary by state is how they calculate the tip credit and how much an employee has to make in tips before they are considered a "tipped employee" and the actual minimum wage - the state can set a higher minimum wage than the federal rate, they just can't set a lower minimum wage. As the link shows, most states set the minimum wage for tipped employees higher than the $7.25 federal minimu.

I'm not sure what you thought was incorrect about what I posted? I said "in the US all worker are required to be paid at least minimum wage - including servers." As the link indicates, the federal minimum is $7.25 - so all servers have to be paid a minimum of $7.25 per hour. If they make enough in tips so that the state minimum + tips is greater than $7.25/hr, that's fine - but if they don't the employer makes up the difference, so that every server makes at least $7.25 per hour.

As a practical matter, all tipping does at most restaurants is make more profit for the owner. With the exception of "high end" restaurants, it's difficult to make enough in tips to exceed minimum wage by much, so all we are really doing is saving the owner the labor expense. If we all stopped tipping, the servers' paychecks would pretty much be the same. When you consider a typical restaurant is busy around meal times but pretty slow between meals, averaging even 20% tips earned in a two hour period over an eight to ten hour shift basically earns a server minimum wage.