Originally Posted by
Tizzette
There's a good deal of tipping creep that I don't agree with, such as at Christmas to the mailman who is, after all, a government employee with a middle class salary and benefits. But if you are privileged to afford a 5 star hotel, customarily tipping the wait staff, the doorman, etal. right and left, please don't make your protest against the nanny state by being stingy with the maids. They are choosing to WORK at a low wage, physcially demanding job to support their families rather than work the system for a welfare check.
Exactly, they CHOOSE to do that job. It may be the only choice afforded to them for a variety of reasons, but again...life isn't fair. As other people have mentioned in this thread, you don't go into the back and tip the stockboy at the super market who is doing hard work for low pay. Is it your job to redistribute wealth to everyone with a low paying job? To me you tip people for extraordinary service (or in the special case of waiters) not when they provide a service you've already paid for.