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appropriate gift $ amount...

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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 11:17 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by THEOLDMAN,Dec 22 2006, 03:04 PM
I got plenty of tips. I was a kid making 50 cents an hour working at a grocery store, back in 1965, I got tipped when I took the groceries out to the car and put them in the car. I also worked in the Hospitality industry for 20 years, mostly as a manager, got tipped then also, but it was when I went out of my way to serve the customer.
Putting a newspaper in a tube outside of my gate next to the rode is not going out of the way to provide a service, nor is putting mail in the mailbox out by the road, I still have to go out and get it, rain, snow, or sunshine. As for the butt crack of dawn, well there's lots of people that work through the night past the buttcrack of dawn doing service jobs.
It's like the barrista filling my coffee cup and handing it over the counter, hardly tip worthy, yet they have their tip jar and expect you to dump your change in it.
When I had my kitchen and bath remodeling business I was happy with a job well done, I bid the job for a price, I completed the job on budget.
So YOU got tipped to do your job (putting groceries in a car and being paid by your employer), yet that is somehow different than the mail man doing his job or the garbage guy doing his job?

Strange.

Merry Christmas.
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 02:46 PM
  #22  
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The mailman doesn't bring my mail to the door and even in 1965 was making considerably more than 50 cents an hour, and is required by his job to deliver the mail. I was not required to put the groceries in the car. The garbage man is paid to pick up the garbage, it's a requirement of his job. He doesn't do anything special like a song and dance when he picks it up, so he is not going above and beyond the duties of his job.
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 03:01 PM
  #23  
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enough with this pissing contest.
you guys are like little kids
arguing who's big brother's bigger.
let it go.
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 03:04 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by Scot,Dec 22 2006, 07:15 AM
Have you ever received a tip? I know when I bagged groceries in school that was a great day when someone gave me $1 to load their car for them.
when i worked as a bagger, i was instructed by the employer to not take tips from customers...
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 03:08 PM
  #25  
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i'd say no more than $25 for a gift certificate is fair and not too overboard
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 03:09 PM
  #26  
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imo, if you are in a giving mood and want to help someone out, donate money to starving children in 3rd world countries. like others have already said, all these "service" people are already being paid for their jobs. if they are not happy with their pay, they can use that as motivation to better themselves and get jobs that pay more. sure, these folks would appreciate holiday tips from their customers, but it's really not a life or death situation for them, and starving children in 3rd world country can definitely better benefit from your generosity. i mean, the money for that $30 best buy gift card can probably feed a family of starving children for half a month.
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 04:56 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by VTEC_Junkie,Dec 22 2006, 07:09 PM
imo, if you are in a giving mood and want to help someone out, donate money to starving children in 3rd world countries. like others have already said, all these "service" people are already being paid for their jobs. if they are not happy with their pay, they can use that as motivation to better themselves and get jobs that pay more. sure, these folks would appreciate holiday tips from their customers, but it's really not a life or death situation for them, and starving children in 3rd world country can definitely better benefit from your generosity. i mean, the money for that $30 best buy gift card can probably feed a family of starving children for half a month.
i agree on what your saying, but that can be used in so many of the things we do in our daily lives. We don't need to spend money on everything we spend on, it could be better if we sent it to charity... but we don't. If your going to send money to charity, do it, if not then don't. Don't, instead of giving this gift to etc.. im going to give it to the starving pygmys in New Guinea.
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 07:59 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by rubyrashel,Dec 22 2006, 05:56 PM
i agree on what your saying, but that can be used in so many of the things we do in our daily lives. We don't need to spend money on everything we spend on, it could be better if we sent it to charity... but we don't. If your going to send money to charity, do it, if not then don't. Don't, instead of giving this gift to etc.. im going to give it to the starving pygmys in New Guinea.
you're missing my key point which is: "if you are in a giving mood and want to help someone out."

giving gifts to friends, family, and/or loved ones is different. being generous by tipping someone (particularly a stranger) when it's not required or necessary is a different form of giving. also, if you want to spend on yourself, then you are being selfish and are not in a "giving mood", and thus you are exempt from my point in those situations. i am not trying to say that everyone should be frugal and donate all their surplus cash to charity. i'm merely saying that if you're in a holiday spirit and in a giving mood, and want to spread some joy to strangers or non loved ones, might as well be giving it to the ones that need it the most. besides, many gifts given to non loved ones (and probably also a good portion of gifts given to friends, families, and loved ones) tend to end up being unused (aside from gift certificates/cards, of course). that makes the whole "casual" gifts an even bigger waste of money with that money being better used for something else, such as charity. for instance, one of my coworkers, who i do not consider to be a friend or loved one, gave me a t-shirt, while another one gave me a mug, both of which i find hideous and would never use that will one day end up in the trash. so basically those 2 are just throwing money into the trash. even worse, out of social etiquette, i ended up returning the gesture by giving them crappy gifts, which will most likely also never get used and end up in the trash.
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Old Dec 22, 2006 | 08:24 PM
  #29  
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Seung, I think a couple items totaling $30 would have more value than just a $30 card to Target or whatnot. You can get a $10/$15 gift card along with a couple of treats/chocolate in a festive gift bag. I think that would make a very nice gift. I think they will really appreciate it.

On another note, I donate to charities every now and then, but I do question if my monetary donation is actually realized on the other end. If I didn't have that skepticism in my mind I think I'd donate more frequently.
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Old Dec 23, 2006 | 08:42 AM
  #30  
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From: omotesando
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Originally Posted by Shinji,Dec 23 2006, 12:24 AM
Seung, I think a couple items totaling $30 would have more value than just a $30 card to Target or whatnot. You can get a $10/$15 gift card along with a couple of treats/chocolate in a festive gift bag. I think that would make a very nice gift. I think they will really appreciate it.

On another note, I donate to charities every now and then, but I do question if my monetary donation is actually realized on the other end. If I didn't have that skepticism in my mind I think I'd donate more frequently.
that's what i did,
and i think they really liked it.
thanx for the advice...
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