pdowd,
re: "...leave the mailman, trash guy or delivery person and babysitter a nice BIG tip."
I agree about the latter two. But mailmen are government employees... paid with money obtained through unfair practices. Even if they're nice guys, they don't deserve any more than we already "donate" via taxes and postage collected via monopolistic practices. Indeed, I think it is high time for mailmen to tip us.
And around here at least, the "trash guys" are thugs... disturbingly similar in behavior and attitude to what you'd expect to see in an episode of The Sopranos. I don't think it's a coincidence that the "offical" line of work of the Soprano business was "waste management"!
Before you label me a grinch, I spent most of Saturday working as the coordinator for my Boy Scout Troop's "Scouting for Food" effort. We dropped off 1,200 bags to residences throughout local neighborhoods. Next Saturday, we'll do the same thing in reverse, collecting seven or eight truckloads of food people donate. We will deliver it all to a BSA drop-off center which gives it to the needy (via food kitchens, I assume.)
But, now that I think about it, maybe I *am* a grinch. I don't fully believe in what I'm doing! Truly, I wish the Boy Scouts would instead help the needy to help themselves. I'm a big believer in that old addage:
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”
I'd hate to think that the work I'm doing this month is actually spurring the DEPENDENCY/ENTITLEMENT mentality which plagues so much of our nation.
I should look into where our food actually goes. I have a feeling I'd be disappointed with what I found.
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