Have you ever tipped a public sector worker?

you have to bribe the bin man sometimes to take rubbish away

I used to work for a Housing Association which is "kind of" public sector.

The Housing Officers would sometimes get gifts from tenants to say as a thank-you for their help. Gifts of small value could be kept but everything had to be declared and documented.

All hospitality from suppliers also had to be declared.

nurses get tons of chocolates

That's the sort of thing that could be accepted but would have to be declared

Just recalled I nearly tipped a public sector minibus driver a can of pop after picking us up from the end point of a council guided walk. It was 11 miles, but weather was bad, so no-one had sweated any fluids. In the end we decided no as he was probably on time and a half.

Anyway, after brendanuk1's excellent observation that nurses get chocolates that the patient either can't eat or doesn't like, I need to hastily rephrase the question:

Have you ever tipped a public sector worker with your own cold hard cash, that you earned yourself? Produce doesn't count.

hospital porter when I had 19 hours in A&e and was looking at £48 hospital car parking ticket.

few smokes, tip and hospital car free pass. Top man !

Sounds more bribe than tip Tictacman.

the free pass came first at 5am in morning, a packet of smokes and a tip was small token

Ok, that way round it's a tip. Agreed

Tictacman1 is really Bruce Willis - drives himself to the A&E for work taking 19 hours. No wonder the porter was impressed.

I gave the local priest a ton for rushing down to give last rites to my Ma on Monday morning, if he counts as a public sector worker that is.
We always tip the binmen and the postie at Christmas without fail.

some councillors that have involvement with allocating social housing .........get lots of rather big tips

At one stage in the late 80's my Dad had pretty much the entire Lambeth housing department in his pocket. I did the banking and payroll and the brown envelopes stuffed with money were given to the head honchos on a regular basis. The corruption went to the very top.

Nearly had a chimney fire after moving house many years ago. It turned out that the previous owner had built a fireplace with a wooden lintel that extended so far inwards that it was virtually touching the flue pipe of the woodburner.

Saw smoke coming from the wall, but the fire brigade arrived quickly enough to prevent any flames and were good enough to jack up the fireplace for me before leaving. Offered the chap in charge £50, but he said tips were not allowed. Instead I was invited to donate £50 to the Fire Service Benevolent Fund, which I did.

I seem to remember long ago people would give the dustmen something at Christmas?

Nobody does now, which probably explains why they leave half the rubbish they collect strewn all over the road

My father always gave the binmen and the postman an envelope at Christmas.
That was in the 60s and the done thing.
He was a director responsible for purchasing and brought home loads of freebies given to him by reps eager to get his custom.
Boxes of spirits, crates of beer and cigarettes galore. that much that he spread them round his and my mothers brothers and sisters.

Always tip the dustman ,money well spent, but dont think they are public sector workers anymore.
Didnt Thatcher make sure they were always put out to tender?

Council workers up here in Scotland.

I give public sector workers lots of tips however they blame red tape and health and safety for not being able to use them.

Not public sector but I tipped a M&S sales assistant the other day.  I went in for a pair of chinos and came out with two pairs, a jacket, coat two jumpers, four shirts and a pair of shoes.  Step forward the delectable Oxana, a Russian about 40 and as cute as aa button(can a button be cute? I digress), no wedding ring. Probably an ex-ballerina and an accent so sexy it was almost porno and I loved to ask her to say that again as if I couldn't understand her.  I spent a couple of hours in there with her as almost my personal shopper. She had this delightful pout as she dismissed any of my suggestions and quickly found just the right colour and style.  Well, not that quick cos I stalled her as much as possible.

Except all this is not really true when it comes to tipping.  I offered her £20 but she declined it; however she did say she was in the department every tues/weds/thurs and would be happy to help me again, anytime.  Which to me says that she's gagging for it and for me probably.  Watch this space.

Don't be surprised when she moves into your home, throws you out and holds a referendum which shows 100% support for a change of ownership.

Not public sector but I tipped a M&S sales assistant the other day.  I went in for a pair of chinos and came out with two pairs, a jacket, coat two jumpers, four shirts and a pair of shoes.

No wonder they treated you like royalty. You doubled their sales for the month.

I don't really get the point of this thread.  Have you ever tipped a draughtsman?  an engineer?  A lawyer? (I really hope not) A supermarket checkout girl?

The whole concept behind tipping is on its @rse.

I gave a tip to the re-cycle crew, which was "don't you think you should pick up all the stuff you drop"?

Worth tipping betting shop staff in shops where you can get on without being made to feel like a criminal.

I don't really get the point of this thread.  Have you ever tipped a draughtsman?  an engineer?  A lawyer? (I really hope not) A supermarket checkout girl?


No, of course not.  But a jury's well worth while