Do you tip your garbage man?

[Tastes of Chocolate]

I'm not planning on tipping my garbage collector. Are you?

I live in the suburbs. Once a week I wheel my garbage company supplied trash can down to the curb, place it with the front of the can towards the street, with at least 12" seperating it from everything else. Sometime after 8AM a big blue garbage truck drives up, swings out an arm, picks up my can, empties it into the truck and places the garbage can back on the curbside.

2 weeks ago, a post card came in the mail. It was pre-printed with a message wishing us a happy holiday season, from John Doe, your garbage collector.

I've never talked to this person. I don't even remember seeing this person. I can only guess that this is an attempt at a holiday tip. When I was growing up, the garbage man ran down the driveway and collected the garbage from the side of the house. I would see him every week and we would wave.

I'm not even sure how I would leave a tip. In the old days, I could have left an envelop taped to the top of the garbage can. Now, that can sits at the side of the road, near two schools, with lots of people walking by.

[KneadToKnow]

Do I what my who?

[Slithy Tove]

When I lived on Oahu it was strongly advised to leave at least a six-pack for the garbage collectors at Christmas. Failure to do so could bring the sort of retribution that only people like garbage men can inflict.

Where I live now there's not such a strong(armed) tradition, but since I have access at my job to Kevlar gloves at wholesale price, I leave a few pairs for them.

[Harmonious Discord]

No

[Tamerlane]

The only time I have ever heard of such a thing, was an under the table quid pro quo arrangement.

I had a neighbor that would occasionally leave "extra garbage" of various sorts with a six-pack sitting on top. There was no prior agreement, or discussion, or even face to face contact at all, but it always "worked" - the extra junk was whisked away w/out any extra fees being charged and the six pack disappeared with it. Whether they would have cleared the stuff away without the six-pack is an open question, but it seemed like a reasonable compromise to me ( in the Bay Area extra garbage pick-ups can be pricey ).

[madmonk28]

I do in DC. I gave them a case of beer last year. This year I'm not in the states. They seemed to appreciate it, I did it because when I go to work I would see these guys really working hard trying to collect garbage in these narrow DC alleys. I'd say good morning, they'd say good morning, why not give them a case of beer.

I give gifts to the mail carrier, too.

[Harmonious Discord]

In Wisconsin we give all the snowplow operators a case of beer. They need something to calm their nerves when they're taking down mailboxes along the road.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

To those who leave some suds out for the plowmen or sanitation engineers, how do you ensure that the brews get to the intended recipients, as opposed to the neighborhood kids?

(Serious question BTW)

[kopek]

We live in the city and garbage is nearly unlimited and free. I don't do holiday tips as a general rule. However, if for some reason I put out way more rubbish than normal (when we cleaned out our attic) I will sometimes slip them a few bucks or a bottle or something. They got a tough frikkin job and if I make it extra tough in some way, I like to recognize that.

[kopek]

To those who leave some suds out for the plowmen or sanitation engineers, how do you ensure that the brews get to the intended recipients, as opposed to the neighborhood kids?

(Serious question BTW)


Wait around and hand it to them. They are so good about following their schedule that you can almost set your clock ----- so its no great hardship.

Also -------- I do sometimes informally "tip". The one occasion I was tossing some old skin magazines. I kept that bag on the porch and went out and handed it over in person. The driver actually thanked me before he tossed it in the cab.

[badlyburnttoast]

I've never even heard of or considered such a thing till I saw someone mention it here on the 'dope.

I think it's absurd. Sure, it's a fairly crappy job but lots of people have crappy jobs, should I track them all down and tip them too? Why does the garbage man deserve a tip more then the guy at the sewage treatment plant who literally has to put up with your crap all day?

[Cunctator]

No. I pay rates to my council, and it's responsible for paying the garbagemen.

[Harmonious Discord]

To those who leave some suds out for the plowmen or sanitation engineers, how do you ensure that the brews get to the intended recipients, as opposed to the neighborhood kids?

(Serious question BTW)

I was kidding. They just take down the mailboxes like they were drinking.;)

[otternell]

In Wisconsin we give all the snowplow operators a case of beer. They need something to calm their nerves when they're taking down mailboxes along the road.

This made me laugh so hard, because my street already has 50% of the mailboxes leaning at a 45 degree angle! I think our first snow storm (was that blizzard a couple of weeks ago) and my neighbor once removed lost theirs!

I wonder if a case of beer is enough of a bribe to get them to miss mine! :D

[dolphinboy]

I live in Montana and we don't have garbage collection where I live. I have to take our garbage can to a solid waste transfer station once a week. The good thing is that it's free and I can dump as much as I want, whenever I want. So I don't tip myself.

Where I lived in Northern California we had garbage collection and I don't remember anyone tipping them. They make good money, and have great benefits, so the thought never crossed my mind. Of course I didn't tip the paperboy or mailman either. Tipping service-related people may be a regional thing in the US...

[Khadaji]

No. I wouldn't even know how. I pay the township, they pay the garbage people. I would have to stand out tomorrow morning and wait for them to arrive to hand them something. I'm not even sure if I get the same people week after week.

[Anaamika]

I pay for garbage pickup! It isn't a lot, but it comes to about $20 a month. I'm not tipping them extra.

[Hal Briston]

I used to, but since they've gotten worse and worse at their job this year, nope, not this time.

[Icerigger]

We have always put a bottle of Spirits out for them.

[Mr. Moto]

Hey, they already get all they can eat.

:D

[BMalion]

I was told by the garbage man when I asked him to tape a note to the can saying "look under mat" and leave whatever tip under the mat.

I have 2 guys and a driver on my route, my mom tipped them when I was a kid so now that I now own my own house I'm planning on leaving them $5 each in an envelope.

They work hard and never complain and always put the lid back on the can. I like that.

[Trick Rider]

Since all they do is drive the truck to the dumpster where everyone puts their garbage...

No. No I don't.

[ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness]

Nope. Where I live the whole process is mostly automated (put the city provided container in the street against the curb leaving 3 feet between it and the recycle bin and any parked cars - nothing on top or on the side - if it doesn't fit in the container it doesn't get picked up - let the truck with the hydraulic claw arm grab the container and dump it) and the guys never even get out of the truck, even when they miscalculate and place the container back down on the edge of the curb so it tips over and falls into the street. Plus the city just jacked up our refuse bill again another $3/month to $25 (9 years ago it was $13.50/month).
Besides, I wouldn't know how or when to give a tip, seeing as they show up anywhere between 7 am and noon.

[Hi Medlo]

Yes, we tip our garbage guy. He has a tough job, out in all sorts of weather. It's especially awful on a hot summer day. He's always cheerful and friendly and has even come down the driveway to pick up the trash when we've been out of town.
I appreciate him doing a job I wouldn't want to do and 20 bucks and a "Thank you" at Christmas time makes him feel good.

[joebuck20]

Nope, that's what I pay taxes for.

[RickJay]

I pay a lot of property tax and they make a lot of money. Why on earth should I tip them?

[Una Persson]

Even if I ever wanted to, we don't have a regular garbage person or post person. It seems like they're different nearly every month.

[freckafree]

I've never understood the "tip the garbage men/women, tip the paper boy/girl, tip the mail carrier" thing.

My garbage is picked up by Waste Management Incorporated. I assume they pay their employees an appropriate wage. I don't have any idea if the same person picks my garbage up every week, since the pick-up time varies.

My "paper boy/girl" has for the last few years been an adult who pulls his/her car into my driveway and drops the paper there, 20 feet from the house. He/she doesn't come to collect. It's all handled by automatic bill pay to the newspaper. I don't know why I should tip this person.

Tipping the mail carrier? I bet the person who delivers my mail makes more than I do. And it's not the same person every week.

[elfkin477]

Nope, that's what I pay taxes for. We used to have a contract with a private garbage collection service because the town doesn't do it - do you suppose we ought to have tipped him because we paid him directly? Frankly, I didn't feel that someone who was paid $4/bag for his services was hurting for money enough to warrant a tip. Now it's moot because it costs a third as much to bring the trash to the dump ourselves, and we do.

[MovieMogul]

Yup. We have a big yard and sometimes leave an ungodly amount of tree and plant trimmings out front, and he works by himself (drives the truck and loads/unloads everything), so maybe he does get paid a lot (I wouldn't know) but it's our way of saying Thanks.

(Full disclosure: He also gives us a Xmas card each year, so we'd probably feel a little guilty if we didn't).

[Icerigger]

I neglected to say we give a bottle for Christmas not on a regular basis.;)

[Abby_Emma_Sasha]

We pay them $60 per quarter. I think that's enough.

[Una Persson]

Perhaps it's the Christmas whiskey talking, but I'll start tipping them when they start tipping me for helping to keep the freaking electricity flowing to their houses. Sanitation "engineers" indeed. :rolleyes:

FTR, it's perhaps not the best idea to set out alcohol for the garbage collectors. I used to know two guys who worked for the local disposal company, and according to them it was pretty common for them to be smoking pot and drinking while on the job (in their words, "no one can fucking smell anything over the shit in the back, and we never get pulled over anyhow"). Contributing to drunks taking the wheel of 40-tonne garbage trucks and careening them through the neighbourhood and down the highway makes Squishy the Safety Possum cry.

Edited: added an s

[CT_Damsel]

QUOTE=Una Persson Perhaps it's the Christmas whiskey talking, but I'll start tipping them when they start tipping me for helping to keep the freaking electricity flowing to their houses. Sanitation "engineers" indeed. :rolleyes:

I agree (except the whiskey, make mine tequila.) I work for a similar type of service provider (your internet connection, TV and dial tone:D )


I am a bit vague :confused: on the entire tipping process for anyone other than low paid restaurant staff and hairdressers.

[BrandonR]

Not just no, but hell no. This tipping madness must end. Just because someone had a shitty job doesn't mean they deserve a tip.

[norinew]

No, I don't tip the garbage men.
My husband worked for Waste Management for a couple of years (not domestic garbage pick-up, infectious waste from hospitals and other medical facilities); my BIL still works for WM (domestic pick-up). The money's not fantastic, but it's certainly decent, and they get benefits, too.

We contract with WM for our trash pick-up. We pay $14.00/mo for one trash can, which is emptied once a week.

I don't see the need to tip these people.

Likewise, the woman who delivers our mail. Yes, she's out in crappy weather. OTOH, it's a federal job, it's secure, it pays reasonably well.

I tip folks that go above and beyond, and/or make crappy money to begin with.

[joebuck20]

Another thing this got me wondering about - could "tips" to government employees like garbagemen and mail carriers be construed as bribes.

[Hi Medlo]

As someone who used to get tips....no, you don't consider it to be a bribe. You treat all your customers equally. A tip is a gift from someone who appreciates what you've done for them in the past year, simple as that. It made me feel good when I recieved a gift, monetary or otherwise, and that's why I tip the people who serve me.

[CT_Damsel]

Another thing this got me wondering about - could "tips" to government employees like garbagemen and mail carriers be construed as bribes.

Hmm... I'll bribe the mail carrier to bring my bills to someone else's house. :D

[BrandonR]

Hmm... I'll bribe the mail carrier to bring my bills to someone else's house. :D

That's the easy part. The hard part is getting them to pay the bills.

[CT_Damsel]

Vee haf vays:D

[tumbleddown]

Our local garbage collectors start at a wage that's about 150% of what I earn, with an excellent benefits package far beyond anything I get. The day I give them money or beer for doing their well-paid, highly secure government job is the day I willfully stick a fork in my own eye.

[cobhatecrew]

hey i work for waste services here, and yes we do get paid decent money. But where i live and work we have to lift everything by hand. Most people have extra garbage or heavy garbage and i will try to take ANYTHING for cash or a case of beer. I very much appreciate people coming out and giving me tips. i almost rely on it since ive been doing it for so long
Also, if your caught drinking or doing drugs. your instantly fired overhere

[BMalion]

I left a tip for them last Monday. They left me a nice little "thank you" by taking my empty garbage can way back up the driveway to the garage.

I felt good and for one brief, beautiful moment, it was 1955 again.

[NorCalSuburban]

I don't tip the garbage men- it is pure extortion. I guess that's why our garbage can was the only one "tipped" over on our street, in this quiet suburb outside San Francisco. We have the smallest possible container and it is always only half full. The whole tipping thing has gone out of control in America. Sure picking up garbage is hard work- but guess what, there are thousands of other thankless backbreaking jobs out there that are done behind the scenes for which people never get credit. What about the guys that have to go down and inspect and repair sewers? I'm sure they are on a fixed salary through local municipalities, and don't receive a bonus. Don't they deserve a tip too? How about Nurses that have to clean up crap from incontinent patients - Nursing is a terribly hard profession, shouldn't we be tipping them for services received? Should I tip my lawyer for getting my contract polished off on time? Should I tip my dentist for going the extra mile to look for cavities? Should I tip the BART train operator for getting me to work on time? (well, 80% of the time anyway) Should I tip the grocery store cashier and bagger for efficiently processing my transactions? Should I tip the auto mechanic for changing the oil (that's pretty darn messy work) ULTIMATELY EVERY WORKING PERSON IS A SERVICE PROFESSIONAL! WHERE SHOULD THE TIPPING STOP???

[cobhatecrew]

all the people i work with, including me. if someone tips you, you will give them better service. I will go out of my way to pick up your garbage if your late. if you dont flatten your cardboard i will do it for you. all for 20 bucks at christmas time. and yes i remember the houses that tip so i will continue to do it all year hoping for another tip around christmas. or beer or chocolate. you wouldnt believe the amount of booze you get around the holidays.. i dont even think i can drink it all. If you dont tip i dont care because so many other people do.
i know lots of people cannot tip and money is too tight but i still get lots of christmas cards saying what a good job im doing even if its just a christmas card, if i know that someone appreciates the hard work that i do, i will go out of my way for them if they have extra. you dont even need to tip. just leave a thank you card. im sure if the guy isnt a drunken looser he will appreciate it.

[cobhatecrew]

Perhaps it's the Christmas whiskey talking, but I'll start tipping them when they start tipping me for helping to keep the freaking electricity flowing to their houses. Sanitation "engineers" indeed. :rolleyes:

FTR, it's perhaps not the best idea to set out alcohol for the garbage collectors. I used to know two guys who worked for the local disposal company, and according to them it was pretty common for them to be smoking pot and drinking while on the job (in their words, "no one can fucking smell anything over the shit in the back, and we never get pulled over anyhow"). Contributing to drunks taking the wheel of 40-tonne garbage trucks and careening them through the neighbourhood and down the highway makes Squishy the Safety Possum cry.

Edited: added an s

i once saw a garbage man not even shoulder check and squished a car like a pancake with a barrier on the other side... and he was high on pot hehe

[salinqmind]

I might if I lived in the kind of place where I saw my friendly neighborhood garbage man, the kind who gives a wave and a smile, "how ya doing this morning, Ms. Sali?" We would exchange a few pleasantries. I would offer him a cold drink on a hot day, or hot coffee in the winter. Being as how a monster truck manned by anonymous strangers pulls up one day a week at 5 a.m., I don't feel moved to run outside with cash or a 6-pack. Though I AM appreciative, thanks, guys!

[joebuck20]

I don't tip the garbage men- it is pure extortion. I guess that's why our garbage can was the only one "tipped" over on our street, in this quiet suburb outside San Francisco. We have the smallest possible container and it is always only half full. The whole tipping thing has gone out of control in America. Sure picking up garbage is hard work- but guess what, there are thousands of other thankless backbreaking jobs out there that are done behind the scenes for which people never get credit. What about the guys that have to go down and inspect and repair sewers? I'm sure they are on a fixed salary through local municipalities, and don't receive a bonus. Don't they deserve a tip too? How about Nurses that have to clean up crap from incontinent patients - Nursing is a terribly hard profession, shouldn't we be tipping them for services received? Should I tip my lawyer for getting my contract polished off on time? Should I tip my dentist for going the extra mile to look for cavities? Should I tip the BART train operator for getting me to work on time? (well, 80% of the time anyway) Should I tip the grocery store cashier and bagger for efficiently processing my transactions? Should I tip the auto mechanic for changing the oil (that's pretty darn messy work) ULTIMATELY EVERY WORKING PERSON IS A SERVICE PROFESSIONAL! WHERE SHOULD THE TIPPING STOP???

Exactly. I have no problem tipping servers, cab drivers or hair stylists - people who usually have a shitty base salary and rely on tips to get by. But garbage men make a decent wage, paid for with my tax dollars, and are in a fairly secure job, especially if they're unionized.
I appreciate their hard work, don't get me wrong. But like you mentioned, there are plenty of other people busting their asses, sight unseen, who would never in million years expect a tip.

[BMalion]

...Sure picking up garbage is hard work- but guess what, there are thousands of other thankless backbreaking jobs out there that are done behind the scenes for which people never get credit. What about the guys that have to go down and inspect and repair sewers? I'm sure they are on a fixed salary through local municipalities, and don't receive a bonus. Don't they deserve a tip too? How about Nurses that have to clean up crap from incontinent patients - Nursing is a terribly hard profession, shouldn't we be tipping them for services received? ...



[to the news reporters]
The Shoveller: Excuse me, could I say something? I think we would all like this victory to go out to all the other guys, and I'm talking about the people in this city who are super good at their jobs but never get any credit. Like the lady in the DMV - that's a rough job.
Invisible Boy: To the people that remember jingles from tons of old commercials.
The Bowler: And uh, uh, people that support local music and seek out independent film.
The Shoveller: And the guy that drives the snow-plow. And the school nurse, that's a...
Mr. Furious: Eddie, Eddie, I think they got the point.


:D

[FairyChatMom]

We would have to contract for garbage pickup, and 5 years ago when I called about it, the rate was $30 per month for one pickup a week, no recycling. But if I drive 6 miles, I can dump my own, plus recycle glass, metal, paper, cardboard, motor oil, antifreeze, electronic components, and even donate clothing in a collection box. When it was just 2 of us, I might have to go every 2-3 weeks. Now that there are 4 of us, my son in law goes once a week.

But even when I did have curbside pickup, I didn't tip. As far as I know, no one is forced to take a garbage-collecting job.