I think it’s time to tell my 26year old son that he can’t fly home for Christmas. He works with the public. His girlfriend has tested positive for Covid but has no symptoms. He’s tested negative. I keep hoping for numbers to go down, but I don’t see it happening. 
We always have a crowded, very cozy Christmas. I just told my elderly mom and all my kids “We’ll have a huge Christmas with ham and beef tenderloin and craft cocktails and stockings full of chocolates… next year. We’ll all stay safe at home this year.”
That’s been my rallying cry: “I can wait a year.” Sometimes proclaimed as if I’m on the battlements of Les Miserables, sometimes like I’m an old schlemiel:
“Ehh ::shrug:: I can wait a year…”
His dad and I were divorced when he was very young, it’s pretty much always been just he and I. But, of course, you’re right. Still hard.
First of all, THANK YOU. Thank you for asking, thank you for tipping (anything!) and thank you for supporting legal cannabis.
There’s no “standard” tip, to answer your question. My place is curbside pickup only, so we have to run back in & out with your change … the most common tipping scenario is to tell us “keep the change” so that 1.) you don’t have to wait around, and 2.) saves me a trip. For example, hand me a twenty for a $17.99 order. That is fine, and much appreciated.
Assholes luuurves to do this when there’s a penny change. I have a standard “I won’t spend it all in one place!” joke on standby, they laugh and drive off, and then we gripe about you behind your back.
Don’t be an asshole.
The second most common scenario is people who count out (excruciatingly, to the penny) the precise total … and then hand us a buck or two, or a fiver, as extra for the tip jar. That is more than fine, and much appreciated!
There’s a few folks who are known for tipping well, consistently. Not gonna lie, they get noticed and we behave accordingly. They quietly get priority when we’re about to run out of something, for example.
But it’s a customer service job like any other. We’re not actually that cheerful, our feet hurt and our backs are tired. (I average 6-9 miles per shift, according to my pedometer.) You may be wonderful, but the guy two ahead of you in line was a complete asshole & there’s no downtime to process so I have to chirp all fake-like through the angst and grumpiness.
I do want to help, though. I get people who are trying to kick opioids, or to avoid them. I get people with god-knows-what going on inside their heads. Post-surgical folks. People in visible, obvious pain. People with insomnia, sometimes to near-psychosis levels. (Thank you to their drivers; that one lady one memorable day was thankfully a passenger. I recommended our best stuff, and genuinely hope it helped her catch a nap.)
Getting a grateful smile from those folks balances out the Karens who sit there, holding up the line, glowering at anyone who moved, waiting for their goddamn 78 cents change.
Wow, that went from “trying to answer a question” to my own rant.
Look @JaneDoe42 it’s all appreciated. If your budtender was helpful and friendly, count up to the nearest bill and let 'em keep the change. If you tip your “discount” amount, it will be noticed. 
If nothing else, you’ll get an “Awww. She was so niiiice!” behind your back.
You still didn’t mention if the joint made you feel better. Hope it did, even if only a little.
“Mom! What is this Frankincense and Myrrh stuff, and what do I do with them?!”
good one, jasmine.
in a somewhat related rant, my favourite perfume, frankincense and myrrh was discontinued years ago. i still have feelings about that. thankfully, there is a company that recreates discontinued scents.
Thank you for your service @purplehorseshoe. I mean that honestly, face to face retail employees are often taken for granted and treated poorly. I appreciate every single person standing behind a cash register or stocking the shelves or serving my food.
I am at the stage of life that I can afford to tip well as a matter of habit. Some tipping customs are new or different to me because I’m so old that tipping for weed meant giving the seller a few buds. I would never be an asshole on purpose, especially if I planned to go back to that store another time.
While I have only spent a few years doing face to face retail, I have often been their management. Your post is probably going to keep me up for a few nights just stewing over some of the things I remember jerks doing to my staff.
I once had to deal with an asshole who spat at a young woman because she made a mistake and had to call a manager to fix it. It took everything I had to stay in enough control long enough have him arrested for assault. All I would have had to do was to nod at our steaming mad security guard and that asshole would have eaten a lot of teeth.
ARRRGGGHHH!!! Now I’m all pissed off again and that was over 20 years ago.
Anyhow, thanks for your reply. I am comfortable knowing that I don’t have to change a thing when I’m at the dispensary next week. I need to get a bunch of pre-rolls to hand out as tips for those who I know would happily receive them.
The changing law is kinda funny, its now legal for anyone over 21 to possess and grow MJ (within limits, of course). It won’t be legal for anyone without a MMJ card to actually buy MJ until sometime next year when the state gets its act together and comes up with a plan. Deadline for the state to get its act together is middle of March, the planned free-for-all date is 4/20.
Its not legal for me to sell my legally purchased MJ, but I can give away as much as I want.
So, my rant is my mother. I love her. I’m glad she is here with us because she can’t live alone anymore. I don’t know how to handle our new relationship.
She gets so frustrated about things she can’t remember how to do, or she gets stuck in a loop where she tells me something important to her and then moves on for about 5 minutes and then tells me the same thing again.
I don’t want to hurt her to break the loop, so I just let it continue until she takes a nap and resets. That’s also when I clean up after her as much as I can. She likes using the same glass/spoon/whatever over and over to save washing and she notices if I clean up while she is awake. If I pick the dishes up while she’s napping, she doesn’t seem to notice and will happily use a clean spoon or glass.
I gotta find some resources for this, I know I’m not alone, but I am also in denial. This is my MOM, damnit!
Heh. Picked up 3.5 grams of Tre OG and a 500 mg cart of 707 Headband. Tipped the ‘tender, told her it was from purplehorseshoe.
Look, I know working in a grocery store requires a minimum of training and an even bearer minimum of vocational commitment, but damn it, heavy stuff goes below the crushables, and damp stuff does not belong at the bottom of a paper bag.
Also, 2 different versions of the same Christmas song should not be played back to back.
I love my local store because I can grab a bag and get everything bagged before the checker’s done. Side of beef on the bottom, black overripe bananas in the middle, unwrapped meringues on top!
The blessings of self check-out!
I always enjoy Heinlein’s old assertion that PhD = Piled Higher and Deeper. As in: Oh! You have a PhD! And what did you pile higher and deeper?
It did! Thanks for asking.
You’ve restored my faith in humanity quite a bit tonight… What a nice thing to do.
Naw, man, everyone knows the cans of soup go on TOP of the bread!
Ding ding ding! Have I got the company for you. Indigo Wild is the name. Hopefully this will get you there. A green, ethical company and I love their frankincense and myrrh scent family. They have body spray, goat milk soap, liquid soap and on and on. I make sure I have some to lift my mood and make the bah humbug season bearable. (I use the frankincense scent all year though)
Here’s a better page listing all their Frankincense & Myrrh products.
There are at least 18 different products, lotion, laundry soap, etc. I have never been disappointed in their products or their customer service, ever.
Their stuff makes wonderful gifts and they package gifts in a lovely way.
I have heard that as, “Everyone knows what BS is, and MS is more of the same, so PhD means piled higher and deeper”
thank you! that looks like a lovely company.
My allegedly delivered package is not actually here. There isn’t a package piracy issue in my complex that I know of. Grrrr.
I have some of their Frankincense & Myrrh room spray and it is lovely. And you only need a little bit, so it lasts a long time.