Here's A Tip For The Holidays.
MayorBob.
Posted to Etcetera on Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 11:50:21 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.
You've gotten good service throughout the year from any number of people in your life, from the postman to the garbage collector to the hairdresser to the janitor at work. This being the holiday season, the question arises - what is the appropriate holiday amount to give to someone to show your appreciation for what they do for you throughout the year?
According to Kiplinger's and a couple of others with thoughts on the matter, the proper amount should be approximately what you would spend on a single visit to a hairdresser or from a cleaning person. A babysitter should get what's equal to two nights of babysitting duties (only if you use them frequently). A personal trainer gets as much as (US)$50 and a newspaper deliverer between $10 and $20. The person who delivers your mail through "snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night" really ought to be given a gift certificate in lieu of cash.
There are those who suggest, rather than building up to one big tip around the holidays, you should perhaps get in the habit of tipping as you go along throughout the year.
That doesn't mean everyone believes in tipping. Some are adamantly opposed to tipping under any circumstances, nevermind the holidays. They'll likely say, they'd do it but you really ought to have a job which pays you enough so you don't have to rely upon the kindness of strangers to kick in an additional 20 percent. One wonders if they'd be happy to see the prices in restaurants increase by 20 percent to make sure the servers are paid a living wage? The rest of us, reluctant to wait until society reorders its priorities to up the basic pay rate for service personnel and appreciative and desirous of good service, take the easy way out and tip service personnel.
New York City, being what it is as a city with a relatively higher cost of living, the cost of tipping is higher there also. In addition to being a bit more diverse in terms of the types of people getting tipped (what with doormen and garage attendants), they also seem to be a bit more assertive. According to one garage attendant: "I have a guy with a Porsche. Last year, he gave $100 and I told him I deserved more. Right away he gave me $400." Which leads to the question of whom do you tip over the holidays? Do you restrict it to the newspaper delivery person and the hairdresser? Or do you also include the postman? Do you tip someone else other than the types of service people mentioned above? If you're a service person, offer your thoughts on tipping: how much is just right and if you've ever gotten any unusual tips.
< Coming Soon - Braille Bucks?
Suck The Fat Outta Me With That Thing, Doc. I Have My Teenaged Years Ahead. >
