Thursday, December 20, 2007

Tis the Season for Tipping

I noticed our garbage men started leaving out empty trash can standing upright and with the lids on a few weeks ago. Previously, they just threw the cans and lids on the ground. Today, taped to one of the trash cans, I left them a cash Christmas tip in spite of their transparent best behavior.

And even if my cans are soon once again strewn on the ground at the end of my front lawn, I’ll have no regrets. I contend that trash pickup is the best value in the world, while the guys that do it have really crappy jobs. They are out there in all kinds of weather doing back-breaking and smelly work. Can you imagine some of the gross things they must see and smell everyday? My guess is they don’t get paid a ton either. How could they, trash service is so cheap.

So even though they left us a Christmas card (with their names stamped, not signed, inside) to serve as a subtle reminder that we could reciprocate with a card of our own (and maybe some cash?), I say they’ve earned every penny of what I gave them.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty darned sure they get paid more than I do.

College degree, information age! What a wasted of time.

Sure I get to work in a comfy office setting, on my tush all day, but the money - that's what's important.

Drop out of High School kids, and go into something that will pay.

And kids, people will actually tip you for Christmas!

Anonymous said...

dave,

I respect you, sir, but I have to disagree with you on this one. The trashman has a pretty easy life; most of them live either at Panther Creek or Tara Hills and a vast majority of them also have summer homes in the Hamptons.

I would never tip a trashman; if they do their jobs right, I am sure they get paid handsomely enough. And I refuse to help someone live lavishly while I am relegated to driving around town in a brand new Toyota Corolla and eating lobster bisque for lunch.

Marie said...

Dave, if anyone taped an envelope to their garbage can in my neighborhood, it would be gone in less than 60 seconds. And not taken by the garbage man.

JeromeProphet said...

Marie,

No one in Dave's part of town would ever touch an envelope taped upon a garbage can, even if filled with cash, if they didn't have to.

In fact, I could quite probably profitably operate a "Garage to Street" service and make far more money than I do in my current job.

All that Wset-Side-Dave, and his neighbors would have to do is to leave their keys under their door mats, and I'd come in, and take their garbage down to the curb.

And no one need worry about someone using the keys to enter their homes at night, it's a very safe neighborhood indeed.