Here's a little tip

I do a paper round about 360 days a year; I start every morning at 7 (8 at weekends) and get back around 1 1/2 hours later. I don't do it for the money, but because most of my clients are elderly and/or disabled and it gets me out of the house. But I'm not far off 70 now and my own health isn't too good and I keep thinking that I will give up (feel my age, particularly at this time of year)! What annoys me is that no-one young wants the job now and one or two of the stroppy customers spend all their time complaining - "My paper's wet"/"Can't read that" etc. I take around a week off a year, around Christmas, which is my only chance for a lie-in and believe me, I do appreciate the £3-£5 that most of my customers give as a Christmas tip, as I'm happy to do small errands for them on request, and to be honest, I resent the one or two who don't feel that they should show a little financial gratitude after over 10 years delivering through sun, snow, sleet, floods. Most are great, but there are one or two whingers and you can't help feeling that if they feel that way they should pick up their own damn papers!!!

Need another festive noggin to follow that one!

What the?

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Nannanoo,

Nannanoo Lower the tone maybe, but it did make me laugh!

Now we're not polite AND have lowered the tone! Funny 'though.

harrigran what did you do to keep your window cleaner for so long.......?

I have had the same window cleaner since 1971, I wonder if this is a record. I am dreading him telling me he is going to retire.

I think maybe I will lower the tone a bit with this naughty tale of a generous tip:
An elderly milkman was retiring - he was very popular in the district and as he made his final round, he was receiving some generous tips.
At one large and expensive looking house, he was greeted by a most attractive middle-aged lady in a revealing negligee. She asked him in and seated him at the kitchen table, where she served him a lavish 'full English' and a glass of Bucks Fizz.
After he had cleared his plate, she beckoned him to the bedroom, where she seduced poor old Milkie, showing him every trick in the book.
Afterwards, she led him to the door and pressed a pound coin into his hand.
"Oh my dear," says Milkie. "I've had some adventures in my time, but I've never been treated to such - ahem - generosity and kindness!"
"Well," said the housewife. "It was my hubby's idea. I told him that you were retiring, and asked him what we should do. He said, "Oh, F*#K the milkman - just give him a quid!"
The breakfast was my idea. ".

Have been visited by several gas fitters/plumbers in the last few days (see my relevant thread), and they have all been tipped between £5 and £20, depending on the time spent. They were all fantastic! Nothing was too much trouble despite probably wanting to knock off early in the lead up to Christmas.

I always tip the window cleaner, same one since 1984, rest never see or don't have.

Bubbe, we also give our lovely postman £20. I didn't want to mention the sum, as the going rate elsewhere seems to be less!

I guess that where one lives in the country plays a role - where prices generally are higher, lower paid staff could do with extra dosh. That's our philosophy, anyway.

We don't have a milkman anymore and we are the window cleaners (thanks to a very very long pole - but that's another story!) and don't tip the dustmen, so only have one tip to cough up.

This is an interesting subject as tipping is traditionally not the thing (i.e. money) to talk about in polite company. We are all obviously not polite!!

norty jingl!

I got DD to run after our parcel postman today, with a fiver. He always has a cheery smile and brings anything round to the back door to save me going outside if it's wet. He's a little sweetie.

He's as black as yer 'at too.

I'm gobsmacked. I've been giving £20 each to our cheery postlady and the paper delivery. Its been the same amount for years and I was wondering if I should raise it. The milkmen and window cleaners have disappeared in the mists of time and I'm just too confused by the dustmen system. Alongside the tip I write a letter of thanks and appreciation.

I don't think there's the same tradition in France where we are. But the sapeurs/pompiers, a combination of firemen and ambulance people, come to collect every year. Many of them are volunteers different from the UK , so I always give them a good donation, they helped to save my life once.
I also give 10€ to our postman, who is very obliging and on a very low wage, also to the staff in the AgriCoop where we buy our chicken grain etc.

The first year our youngest son was a paper boy he gave everyone on his round a Christmas card with their newspapers and not knowing that paperboys and girls are given tips he was astonished when he received cards and money in return. Innocent soul that he was (still is) he came home to check with me that it was okay to accept money for doing something he got paid for. The following year he was really looking forward to his Christmas tips - some of which were more than generous.

I have just given our postman at work a Christmas tip. He is lovely and helps us out with favours such as bringing post back the next day if we're out and about so that it doesn't have to go back to the sorting office, but lots of other stuff and he's so pleasant. He always asks after our families even though we are in a City centre office and live miles away from the workplace. I vote for Ravi as the best postman ever. He deserves a tip for the extra effort he makes for us.

I pay the window cleaners £10 a time, but will add a £5 when they call for their money this Xmas. There are about three of them so it won't go far. I once tipped the postman £20 because he had battled through the snow. I gave it to him in a Christmas card and he never said thank you. I often wonder if he lost the card! Our last window cleaner never spoke all year then at Christmas he would knock the door and say "Happy Christmas". It was so blatant that he was waiting for a tip.

I give our postie a £10 tip. He's reliable, friendly and cheerful and we are grateful for his service. I notice he is still wearing his summer three-quarter length trousers in the cold wind and rain, so perhaps with a few more tips he'll be able to afford long trousers :-)

We have ever-changing bin-men, so do not tip them. We tip the postman £5., because he is always so cheerful, even when he is dripping with rain.Since our window cleaner is a one man band, he keeps all that he earns, so I see no point in tipping him. When our grandson was a paper boy an elderly lady gave him a bag of balloons as a Christmas box. Yes, they were balloons.

We used to tip our Milk boy each fortnight when he collected the money but now we pay monthly by mail/cheque so he gets a tenner at Christmas. Can't fault the service, milk arrives 3 times a week without fail, although we never see or hear them.

I don't really like the idea of tipping it seems patronising to me, but our regular milkman is so reliable and such a nice guy he deserves appreciation.

The round has been owned by only two different men in the 28 yrs we have lived here, they were both very reliable.

Don't know my postman different one each week, no milk or papers delivered, window cleaners come as a team but seldom see them but I do give my cleaner a fortnight's paid holiday and a present every Christmas....