A Dollar Here and There. ..

I had to wrestle a guy today to get him the $20.00 tip that he really deserved. There was a bit of blood and I got a Charlie Horse in the deal but in the end I won and stuffed that $20.00 down his shirt. He still has a black eye from the first attempt to give him $20.00; also my win.  It is not easy being kind but it is important to fight for the concept.

Why the tip was deserved was for the following reasons. He works at a strip mall in Guelph in an establishment that has high traffic. Whenever he works he shovels the walks along almost the whole length of the mall. He does it all night, keeping up with the snow. He also salts at the end of the shift. When it is time to plow I simply have drop my blade and skim the snow away.

Now, he is a self serving guy really; certainly not stupid.   If he shovels for 3 minutes he saves himself 20 minutes of cleaning and thus he has more time for more enjoyable things. What he does for his fellow workers and me is exactly what he does for himself, he saves them time and makes the unit spotless. He also saves at least 10kg of salt per snow event so he is good for the environment.

My point is "why can't I recognize it?". Sure he considers the tip offensive but then I just as easily could find it offensive that he does my work. I get tips as an expression of thanks for simply doing what I do and I have had to learn to take it and appreciate it. Let me say thank you. Lol, if I was paying him $40.00 for the work he has done or even attempting to bribe him I have been cheap. It is an appropriate expression of thanks as it is.