Follow up on the "tip jar" question. Would you leave a tip if no one knew about it?

[Cyrano]

A short time ago, I posted a question about leaving tips in tip jars. It turns out that most people do.

But here's a tougher one. My newspaper is delivered at 5:00 am and I never see who delivers it. At Christmas, there's always a self-addressed envelope to which a tip can be mailed. (There's no marking on the envelope to indicate who sent it.)

I also joked about "tip slots" in vending machines. Would you put coins into it?

In both of these instances, nobody knows whether or not you gave a tip. Both the person who delivers the newspaper, and the person who fills the vending machine work just as hard as the people at counters with tip jars.

So do you mail a newspaper tip, or would you insert tips into a slot machine?

[Fresh_Start]

1. Why wouldn't you tip the person who delivers papers?

they provide service 365 days a year

[Cyrano]

3. I do. However, every neighbor with whom I've spoke doesn't.

Their rationale is that the route is owned by one person who hires others to actually deliver the papers and that there's no way of knowing if the tip ever reaches them.

Perhaps it does, perhaps not. I really don't know.

[Fresh_Start]

8. just tip the delivery person

make the effort one day to get up in time to say thank you

[Cyrano]

12. It's awfully tough to get up at 5:00 am and wait for twenty or thirty

minutes listenting for the paper to be delivered.

[Fresh_Start]

16. so imagine them waking up everyday at 3AM

to get the papers to deliver them to you between 5-5:30

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. imagine them waking up everyday at 3AM - to get the papers to you

.
.
.

which they do EVERY day

every week

every month

so ONE day a month or a year

to tip them for good service (if they deserve it)

this would be an inconvenience?

yes, I delivered papers as a kid, and also by truck on a 300km route from 10pm to 6am

There is a LOT of work that goes into getting peoples' papers to their doors that they never realize, or appreciate.

[dysfunctional press]

7. because they just fling the paper into my lawn from a moving car.

now, if they were to place the paper on my porch each day- i would definitely consider giving them that tip.
for instance, -we give our mailman a $75 bonus every christmas.

[Cyrano]

11. I live in a very large community where they can't "fling the paper on the lawn."

My guess is that these people have to walk many miles each morning to leave the paper outside everyone's door.

Add to that the fact that I live in Florida and they're delivering those papers in the dark about the time that alligators are looking for breakfast. -- No kidding. -- Most people wait for sun up before walking their dogs.

[originalpckelly]

2. Schroedinger's tip jar?

"If a tip is left in the forest and no one sees, did someone really get tipped?"

[dysfunctional press]

4. not every profession requires tipping...

"Both the person who delivers the newspaper, and the person who fills the vending machine work just as hard as the people at counters with tip jars."

LOTS of people in all sorts of professions "work just as hard as the people at counters with tip jars."
construction workers, doctors, teachers, police, firefighters, etc... and they never get tips either.

is that fair?

[Cyrano]

6. Construction workers, doctors, teachers, police, firefighters, etc

are more often than not paid a living wage.

The same is not true of those of whom I'm speaking.

[dysfunctional press]

9. people who service vending machines can do very well, pay-wise too...

a lot better than a lot of teachers. and non-union construction workers in "right-to-work" states, especially the ditch-diggers, don't really make all that much at all.

[Warpy]

5. People who stock vending machines are generally paid

just a little bit better than people who deliver your paper. I'd feel silly tipping a machine, especially those damn machines with the candy in those spiral metal gizmos that don't quite allow that candy bar to fall until you body slam it half a dozen times to shake it loose. It's nice working off that snack before you eat it but still...

If the SASE is to the newspaper, itself, I'd bag the tip. If you can get the name of your delivery person out of them and mail it directly, please do so, and do it in cash. I just don't trust corporate news to deliver tips to the people who earned them without skimming them first.

If I had the paper delivered, I'd set my alarm for 4:30 one day and catch the person in action to deliver the tip myself, bleary eyed and half asleep. At least I'd know it was getting where it was supposed to go.

[Richard D]

10. I do

Always. I like leaving tips for good service.

[leftofthedial]

13. have done

[DesertRat]

14. I always mail a Christmas tip to the paper carrier.

This is the first time I've heard about inserting tips into a vending machine. I'll have to think about that one.

[Cyrano]

18. I was only joking about that, but who knows? It could come to be.

After all, does anyone remember seeing "tip jars" a decade or two ago?

[Deny and Shred]

15. I do believe in tipping, but I agree with Mr Pink (Resevoir Dogs)

Good service deserves extra recognition. I've had awful service, and though I'll usually still tip 15% or close to it to a bad waiter, I have left a couple pennies to pathetic waiters. That way they know I didn't forget.
I have also given a couple bucks to busboys, janitors, and other not normally tipped job titles if they seem to be busting their hump, or going out of their way to make life more pleasant for those around them. I have a softer spot if it's an occupation that I know doesn't get paid all that well, or its obvious those couple dollars will make a difference to the specific person.

I also believe in tipping the line cook at a decent but not fabulous restaurant if the meal seemed to require extra effort or attention. After all, the waiter didn't cook it. I am dumb like that. I don't trust the tip structure or the waiter to distribute in the fashion that I believe is merited. The $8 per hour line cook is truly appreciative as well. They don't expect to go home with extra $$$. All too often, the wait staff is indifferent or even snooty at a 15% tip.
To answer the question, yes I'll drop the change in my pocket in the tip jar pretty often, and I don't wait until the barrista or copy girl is watching.

[RamboLiberal]

17. My newspaper ends up soaked every time it rains

Even though it is in a plastic bag they don't bag them well. And I do have a porch he could throw it on. So when he leaves his envelope at Xmas it's no tip as far as I'm concerned. Maybe next year I should try a tip and see if the service changes.

[JerseygirlCT]

20. One year mine left a card with a message

that read to us as bigoted. They didn't get a tip, needless to say. They got an angry phone call to their supervisors. I was really quite taken aback, actually.

It wasn't directed at us, in fact it was more shocking for the tone, which was sort of "you and I, we understand this". Really ticked me off.

[JerseygirlCT]

19. Yes to the paper, no to the machine

Paper deliverers count on those tips. Vendor operators are paid for their work.

[AZBlue]

21. Have before and will again.

Never seen a "tip slot" in a vending machine nor do I think I would put money in it. That's a job that earns more than a newspaper delivery person or wait staff. Those are jobs that are paid low in anticipation of tips - vending machine service people are not in that category.