<p>Could also be raised by a competitor–perhaps that’s the reason front doorknobs are preferred?</p>
<p>It may be that if you attach it to the mailbox enough times, the Postal Service sends you a nasty letter telling you not to do it.</p>
<p>OK, our exterminator just left–he comes every other month–and I had the uneasy feeling that I should be giving him a tip. Do other people tip exterminators? This stuff drives me crazy!</p>
<p>Never mind. I decided to mail him a card with a tip. And I left a tip at the post office for our carrier. Now I feel better.</p>
<p>At this point, the only people I tip are my hairdresser and restaurant service people. And I’d be much happier if they’d just raise their rates and put up a giant sign saying “we pay our employees well; please don’t tip.” I used to tip my dog groomer, but I groom my dogs myself now. I don’t do as good a job but I work a lot cheaper than she did, too.</p>
<p>I never liked getting presents when I was a teacher, either. It smacked of bribery. The $200 gift certificate to Nordstrom from the parent whose kid wasn’t doing so well? That was scary. I cashed it in and bought some equipment for the classroom and sent her a note saying how much the students would learn from that equipment.</p>
<p>We gave one of S’s teachers (who would always feed & host the kids at his classroom) lots of food to replentish what he had been buying for & feeding the kids. (Fortunately, S was a great student in that class & took AP physics for both JR & SR years. We gave a few of the teachers small (mostly edible) tokens of appreciation at graduation so there wouldn’t be the tint of bribery.</p>
<p>I would be much happier if folks were paid decently & didn’t rely upon tips, but unfortunately that’s not the world I live in. :(</p>
<p>HImom-Our S had teachers like this and I wanted to give back to them. I will never regret it.</p>
<p>Yea, the instructor was surprised and pleased when I singled him out at the opera one night and gave him & his wife a gift certificate to a restaurant. I saw him at Costco one day & updated him on how well S is doing. He was very pleased (but not really surprised), as S did a huge amount of self study in HS due to his chronic health issues. I think it’s always great for a teacher to know that parents appreciate what they’ve done for the student and that the student is living a great life (especially since I don’t think S is very good about keeping in touch). </p>
<p>I credit this instructor for helping keep S’s interest up in physics and encouraging S to major in engineering, which seems to be an excellent fit for S. I am also grateful to him for not penalizing S for his frequent and prolonged health-related absences.</p>