My garbage man just knocked on my door...

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Our garbage collectors are inmates from the honor wings from the prison. They do not get tips from my household.

Yes, I know this as a fact. My hubby is a CO there (corrections officer).

Where in MO are you from if you don't mind me asking?

 

[NMAmy]

at the Hallmark store I saw a Christmas card "for our pediatrician". Oh great, am I supposed to tip the pediatrician now?
Robin M.

Really, it's a wonder anyone does anything for me, because apparently my tipping skills leave a lot to be desired. I don't tip my garbage men (see my tag from last year's garbage man tipping thread--still no special sanitation type services going on here), I don't have a regular hair stylist, I don't tip the mail carrier. I do tip the newspaper delivery person but I do that every 4 months when I pay my bill and that's never around Christmas. And I've never tipped the pediatrician. What is up with tipping people to do their job?

 

[mefordis]

DO NOT put tips under garbage lids! I did last year (put $80 cash in an envelope and taped it to the underside of the lid) and guess what? The recycling guys made the same route before the trash guys and got my tip! I know this because I confirmed it with the garbage guys and i saw them do it -- I thought they looked different and it happened so fast I didn't have time to confirm anything with them on the spot.

This year I think I'm not giving anything. That really sucked last year to see that happen.

Some hand it to him and some tape it under the lid. I think he may have put his address on the card so it could be mailed - but not sure.

btw - he does not knock on doors

I never tipped the garbage man either and didn't understand why others did - now I do. It really is a crappy job - esp in the heat and bitter cold.

 

[luvtogo12]

Boy would I love for my garbage man to come to my door asking for a tip. Every pick-up day, he throws my cans in front of my driveway. It does not matter how far away from the driveway I place my cans, they always end up in the driveway.

The recycling "guy" left us a card. I assume he is looking for a tip.

 

[luvsJack]

Is it at all possible that he was not actually asking for a gift but letting you know some new procedure for giving a money gift if you wanted to?

 

[Imzadi]

I had to have him dumb it down to Intermediate French for me.

Uh..something something something if you want to wish us happy holidays...I think.

Did it start out like, "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?...you want to wish us happy holidays?"

Are you really sure it was the garbage man? Have you ever seen him before taking your garbage?

 

[pixiesilk]

Where in MO are you from if you don't mind me asking?

I sent you a pm!

 

[MentalVacation]

My DH has worked in the garbage industry since 1993, and is currently a GM (so no, he doesn't ride a truck). He will tell you that his guys, especially the ones on the back of the trucks, are in a very high stress environment. They are constantly dodging cars, dogs, kids, and weather. They are always stories of how they almost get hit by cars driven by people that think they have the right of way over the pedestrian. (FTR, it's a private hauler, not municipal) In fact, one of our city councilman said recently that garbagemen in this city (both municipal and private) have the most dangerous job in town because of other drivers. That's the kind of stress I could live without.

I was thinking this exact same thing. I wouldn't want to be a garbage collector a. b/c it is a dirty, hard job and b. b/c people are idiots and drive like crazy.

I don't tip ours b/c I've never heard of that before. Ours are a private company contracted w/the city. We pay the city. They do do a great job. Always take our trash even if we forget to move it out to the curb (the policy). Hmmm...who else should I be tipping? My sitter. My hairdresser. My cleaning lady. How do you decide how much? Ack.

 

[Stacerita]

Did it start out like, "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?...you want to wish us happy holidays?"

Are you really sure it was the garbage man? Have you ever seen him before taking your garbage?

 

[KristineN]

Mine has never knocked on my door...but I do tip:

the garbage man

the mailman

the newspaper guy....

while growing up my parents ALWAYS tipped these service personnel....so I have always done the same.

around here I know that almost everyone tips the mailman as well as the newspaper deliverer...not sure about the garbage man. But we generate a TON of trash...so much so that at times I have felt sorry for the guy

 

[KristineN]

I tip her as well...and if I had a sitter, I would give a small xmas gift to them as well.

I was thinking this exact same thing. I wouldn't want to be a garbage collector a. b/c it is a dirty, hard job and b. b/c people are idiots and drive like crazy.

I don't tip ours b/c I've never heard of that before. Ours are a private company contracted w/the city. We pay the city. They do do a great job. Always take our trash even if we forget to move it out to the curb (the policy). Hmmm...who else should I be tipping? My sitter. My hairdresser. My cleaning lady. How do you decide how much? Ack.

 

[monkey68]

I've always tipped my garbage man - and I am 40 years old.

Everyone who does a job for me - that I would NEVER want to do gets cash at Christmas:
garbage men (ours make like $30 an hour but I tip anyway)
mailman
newpaper delivery
parking attendant
housekeeper
favorite wait staff

I love the garbage men - for a case of beer they will take anything!

Yea, but there's gotta be other jobs that you don't want to do. I could never be a podiatrist, I am terrified of feet, doesn't mean I'm going to tip my podiatrist. Actually, I don't think medical personnel can except cash, but the idea is the same. There are plenty of jobs that people hate, but don;t tip.

Personally, I wouldn't mind being a mailwoman. Just because it's a job I would like to have, does that mean I should not tip them based on that logic?

BTW, I'm not trying to start anything, I am however on percocet right now, and I'm not quite sure what I'm actually saying. But I'm just trying to understand your logic. Are these your own personal rules based on jobs you wouldn't want, or are they rules you think other people should go on too? And again, I apologize if my question makes no sense. I've never taken percocet before, and my doctor told me to try just one pill first. One did nothing. I took another, and now I feel like I'm in lala land.

 

[C.Ann]

That would really tick me off.. But then again, I don't give gifts to every single person who has crossed my path in the course of a year..

If someone goes "above and beyond" - yes.. If they are just performing their job - a job that they have agreed to do for "x" amount of money - I see no reason to give them a gift for performing job duties as required per their employer..

 

[2BigKIdz]

When we used to receive the newspaper, the carrier always left an envelope in the paper box at Christmas for our convenience to give him a monetary gift. It has never crossed my mind to tip the trash collector. We have a HOA and a portion of our dues are for trash collection. The trucks have arms that pick up the trash can and dump it, but I guess if you left bags beside the can they would have to get out and get that, other than that they are safely in their vehicle. I don't see where driving by my house and using a mechanical arm to dump a trash can once a week would merit a tip. Plus they always leave my can in the road instead of placing it back where it was, safely on the side.

I went to the same hair dresser for many years and I always gave her a Christmas tip.

 

[DarthKTrava]

I don't give them anything and would be offended if they knocked on the door asking for money.

 

[Briarmom]

Ok I am imagine if he was offering you a Happy Holidays wish! Here you are handing him cash - good thing you didn't get arrested!

My french isn't that bad.

You always know where there is a translator

That would have been classic. 'Wait, can you type it out for me in french on this Disney internet forum?'

Honestly, I think you would do better to ask a couple neighbors if it's normal. Some dis'ers won't notice you're in Belgium, others won't know. The poster from the UK said it's definitely not done where she lives, but then in your country it seems OK, since he did it. Just go next door and ask if it's normal; you'll get a better answer than from here, I would think.

Or we could laugh about it on the DIS. I gave him money, they want money around the holidays. I wanted to know if it was normal anywhere else.

It is normal for the area she's in, my in-laws live on the French side not too from where she is and it's happened every holiday season. It's not just the garbage man that does it either.

Good to know. I will stop answering the door. That's what I normally do anyway.

Did it start out like, "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?...you want to wish us happy holidays?"

 

[manning]

I would have told him the ham bone is in the bag.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I've never tipped the garbage man. They are municipal employees and are paid a very good wage. Also, our city has the mechanical trucks and special garbage cans (one per family no matter what your family size). The garbage man never even has to get out of his truck. The mechanical "arm" comes out, picks up the can, empties it into the truck and sets the can back down.

Then I believe the protocol is to tip one can of oil for each mechanical arm

We don't tip people we are already paying to provide us a service, like the garbage men, the paper carrier, etc. And am I wrong or isn't it against the rules for postal carriers to accept monetary gifts or tips?

 

[Sleepy]

I would love to see our garbage people knocking on my door for a tip. I would tell them to take a hike! The sorry critters took a couple months off this year and left all of us exposed to rotting piles of garbage as high as 20 feet (toxic fumes from burning, pesticides sprayed on the garbage to keep away rats, etc). People got very sick. Not to mention they blocked streets (including major interstates) while they protested. They got violent too. They don't deserve a tip. They darn sure don't deserve a thank you either.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I tip the garbage men. I tip the mailman.

I tip the stylist a LOT.

If the garbage men didn't set the cans down nicely or even skipped us, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

If the mailman didn't have stamps for me to buy when I wanted them or skipped the house, I'd live through that, too.

But I want the stylist to be very, VERY happy with me.