Do you gift the mail carrier and other similar jobs?

Many believe that people in our lives like mail carrier, dog sitter, hair dresser and other like jobs should get a monetary bonus at Christmas. I never do. I am too cheap to and even if I wasn't I don't think that it should be up to the average joe to tip at the holidays.


My son's bus driver actually hinted to the kids yesterday. She said, "You kids don't have to get me anything, but the kids from St. Johns usually get me gift certificates to Kohls or to restaurants." I can't believe she is that ballsy.

I usually get the teacher something, but now with it being Jr. High, I don't imagine anyone expects us to do something for each of the teachers.

I never do either. Never even thought about it. Maybe I would if I had a rapport with our mail carrier, but I don't.

I have several different mail carriers so no. Although maybe if I did they would figure out how to match up the numbers on the mail with the ones on the mailbox.

For the mailman, not money, but we bake a lot of cookies and fudge and make chocolate pretzels and all kinds of stuff for a bunch of people so we make him up a goodie bag of it and do likewise for a lot of people. The garbage men we give some money to, and my grandmother's hairdresser and stuff like that.

I saw that hairdresser was on the list to be tipped. I don't get that one at all. We tip them per visit, but why extra on the holiday? I guess rule of thumb is you tip extra to anyone you normally tip, but I still don't get why.

Because making and keeping my grandmother's hair looking good is no easy task, and of all the women in the beauty shop, only one of them knows what to do with her to keep it pretty, and for all the work she does we figure she could use a little bonus at Christmas.

Supernova wrote:Because making and keeping my grandmother's hair looking good is no easy task, and of all the women in the beauty shop, only one of them knows what to do with her to keep it pretty, and for all the work she does we figure she could use a little bonus at Christmas.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

I tip my haircutter simply because she is the greatest person in the world and I have been going to her for many years. I usually tip the mailman but this year I don't know, I have a new one and he is a bit of a grump, dosen't even say hello when I see him. You think I should still give him something????

We tip the hairdresser but I don't see why we gotta give people Christmas presents to do their jobs. Maybe if you know them well but odds are, you don't have some close relationship with a mailman so why gift? I think we're obsessed with "tipping" in America.

Forgiveness_Man wrote:We tip the hairdresser but I don't see why we gotta give people Christmas presents to do their jobs. Maybe if you know them well but odds are, you don't have some close relationship with a mailman so why gift? I think we're obsessed with "tipping" in America.

That settles it then the mailman gets no tip this year.

My ex-roommate used to be a mail carrier...she would always tip our mailman esp since she was the one who had the rapport with him. I never did that though. As far as tipping my hairdresser, I give her a tip (when I feel like it) everytime I go. I don't need to tip her extra just because it's Christmas. I'm broke enough already.

I'm about as likely to give them a gift as they are to give to me.

CeCe wrote:I have several different mail carriers so no. Although maybe if I did they would figure out how to match up the numbers on the mail with the ones on the mailbox.

I have the worst mail delivery ever. The local post office has screwed up my mail for over a decade. Literacy is not a requirement of the job and yet they make much more than I do. My mail carriers don't deserve their job, much less a gift or tip.

We usually do somethign small, but I never manage to get to my hairdresser before the holidays and I don't know my mail carrier at all as I'm in an apartment. Back home (where I grew up) we did, though. My hairdresser was my neighbour and we got hair cuts for $10 when I was younger and $15 now, so we usually do a little something. Most other people, though, no.

I give my hairstylist a nice bonus tip this time a year. For years she's been doing my hair almost exclusively, and we chat up a storm every time I have an appointment. I know her. She asks me about people in my life, so 'tis the season. My mail carrier I have nothing for, as I live in an apartment and rarely see him.

Tony Marino wrote:

That settles it then the mailman gets no tip this year.

Tony...I am totally being nosey, but thought of asking this of you when I posted this...Do you tip your father's care givers?

My Dad never did for Mom's in home caregivers, but I always got them a little box of candy or something.

I can see tipping a hairdresser or waitress or whoever on a regular day, but why tip extra during the holidays? They're not going to get me anything, why should I do that for them?

I agree with Forgiveness_Man, we do "over tip" in America. We're also sue-happy, so we take our settlement, give it to the waitress and then complain that we're broke again.