Posts
As the holiday season is upon us, I always hear news articles about how much you should tip the service people. Yesterday I received a Christmas card in the mail from our newspaper delivery person. Our newspaper is delivered in the morning so I have never met the person who delivers the paper. The Christmas card conveniently listed their address on the inside.
So my question is have you ever tipped your newspaper deliverer? I was not planning on giving them a tip but I feel guilty now since they sent me a card. Our route is a driving route so the deliverer just plops the paper in the box next to the mailbox.
I know that delivering newspapers is not a "dream" job. When I was kid, I had a walking newspaper route for several years. At that time, not everyone paid ahead so I had to go back out and collect the money too. The only tip that I ever received was some cookies from one nice lady.
We are not "Grinch's" at our house. We donate money to a lot of charities including United Way, Alzheimer's Association, Breast Cancer Walk, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and many more. So I am not sure what to do about the newspaper carrier. So please share your thoughts!
4 comments:
This has been a hot topic lately, even mentioned the pressure people feel in my Sprout for Parents article. We don't get a newspaper delivery, so I can't comment on that. I'm just really surprised about the card with address on the inside basically asking for it. And asking for money really, when many could give some baked goods or something like that.
Christmastime is for giving, not receiving, don't you think? There are so many people you could do this for....I've heard people talk about giving to the mailman, principal at school, mother's helpers at preschool etc.
I think it's great if people can and want to give a little something to everyone. What really breaks my heart is when people feel pressured to give and they just can't or shouldn't, ya know. I tell about moms at preschool who (in addition to tuition) are asked to contribute to huge gifts for teachers birthdays and christmas gifts.....the pressure is unbelievable. I've even heard parents ask, what did you get so and so.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
At least you got a subtle hint in a card. My paper-people attached a letter to the paper{which is thrown anywhere} saying that they accept tips. I know that they don't get paid a lot for doing a paper route but I think that it is rude to put a note in with the paper. Like you said, you don't know them- It is a touchy subject. I personally will not tip them{and it has nothing to do with "find the paper"}.I get new paper deleivery peeps all of the time, I didn't even know that they were our new people until I got the note{which included the full name and address/for tips in the form of a check?}But after so long of not tipping, then getting a new paper dielivery person who would like tips, is just not happening, and I don't mean it rude; next thing you know the people that "sometimes" help you out with your groceries will expect a tip also. Good luck with your decision, I hope my comment helped:}
We don't get newspaper delivery, so I don't know if it is expected or not.
Yet, I feel this way, if you know the person and they have gone out of the way to get the paper to you, e.g. your newspaper box is run over by a neighbor, so they bring it to your door, then sure a tip would be nice. On the other hand, if they drive by, stick it in your box, and just leave a payment card you send in with payment to the newspaper office, I personally wouldn't tip them. They have done nothing above and beyond normal duties for such a job as this.
When I was young we also had a walking paper route and had to walk around to collect payment. We got TONS of tips at Christmas. It was almost the odd house that didn't give us some tip, at least rounding the payment up to the next $5 or $10 increment. But a lot of people would give us a full $5-$10 tip.
Post a Comment
All commments are moderated. Do not be alarmed if your comment does not appear right away.