Do you agree with this holiday tipping guide?

[Guest]

 

[silverwhisper]

i'd like to, but the link is busted, i think.

ed

 

[Guest]

 

[silverwhisper]

maybe the server was busy...i can get to it too, now.

what do you disagree about?

ed

 

[bisexplicit]

I think this is a lot of people to tip.


In my opinion, you tip when a service is done for you.

Around the holidays, if there is any sortof extra relationship, then you'd give a gift and/or money.

 

[Guest]

 

[phoenix1224]

The author of that article seems to be under the impression that we're all made of money... If I tipped that much (to that many people), my entire annual salary would pretty much be gone.

My standard for tipping is 10-20%... Period.

 

[Guest]

 

[Little Bird]

The amount you give as a tip that would be considered "appropiate" is diferent in every country. Where in one place the tips he gets make a large amount of the money he makes, while at another place you're embarassing someone when you want to give him a tip. I don't know how it is in the US, but here in germany I would think it is appropiate to give these people a little reminder that you are thankful and have not forgotten them.
Maybe 5 or 10 € for those who deliver the mail or such things but in most cases work is either done for payment and does not need an additinal tip, or is done out of kindness and tips are almost always refused (but taken anyway because refusing is mostly not accepted.)

 

[sassy_girl1963]

mail delivery guy has been dealing with my ridiculous looking mailbox (people putting in a new gas line along the edge of the road removed it last summer (2004) and put it back in about a foot low. then when the road was resurfaced this past summer, they raised the road about a foot, so my freaking mailbox was about 18" off the ground. I've been meaning to put in a stone mailbox post but haven't got around to it yet, so I just spliced the wood post with an added section.) He'll probably get a tip.

Oh would love to see a picture of your mailbox .....the image I got in my head made me have I believe my first laugh of the day!

 

[SweetErika]

"You tip the people who perform services for you year-round, who are there for you when you need them and whom you have a valuable relationship with," said Peter Post, director of the Emily Post Institute and author of Essential Manners for Couples.
...
Extraordinary holiday generosity is great, but etiquette experts emphasized that tipping isn't designed to put you in debt."

If we got a lot of those services, that tipping guide would put us in debt. I've never heard or thought of tipping some of those listed in the article, but perhaps some of it's regional as well.

Apart from people I tip when I receive services, I don't really tip during the holidays unless the person has really gone the extra mile or I know they're having a tough time (or don't make a lot anyway) and would really appreciate it. Like our Sunday paper carrier... I've never met her, but she always does a good job and it's a tough job for which she makes very little.

I'm a tutor and clients paid me extra last week because I've been with them for a long time, have really helped their kid, often stay longer, and we have a good relationship. For Christmas and other holidays, I've often received gifts and money, but I certainly would never expect it...they pay me a lot for my services, and a card or kind words of appreciation are plenty.

I figure recognition, good treatment and recommendations are the best gifts of all, so that's what I do for others unless there are some special circumstances. Maybe that makes me rude or uncouth, but oh well.

 

[revolution724]

Gosh, I'll be lucky if I can afford to tip my parents for Christmas this year.

 

[TBKahuna123]

I think this is a lot of people to tip.


In my opinion, you tip when a service is done for you.

Around the holidays, if there is any sortof extra relationship, then you'd give a gift and/or money.

What is going on? I'm saying this waaaay too much:

I think Bi's right, I tip when the service is rendered. I'm also a pretty good tipper, usually 20%, because I have lots of friends who have lived on tips for years. I can't think of anyone like this that I'd tip extra, personally.

 

[averageblonde]

Seems like a lot for a dog groomer. I think that some of the people we have to tip is ridiculous. Like I know my trash collector changes, so why should I tip them?

 

[Guest]

 

[TBKahuna123]

At one time I used to tip the trash collector regularly, and they would take stuff that they weren't supposed too. I guess that's probably more of a bribe though.

Hey, that's how this country was built, wasn't it?

 

[Guest]

 

[DLL]

i live in ny and i tip the trash guys..postman..milkman (yes we get milk delivered) my horse guys,the waiter at the restaurant we eat in all the time, my nail tech, my hairdresser,my kids bus drivers all get a special card with some holiday money to spend to thank them for a year of hard work and appreciation.

i might over tip I am not sure but these people work hard all year and I want to show that i appreciate their hard work..it might be a "NY" thing I am not sure..but i tend to tip everyone that does something for me

 

[Munachi]

as little bird says, this can be very different in different countries. it wouldn't occur to me to tip anyone just because it is christmas. maybe i would give a beggar some more than usual, but else - giving money is a delicate thing here and it would be seen as quite weird. tipping a babysitter extra for christmas - maybe, if it is a teenager. else, i only tip in restaurants and bars - after eating and drinking there. and not even that always.

the whole tipping system sounds difficult to me anyway - why not pay the people the right wage right away and thus make tipping less necessary?

as for showing appreciation - i think that can be done quite well with a nice thank you and smile (every time, not just for christmas). of course, in a place where everyone else tips that wouldn't work. i guess if the mailman is tipped by everyone he sees the tip as his right, not an extra. you'd be greedy for not tipping, and jsut normal for tipping.

 

[Ezzy]

I disagree with that list, I do give cards and sometimes little gifts if I have talked to the person and have an idea of what they might like. I also think that if you had paid them a good wage when you used their service, there should not be a need to tip or an expectation of a tip.

The trouble with Xmas tipping in my mind was when I work as a student to help out the Post Office. As a temporary worker we could pick up extra work doing additional routes, I did 3 routes for just short of 2 weeks right before Xmas.

I got loads of tips, which at the time I thought was very nice. But now looking back if I had worked 50 weeks of the year as the regular carrier on that route and some kid comes in 2 weeks from Xmas while I am on scheduled holiday, and the kid gets the tip I worked all year for, I would be mighty pissed.

This was in the UK, and when I was growing up use of students, as postal workers happened every year to help with the Xmas rush.

 

[jadefirefly]

[bitter]
Sure. Tip the mailman, tip your waiters, but does anyone think about the photographers they've harrassed for the past year, coming in every two or three months with screaming, drooling, puking kids, and to make matters -worse- they come back ALL AT ONCE this time of year, and blame US when they come too late and have to wait?

In fact, nobody really thinks about the people they -really- put the most stress on this time of year at -all-. All mall employees ought to be allowed to collect tips, at least just this month, to make up for the idiots we have to deal with every single day.

Thank you, I'm done ranting now.
[/bitter]

I figure it's not -too- inaccurate a list. Especially since most people don't actually make use of -all- of those services regularly over the course of the year, and it really is only one tip. It's sorta like giving cash christmas gifts to the people you -really- appreciate.

Course, I can barely afford to give any christmas gifts to my family, let alone my nail tech. But I'll see about giving her a better tip than I usually do.