etiquette question - christmas

[pattyT]

HI!
Ok I want to know who to buy gifts for - make gifts for - throw them a little extra tip or when to draw the line...

The mailman?
The hairdresser?
The mechanic?
The UPS guy?
Fed Ex man?
garbage men?

oh am I forgetting anyone??

 

[Pete's Mom]

None of them.

 

[newholidayx2]

I have a card for our mailman - and maybe a batch of Grinch kisses
One of my hairdressers (my friend who colors my hair) may be getting something

Dont forget your librarians! we love to get goodies at Christmastime

 

[supergoof]

1) no

2) maybe

3) no

4) no

5) no

6) no

write in 7) supergoof = YES!

 

[beattyfamily]

Of your list, I only give to the mailman. I used to give small gifts till my sister told me that her best friend's father was a mailman for 40 years and got mostly money for a gift and that is what he liked the best (of course!).

I also give something to my DDs teachers and bus driver.

That's it.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

None of them. I tip my hairstylist well every time I get a cut, and the rest of the people on that list make plenty.

 

[SC Minnie]

I had my haircut last week and I really like the way she has been doing my hair (Been seeing her for about 1.5 years)-- anyway I gave her an extra big tip.

The others-- if I have no personal contact with them or they don't have to go above and beyond their regular job then no I don't do anything.

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

We give our hairdresser a card/pic and an extra tip.

But for the others? Nothing here.

You are too generous!!! Of course, I did buy for over 20 teachers this year between all 3 kids

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

You know I USED to be happy to give holiday gifts to the mailman, the garbage guys, the newspaper man, but this year service has slipped so much in all areas that I'm not giving anything.

I really loved the newspaper guy, but we've gotten a new guy and he's always late.

The garbage guys have passed by our can more than once and broken the wheels off our relatively new can.

Our mailman...well...there was a day that no one on our block got mail -- the person forgot about us. And this has happened more than once!

 

[Jenn Lynn]

None of them.

 

[NMAmy]

I used to work at a car dealership and I was always so pleasantly surprised when customers would bring us homemade treats for Christmas. I try to do it now if I'm bringing my car in during the holidays. And, since DH is taking the car in for an oil change next week, I'll send some cookies along with him.

 

[Crankyshank]

I'm giving the mailman and the milkman a $10 g/c to Target or B&N
My hairdresser will get a bigger tip the next time I see her on 12/28

 

[cats7494]

The mailman? Nope
The hairdresser? Yes
The mechanic? Nope
The UPS guy? Nope
Fed Ex man? Nope
garbage men? Nope

We give to my DD's teacher

 

[cgcw]

I tip my hairdresser every time I'm there, so no extra tip at Christmas.

Other than that, I tip most everyone else. Letter carrier, UPS, garbage guy and water delivery guy. But, I run a business out of my home so at Christmas, I like to compensate for the little bit of extras they do during the year. Not a lot, but they get a gift card to the big mall by us.

Our letter carrier is always dragging boxes up to the door, as does the UPS guy. One year, we were on vacation and a load of boxes came. The neighbors were on the lookout for them but the UPS man carried them over our locked gate, around to the back door, tucking them under the overhang. It was days before the neighbors spotted them out there. Too me, that's above and beyond and I don't mind tipping. The water man will always help me get the water into the house if I'm home -- that way, it doesn't freeze outside during the winter. Even the garbage man has been known to stop back at the end of the day to pick up the garbage we have that's above our quote. Not always, but if he has room in the truck and we have a lot of extra, he does.

If we have a problem, I don't tip. When we had the daily paper delivered, the guidelines were that it had to be delivered at the front door. If we didn't wake up to a loud bang in the morning from his hitting the house with the paper, he'd somehow manage to knock over our flower pots. One time, he managed to hit the nozzle for the hose and turned it on. As if that isn't enough, he would run off the driveway, in his hurry to deliver the paper and we'd have ruts in the lawn. So, no tip for him -- at we eventually got to the point where we asked that our paper be left at the end of the driveway.

 

[snoopy]

Tips to mailman, newspaper boy (man? I have no idea who actually delivers the paper, but whomever it is, gets a tip!), hairdresser.

GCs to teachers and after-care providers.

 

[oogieboogie]

The mailman? yes - I give them a box of chocolates. I gift just because he and DH are on first name basis and they chat a lot. So it's like gifting a good friend who happens to bring me my mail.
The hairdresser? depends - is he/she your only hairdresser? If yes, tip the same amount as the haircut would cost you
The mechanic? no
The UPS guy? no unless he's your regular UPS guy and you see him everyday for 365 days a year. Then it's a box of chocolate.
Fed Ex man? same as UPS guy
garbage men? no, can't ever figure out how to do it. They come way too early for me to give out gifts.

The newspaper person if you see him at all. I gift a box of chocolates. I don't have newspaper delivery anymore so no.

 

[Otto's Doll]

This brings up a dilemma for me... our paper is delivered around 5:00am (or possibly earlier) and it is still full dark here. How do I leave a tip for the paper person? I pay my bill yearly by mail, and I have no idea how to leave something that they will find. Any suggestions?
(Maybe leave the motion sensor light on and a gc in a plastic bag on the steps?)

 

[Kallison]

I always do stuff for the sanitation guys throughout the year, they work hard, and deserve it. I gave them a big bag of candy at Halloween, I bring out cold sodas during heatwaves. The mailman is great, I usually give him something. I have tons of teachers at my kids school and teachers I work with. I don't worry about anyone else.

 

[TimeforMe]

Wow--some of you guys are tough! I tip the mailman (and hope you will, too--DH happens to be one), hairdresser and if I saw the others on a semi-regular basis, would tip them as well. DH works long and hard at this time of year and earns his money and then some--he REALLY appreciates tips and tries to accomodate his customers whenever he can. Believe me, we're not getting rich from a mailman's salary.

 

[RadioNate]

None of them. If I had a regular hairdresser that I was seeing around the holidays I would give something to her. I couldn't even tell you who our mailperson is. We have a community mailbox so it's not like they even have to walk from house to house and we still have tons of missing mail or wrong mail. It's a weekly thing at 6pm to see 1/2 the neighborhood out exchanging mail with the rightful owners. I haven't had good mail service in years so I don't tip. My mom does but she's had the same carrier for years and he's been known to shovel her porch in the winter (she can't use her left arm) when he sees she's just cleared a little path.

I don't have a regular mechanic, and we don't get much fed ex or ups so they are out. It never occured to me to tip the trash people.