Don't Forget to Tip the Garbage Men for XMAS

[itschris]

I don't think it's a sentiment ..."screw the garbage man" kinda thing. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the current climate of things. I spend all day long at my desk looking and analyzing things. It seems that we have these times of turmoil...serious turmoil... when we as a society just get out of hand with our own selfishness. We have this attitude, that's maybe still partly residue ingrained from the 60's mayb... this do what you want, do wha you feel... with little thought if you should. I've just never bought into this idea that just because you can do something, you should do it. Whether it was the tech wreck in the market in early 2001-ish or the housing crash, or even the auto makers, it just seems there's this come to Jesus time every now and then where we get clobbered and start looking in the mirror instead of out the window. I'm not sure if there's some grand scheme from higher powers at work or if it's just the natural cycle of things, but when you look at history and societal behavior, we have this way of getting punished and corrected I think.

I have the Christmas spirit... it's in full swing. We adopted 3 families and got them all kinds of great stuff and spent almost $2k doing it... beyond the participation in all the different drives we've had at work and helping to organize stuff for some of the people I admire most... our soldiers fighting and sacrificing for us.

It's just when I think about the grand scheme of things, I don't feel I owe the garbage man extra for doing a good job.. or my postman...or my dry cleaner guy because he delivers my clothes when he's supposed to... or my newspaper person who actually does their job that I pay for and brings me the paper when they're supposed to. I give to people who need and I try to determine that in the fairest way I think I can.

I do feel I'm pretty generous sort... but I swear, if you come at me like I owe you anything... I'll wring my hands of you.

It is an interesting and enlightening thread and discussion.

Ultimately though, I don't think it matters what our expectations are so long as the condition of "appreciation" is met within us (individually). Spoiled, rich, poor...expectations differ with one's situation. But it seems to me that appreciation is a positive thing that drives more positive things within people.

I'll speculate to you that it is the general condition of the economy and even the currently depressive nature of the entire world that has driven much of what I'm perceiving here as "Scroogeness". Perhaps my terms of class hatred or class envy were too harsh, especially with Dave. I have found that I agree with him politically and on every other issue we've ever discussed on this forum...more aligned than with anyone else, except of course for my best buddy, AJ.

But I'm still curious as to where the love went. Where went the Christmas Spirit? You know...the true gift of humanity to itself. Ah, screw the garbage men and other overpaid public employees. They make a lot more money than I do for doing monkee work...Merry Christmas. Not!

 

[Tomorrow]

I don't think it's a sentiment ..."screw the garbage man" kinda thing.

Your approach is generous and honored, Chris. But I was referring to this kind of post which certainly IS that kinda thing:

If he doesnt like lifting heavy stuff, and clinging to a stinky truck, then he can do something else. I still don't see how that makes doing monkey work worth THAT much money.

 

[Gaigebacca]

Tips...

I can honestly say that for most people, they don't look past their own plates when it comes to tips at restaurants... I used to work at Red Lobster when I was in college, and people were beyond cheap... I was one of the few waiters that actually did their FULL jobs.. and I usually got crap to show for it... see we have to make all of the salads for our tables, and keep the drinks filled, and attend to every other need the customer wants (more sauce, or ice, or bread... whatever) as well as running to the bar, refilling the ice bins, changing out the soda syrup.. and on and on.. we also had to prep all the soups and deserts if the customer ordered one... All while trying to be courteous and respectful and FAST for the customer, and when you are trying to balance an average of 12-20 people and hour... you never stop... and then you have to clean up after them...

I knew one guy who would always pull down at least a 100 spot every night in tips... how? because he didn't do his job... he just would stay at his tables and BS and "make" everyone else pick up his slack and bring out his plates and salads and so forth... It pissed me off to no end... when people would leave him 20$ for just standing there kissing their buts...

I got stiffed quite a few times by people that had over $100 tabs for just 2 people, and I would even help them out, by getting extra shots in their drinks, extra dressings, whatever they wanted, with a smile on my face.. and they would leave nothing...

But by far the worst one I ever had was this one lady, who when she came in I could tell she was already pissed off, so I tried my best to be nice and cheerful to her, get her everything before she even asked for it, etc... and when she left.. what did she leave as a tip... $.50... on a credit card... on a bill that that didnt even out... her bill was like $23.78... and she left a $.50 tip on it.. and even DID THE MATH to total it out...

That pissed me off more than people just stiffing me... I mean come on, that is just malicious.... I hated that job, and I hated the people that came in there...

Ok... whew... now I am done with my rant... haha

 

[mperfct]

I've got mixed feelings on this. No one tips me. I'm on the corporate side of finance now, but even back when I was a financial advisor, no client ever gave me $20 for giving them a solid plan or making them money. That what I got commission and fees for. A garbage man, the post man (my dad was one)... these people get paid for what they do... sure not every job is great... but they get a fair wage and no one's making them take the job... I just always wonder why I should and do feel compelled to tip someone that's already getting paid to do their job. I'm not sure I get that. Why do we always expect to get something beyond what we should earn? It's just a hard thing for me to really get my head around. The paper delivery people are another group. They actually give us an envelope! I'm told we're showing appreciation for them doing a good job and all that... but aren't you supposed to do a good job? Shouldn't that be the standard? Why should anyone expect extra for doing what they're supposed to do?

Tipping in general pisses me off. If I go to Outback and we have a $50 meal, I'll always give $10-$15. But when we go to Capital Grill or Ruth Chris Steakhouse and our bill is $250 I don't know why I should tip 20%. The guys really didn't do much more than the guy at Outback except carry $100 bottle of wine instead of two Crown and Gingers and carried a plate that cost $75 vs $25. It just seems odd that I should and do give the guy $50. That bothers me. I like to tip the 50 year old gal at the local diner who's worked her *** of serving pancakes all her life making $15K a year... if my breakfast cost $6, I'd never consider leaving anything short of a $10 spot. To me it's about actual dollars vs percentage.

Sorry I'm ranting...

That's a very interesting perspective. Quality service is quality service. There is a general trend that given the higher cost of a meal, the better the service is, but unfortunately, that isn't a rule.

 

[highfigh]

I'd be happy if the garbage men would stop breaking my RUBBERMAID garbage cans. They're 2 for 2. How do you break one of these? They're plastic and made to take some banging around.

 

[Biggiesized]

It's so bizarre that this thread was bumped. I was actually just reading it yesterday before it was bumped and I thought of doing it myself.

Oh, well. Carry on.

 

[Omega Supreme]

How did I miss this. One of the most entertaining threads on this site

 

[ragged]

Where I grew up in Jamaica, we tipped the guys with a bottle of rum

 

[highfigh]

I'd like to add that I'd be a happy camper if they could bring themselves to not step on newly seeded grass and to pick up all of the stuff that they dump on the ground.