Paper carrier ?
Mail carrier ?
Concierge ?
Doorman ?
Other _____ ?
I locked my keys in my car on Christmas Day right before getting in to drive to Mom’s house. The tow truck driver got a big Christmas tip.
Postman and trash/recycling collectors all get something from Casa de Maxx. Waitstaff and bartenders all get bigger tips around the holidays too. Neighbors all get oodles of home cooked goodness all year round but since we seem to do more cooking during the holidays, there is more food given out this time of year too. Mrs. Maxx is making eggrolls this weekend and the neighbors are already clamoring.
It is against the rules for mail carriers to accept any kind of tip. If they are caught, they can get fired (my step father was a carrier, he saw many people lose their jobs at Christmas time).
What’s a typical year-end or Christmas tip to give a newspaper carrier? Not the boy-on-a-bike, a grown person who drives by and tosses the paper out the car window? This year our carrier actually tosses the thing where we can get it, as opposed to last year’s, who unerringly managed to land it right under the middle of the car every frickin’ morning.
I bring chocolates to my librarians at Christmas so I don’t feel too guilty about running them ragged the rest of the year.
My barber gets a bigger tip for my December haircut.
Our mail carrier always gets treats rather a tip- I remember hearing that tips were a no-no.
From me:
Mail carrier gets a bottle of wine.
Trash collector gets a bottle of wine, a full one at that!
Hair dresser gets a bottle of wine and a bigger tip.
Waitstaff/bartenders/hotel staff/valet attendants, etc. get bigger tips around the holidays.
When I lived in NJ I’d tip gas attendants around the holidays.
That’s about it.
USPS =/= Holiday Spirit. Huh, what are they supposed to do with the envelope with cash in it that says “Mailman” on it with no forwarding address and no return address? I have never gotten it back.
My mother’s private-duty nurse gets a considerable tip (a week’s salary).
(My paper deliverer is frequently late and always throws the paper into puddles or bushes, and I have no idea who my mail carrier/s is/are).
Do all barbers / hair dressers get a tip in the US? What’s the rationale behind that? It’s not like they’re minimum wage employees like many waiters - nearly all the hairdressers I’ve seen tend to own the business or be a partner in it. How much is expected?
At the risk of hijacking:
It’s customary to tip them here, yes. I can’t say how much for anything related to hair – I only trim mine, and my sister (the former hairdresser) does it (cost: 5 minutes of her time). But I usually give $2-3 for an eyebrow wax (cost around $10-15).
Most hairdressers here rent a station from the owner of the salon and many times are required to bring their own clientele, as well.
I’ve never tipped anyone at Christmas. I don’t have a regular hairdresser. We take our trash and recycling to the center ourselves. Don’t have a babysitter or newspaper delivery or pet walker or anything else. It never would occur to me to tip the mail carrier - I don’t get huge or heavy deliveries, and all he/she does is lean out the car window to toss a few envelopes in my mailbox. What part of that merits a tip?
There’s a little snack bar across the street from our office - they put out a tip box. They don’t cook. They don’t prepare any food. They load stuff into the fridge and on the shelves, they keep the coffee urn full, and they run the cash register. They’re nice people and all, but they’re doing their jobs and they’re being paid to do the job - and I should give them more?
Maybe I should put a tip jar in my cubicle.
Ho ho ho.