My pledge to give Xmas pressies to my postie, dustbin men, milkman & newspaper kiddo

cheapscate

I don't need to worry about getting a gift for the postman - he helps himself to anything of value from our mail throughout the year.

augustsmummy

Last year we gave the window cleaner a box of biscuits, and he simply grunted. No thanks, no smile, just a grunt.
So no, we won't bother this year.
As for the binmen, they frequently forget to collect our rubish .
And unless my parcel is found safe and well my postie won't be getting a christmas thank you.

thistledome

We give a Xmas tip to postman and binmen. Don't have a milkman or paperboy/girl.

Always cash and always received with thanks and a smile.

Not being funny, but a tin of biscuits or sweets at Xmas will just get added to the pile of sweets and biscuits they've already got. And what if they don't like or don't eat sweets and biscuits?

It's traditional to tip these people, the same way it's traditional to tip a hairdresser or taxi driver. If you don't want to do it, fine - it's not compulsory.

loracan1

thistledome wrote: »

It's traditional to tip these people, the same way it's traditional to tip a hairdresser or taxi driver. If you don't want to do it, fine - it's not compulsory.

I disagree, whilst I'll still tip hairdressers (always decent, but I've got a lot of hair and it always takes longer than they've realised) and taxi drivers (as long as they've not taken the ultra long route) it's been a long time since bin men had to carry bins anywhere, which is when and why they 'traditionally' earned their tips. Same way that it isn't the norm to tip staff in self-service cafes but still is in restaurants.

Not being funny, but a tin of biscuits or sweets at Xmas will just get added to the pile of sweets and biscuits they've already got. And what if they don't like or don't eat sweets and biscuits?

If you give a tip it is up to you what you give, they like it or lump it!;)

Vaila

sometimes i think i must be considered a right scrooge, i never tip, i cant afford to and as far as im concerned there doing their job, they get paid for it, they may or may not give good service , charity begins at home bah humbug

augustsmummy

thistledome wrote: »

We give a Xmas tip to postman and binmen. Don't have a milkman or paperboy/girl.

Always cash and always received with thanks and a smile.

Not being funny, but a tin of biscuits or sweets at Xmas will just get added to the pile of sweets and biscuits they've already got. And what if they don't like or don't eat sweets and biscuits?

It's traditional to tip these people, the same way it's traditional to tip a hairdresser or taxi driver. If you don't want to do it, fine - it's not compulsory.

That's not really in the Christmas spirit though. All gifts should be greatfully recieved .
And if they don't eat biscuits they can pass them on to those that do, or give them to a charity food collection. All I wanted was a smile .

Freddie_Snowbits

augustsmummy wrote: »

That's not really in the Christmas spirit though. All gifts should be greatfully recieved .
And if they don't eat biscuits they can pass them on to those that do, or give them to a charity food collection. All I wanted was a smile .

Sorry but just thinking a charity would take the biscuits off you be gratefull is misleading.

My Harvest Fesitval group put up a specific list, which we stick too, That way it does help the homeless. Tins of biscuits do not.

Same as the Choclates I get given for my work. I store them for a while and release them at work via email. The girls arevery quik to devour 1kg tins of RoQual Chocs

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Always give something to both the postie and the binmen but yesterday the binmen didnt empty the bin fully - Im on a 2 week collection so now have to wait 3 working days for them to come back and empty it again!! Can they not just lift the lid when its down off the truck to see if its empty?

augustsmummy

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

Sorry but just thinking a charity would take the biscuits off you be gratefull is misleading.

My Harvest Fesitval group put up a specific list, which we stick too, That way it does help the homeless. Tins of biscuits do not.

Same as the Choclates I get given for my work. I store them for a while and release them at work via email. The girls arevery quik to devour 1kg tins of RoQual Chocs

What I meant was I think my window cleaner could have at least pretended to be greatful, even if he didn't want the biscuits, a smile wouldn't have hurt him.

Fair enough if your charity doesn't find them useful, he could have given them to an elderly neighbour / friend/ loved one / the next person he saw in the street.
I bought them with good intentions, thinking of the window cleaning team (my thought was they could have a nice biscuit with their flask of coffee) all I wanted was a , even a fake one.
Ah well.

Dreamnine

I have about 17 different postmen a year, many of them 'internationals'; my binmen change every couple of months; milkmen? paperboy? not these days.

In any case, I'm not a Christian and like many people don't observe Christmas.