Aibu to tip the bin men for xmas?

[ScottishStottie]

Curious to know how many people do this. I thought it was pretty common but today when i gave them the xmas tip, they seemed pretty surprised so made me think its not as common as i think?

YABU - no i dont tip the bin men
YANBU - yes i do tip the bin men

We will and I have some beer for the postie as well.

4 cans of lager for binmen.

@DontTouchTheMoustache

For some reason they missed my street off the bin route last week so my general rubbish wasnt taken and wont be until the 23rd so no definitely not tipping as at this rate we will be lucky if we don't get rats 🙈

Is this the first time? Seems harsh to judge a difficult year on one week. Can happen by accident, mine was missed a couple of weeks ago, just mine! I was told by someone to ring up and they would come and collect it but as there's just me and it only had a couple of bags I didn't bother.

Surprised people are surprised at tipping the binmen. That's where the term 'boxing day' came from.

Yes we tip them but they are fantastic around our way. We have 2 young children who are obsessed with watching them do their rounds and seeing the flashing lights and the men wave every week, beep their horn and have brought round colouring sheets for Halloween and Christmas so we love our bin men.

I totally understand the people that dont tip due to not getting a very good service, but i dont get the attitude that some have of 'i dont get anything extra for doing my job so im not doing anything for anyone else' its seems like such a miserable outlook on things and not a very good mindset?

I work hard, i dont get any tips or gifts, and due to the nature of my job i wouldnt be allowed to take anything even if offered. I dont get paid particularly well, but none of this seems relevant to whether i should be nice to someone else?

@ScottishStottie for me it’s just how do you decide which job is lowly enough to require you needing to tip them to bulk up their wages and which isn’t. I prefer to keep things on a level playing field.

Mine aren’t great, milkman is

I bought a 20 pack of bud and popped it on top of the bin when I heard them on the road behind. It's a crap job that I'm grateful that they do,

@Lolalime

I have thought about this but here we have separate teams for the recycled and non recycled waste each with 4 workers, so even a box of celebrations each would cost an extra £40. I’d like to but can’t.

We have three sets, so I could only tip one set anyway, and I've no idea how many in a crew, I've not paid any attention.

And our postie seems to be a different person every day.

@Thatusernamewastaken

Yeah. Put some cash in a card, might do beers and chocs this year. Same for the postie and gave cash for the food delivery driver who has been since lockdown and has always been really friendly and chatty. He was very grateful and a nice guy.

I've never had the same Sainsbury's driver twice. But during lockdown when I was on calls and they were being v careful, I left a note on the door asking them to leave the bags on the step and I put a £5 in with it. The driver texted to thank me.

This year I gave them cash but last year I made 24 cupcakes and iced them. Two tins of 12. They ate one each straight away and said their kids would love them. I have done this for several years as I like baking but not this year. I tip postman too. They work hard and have to go out in all weathers.

@ScottishStottie for me it’s just how do you decide which job is lowly enough to require you needing to tip them to bulk up their wages and which isn’t. I prefer to keep things on a level playing field.

This ^
Binmen are on a great deal more than minimum wage.
If you want to tip people, wouldn't what they earn already come into it ?
Always seems strange to me that some jobs seems to 'traditionally' expect a tip, yet others don't.

I didn't vote, as I don't think YABU to tip them, if that's what you want to do (even though I never have, and never plan to myself). I just don't understand the thought process - why binmen particularly ?

Always! Grateful for them collecting my bin when I was physically unable to take it to the bottom of my drive .
And always give my postie a fiver every Xmas. I live alone and he was a Ray of sunshine over lockdown

My parents used to as then they were helpful and would take extra bits etc and not fuss if the recycling wasn't done exactly correct but now they won't touch the bin if there is even a minute shred of something in wrong container. ...they leave the whole lot !!

I never see our dustbin people as I have to lug my bin to the main road as they refuse to come down our road.

I also, despite working from home, do not know my postman but ironically he has posted me a Christmas card today with his name in it. I get 1 letter a week if I am lucky, my neighbours get 50 a day plus all signed for stuff. Hope they do actually give him something. Then again, they are such entitled people they would never consider it,

My mum used to do this.
She was brought up in a council flat so I wouldn't say it's bourji.

Is it any weirder than the mindset of tipping the postie you usually have for doing their job but deciding not to bother with that temp OP? Genuine question. Surely if the job warrants tipping it does either way.

I don't tip them, I'm not against it but haven't done so in some years. I did stick a note of thanks on the bins during lockdown one but that is the extent of it.

DP's brother is a postie and the amount in £ he can get in tips at xmas runs into 1000. He gets paid all his overtime and earns usually around 40k a year as such, plus more chocolate and wine than he can use every xmas. Deserved I'm sure as he works hard but by contrast food retail managers have been at work at risk throughout this whole thing, helping in the community, don't get paid any overtime at all and never get a bonus or any tips or thanks over xmas even though they miss their own because shops are open 6am till 10pm or later, every day including xmas. If I was going to give a box of biscuits, I'd be taking it to the staff at the local convenience store tbh.

I would but I don't know how! Bins are left down the other end of the road with all the neighbours, out overnight and I don't know when they come- sometimes before we get up, sometimes after I'm at work.

I work hard, i dont get any tips or gifts, and due to the nature of my job i wouldnt be allowed to take anything even if offered. I dont get paid particularly well, but none of this seems relevant to whether i should be nice to someone else?
If you can afford it then it is a nice thing to do. I don't think it should be a normal expectation though. I prefer to give to family and to charity.

@Unreasonabubble I don’t understand your logic. A postman is employed and paid to deliver parcels - whether that’s one or one hundred. How is it entitled not to tip him for doing his job? I honestly don’t get it. Do you tip the cashier at Tesco because they put seventy items through for you instead of one?

@dontgobaconmyheart i suppose the difference with the temp postie is thati see the tip as a little thank you for the year of hard work, which then bin men have done and the regular postie has done.

Perfectly reasonable to tip them if you wish, I would suggest cash not something such as beers.