To not give the postman a Christmas bung

[MurkyMo]

...to not give the postman a Christmas card with a fiver in it. Husband wants to but I say no. As for the bin men, not a chance !

What do you do?

Aw @Notmyrealitythis comment says a lot more about you than it does me

it would have cost us a lot more to redirect mail for 4 people for the last 8 months so it’s a thank you for saving us money

Totally agree with this post.
I come from a very poor working class background and had relatives who were bin men and I remember my parents always leaving the the postman/bin men a tip.

We are not well off but own our property and live a lifestyle which we are grateful for (we live within our means and can pay our bills).
Our neighbours have new cars, several holidays a year and I was having this discussion with them about the going rate for tipping the bin men/postman and they don't.

I think it is all relative and those who don't have much often give more because they can relate.

We have a really lovely postman. It’s our pleasure to tip him. We tip the bin men also, they always neatly return our wheelie bins to our bin store down the driveway, even though we have to leave them out for emptying at the top of the drive.

Interesting, but if we all tipped everyone for doing their jobs then wouldnt it get rather expensive?

Eg the average person could tip:

Postie
Bin men
Kid's teacher
Check out person
Hospital worker
hairdresser
garage mechanic
Local cafe owner for serving us coffees throughout the year
Bus driver
There are easily more I am forgetting

If you spent a fiver on each thats getting on for £50. I think its unfair to place any expectation on people to do this considering the cost

The service is not the fault of the individual postman, that's down to Royal mail.

I feel extremely lucky and like a weight has lifted knowing I’ve been able to provide for my family, with a single income and cost of living etc etc. I’ve read this week on here there’s an expectation to give to teachers (3 children with 3 teachers, teaching assistants, other staff) and now this? Give money to postal staff, delivery guys and bin men? Can we actually not set this up as a social expectation? It’s making me feel quite anxious, the thought of being miserly and tight if everyone is happily doing this and I’m not. Or is this a rich-people-MN thing?

I have actually in another post. I said I do, but I do it throughout the year as and when I see /use services. I dint go to the hospital to tip just at Xmas, but when I had some major work, I popped in a week later with a thank you card and gift for the people on the team that had worked for me. I tip my tesco delivery man but do it at deliveries and not just at Xmas.
I certainly don't od these things to 'brag and feel good about myself'. Noone else knows apart from me and the recipient. It's no one else's business who I give my money to.

Shelf stackers and hospital staff do get a lot of cards and tips and gifts and thank yous. Do you even know any to ask before being so judgemental?!!

So, you are saying I should tip the postie? what should I do about the fact we get loads of different ones? should I tip them all as otherwise that would be unfair

I have a friend who is a postman. He has covered the same round since his 20s and is now in his 60s. His job has got harder and harder, working conditions have deteriorated and he's under constant time pressures now. Despite that, he looks out for older people, is kind, friendly and helpful.

He has a permanent back injury from his work and had a heart attack at work (still finished his round though!). Royal Mail are a terrible employer, he was hassled to return to work when unwell, pushed into working additional hours and bullying is rife. He's very grateful for anything he gets at Christmas. Let your husband give the postie a fiver OP.

And your problem is?
We are not discussing who to tip and not to tip.
We are discussing tipping the postman.

I don't do it just at Xmas. I do it throughout the year so it's not a case of having to find £50 at once. It's a few quid here and there. Hairdresser gets a tip but I factor it into the cost of my appointment etc

We always buy the postie a box of nice biscuits and leave them in the postbox for her. (We have our own locked postbox so it’s perfectly safe.)

We also give the bin men a nice box of biscuits to share. It’s a private service as there’s no council collections here and they’re very reliable.

My sewing group also gave the library staff a nice box of chocs to share as we use the meeting room upstairs for our weekly sewing group. They provide us with free tea, coffee and biscuits all year round so it’s a very good deal!! Plus we don’t have to pay to hire the room. 🌟

I’m not allowed to accept tips in my job.

Sure, but even throughout the year, tipping all of those people regularly IS going to get expensive so it is going to place pressure on others to do the same when they maybe cant afford it

We're not 'setting this up', it's nothing new, it's been a tradition for as long as I can remember. And it's nothing to do with being rich. Don't do it if you don't want, and why you'd feel anxious about it, I've no idea.

This thread has made me realise how much society had changed in the UK over recent years.

I’ll consider giving my postie a Christmas gift when he starts doing his job properly. I’m frequently re delivering post for my estate that he puts through my letterbox.

So you DO give him a fiver? 😵‍💫

I don't tip anyone, I don't get paid extra at Xmas and postmen etc get paid to do their job.

Mind you my son does a paper round 7 days a week for absolute shit money (£25 a week) so he very much appreciates the extras he gets given at Xmas. Last year he got given approx a fifth of his annual salary in Christmas tips!

I wouldn't pay to get a paper delivered and I assume people who do have enough disposable income they can afford tips.

We don’t get deliveries every day. The PO seem to save ours up and deliver when they fancy. Which isn’t the postie’s fault obv. But we also don’t have a regular postman. So it’s tricky.. don’t know when’s coming or when!
we do leave a tenner and chocs fir all the bin men and women and recycling gang.

Imagine even thinking that way let alone saying it out loud. What a way to live your life.

It really has not been a tradition in the UK for many years. My parents in the 70's never tipped the postman, nor did anyone they know.

Im not sure where it's come from because nobody ever tipped hairdressers etc 20 years ago! 'Tipping' is an American thing and didnt really exist at all in the UK when I was a child 30+ years ago.

We rarely get post -probably once every two weeks or so, and that's usually junk mail, so I won't be tipping the postie. I think it's a nice thing to do if you receive regular post or parcels, or he/she is particularly community minded (for example, we had one years ago who would help my nan with her bins).
Our bin men are a bloody nightmare so I don't think anyone in the village will be tipping them!

It really doesn't. I live in a council house and work part time due to a long term spinal condition. I am a solo parent so don't have money to burn. I am very frugal and careful with my money. If I didn't have it, then I wouldn't give it and I wouldn't expect to be judged or treated different either way.
I am in now way at all saying it is the expectation or should be done by everyone at all. I am simply stating what I do and what I know about other occupations that have told me about their cards and tips etc.
I am not making other people need to tip. In my job I get none and that is fine and not an issue at all. Its the nature of different roles etc.
Surely kindness is a good thing in whatever way it is shown. I am not expecting a better service as another poster claimed!! The thought makes me laugh!
I tip because I can and want to. I was once a hairdresser and always think about the 20p pieces the elderly women used to press into my hand when I washed their hair as an apprentice.
It's not a big deal of you do or don't. It's just a personal preference or opinion!

It depends if the postman goes above and beyond, knows your name etc. Ours is great and we give him a card and a £10 tip. Refuse team change every fortnight and so they no longer receive any Christmas tip.

You get post once a fortnight?! @TheatricalLife