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Why we need to tip the baggers at WalMart


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It is the same at other stores' checkouts, such as Soriana, etc.  Please do tip the baggers, be they seniors or children, who are also helping to support their family in their off-school hours. With a split school day, you may see children helping at any time of the day. They are not skipping school.

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I always tip the baggers, even if I have my own shopping bags, which I prefer to bag myself, as they usually don't bag the way I prefer. I can sometimes see them look disappointed when I say it's okay, I like it done a certain way and will do it myself, but then they are happy and relieved when I tip them anyway. I also like to make conversation with the old folks, and they seem to like it as well. I've occasionally asked them how old they are, and when I say I hope I look that good when I'm 80, I can tell that it made their day.

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Here is a helpful hint:

Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card.  In order to tip the bagger, I buy a Snickers or Milky Way and give it to them when the are done.  I always get a nice smile in return.

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16 hours ago, henrylaxen said:

Here is a helpful hint:

Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card.  In order to tip the bagger, I buy a Snickers or Milky Way and give it to them when the are done.  I always get a nice smile in return.

Pardon me, but when children and elderly people are working for tips, they need money.  They can't pay their bills with a candy bar.  You like the smile you get back, but you're interpreting it to your benefit.  Not necessarily so.

Just this week I read a long article in La Jornada (newspaper out of Mexico City) about pensions in Mexico.  The standard amount for a person retiring from lifelong work?  1200-1500 pesos a month.  Tip the baggers!

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Dear Liana,

Did you notice the line where I said: "Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card."? When I carry cash, I give cash.  When I don't, I give candy.  

You are pardoned.

Best wishes,

Henry Laxen

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3 hours ago, henrylaxen said:

Dear Liana,

Did you notice the line where I said: "Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card."? When I carry cash, I give cash.  When I don't, I give candy.  

You are pardoned.

Best wishes,

Henry Laxen

Of course I noticed.  What I said still stands: take enough cash to give a tip to your bagger.  How hard is it to stick 10-20 pesos in your pocket AND take your credit card?

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1 hour ago, More Liana said:

Of course I noticed.  What I said still stands: take enough cash to give a tip to your bagger.  How hard is it to stick 10-20 pesos in your pocket AND take your credit card?

Sometimes very difficult if you have no cash and the ATMs are sold out. Not all that rare. A candy bar beats nothing right?

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On 10/9/2019 at 5:09 PM, henrylaxen said:

Here is a helpful hint:

Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card.  In order to tip the bagger, I buy a Snickers or Milky Way and give it to them when the are done.  I always get a nice smile in return.

This reminds me of the aguinaldo at Christmas.  It is supposed to be paid in cash, not in gifts.  I heartily agree with More Liana.

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23 minutes ago, henrylaxen said:

Okay guys.  Wow.  I'll be sure to think twice before trying to be helpful in the future.

Best wishes,

Henry Laxen

 

What a strange take away. You could have said, “I’ll think twice before leaving the house without change.” You could have said, “I never realized other people had such strong feelings about this.” Or, even, “I’m surprised people think giving a candy bar is not a kindness.” But, no, you decide to think twice about being helpful. Such an odd response.

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6 hours ago, timjwilson said:

Sometimes very difficult if you have no cash and the ATMs are sold out. Not all that rare. A candy bar beats nothing right?

No.  And frankly, when was the last time an ATM spit out a 10 peso coin or a 20 peso bill?  

Where I live, garbage collectors no longer receive a salary.  The custom is to tip the garbage collector when he takes away one's garbage.  The standard tip is five pesos, and I usually put out garbage twice a week.  I make a point of saving 5-peso coins for just this purpose.  

Save your change.  Take enough to the supermarket to tip the bagger.  Be a mensch.  

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When I first came to Mexico I knew to tip so I always did.  One day I tossed some coins on the counter for the older woman who had bagged my groceries.  She got very angry and gave me the salute.  I told my wife what happened and she told me I had insulted the woman.  Now I always smile and put it in their hand with a gracias.  I always try to carry change for tips as quite often I don't get get proper change back for a tip when I buy something.

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1 hour ago, henrylaxen said:

Okay guys.  Wow.  I'll be sure to think twice before trying to be helpful in the future.

Best wishes,

Henry Laxen

 

When you are living in Mexico, you are living in a society that normally revolves around cash. It's quite common in the US and Canada for people to only carry debit and credit cards with them, no cash. But in those places, there aren't people asking to help you out or employed to bag your groceries who rely on tips. When in Mexico, the protocol is to always have some change in your pocket for this purpose. Get with the program. When in Rome....

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32 minutes ago, rafterbr said:

One day I tossed some coins on the counter for the older woman who had bagged my groceries.  She got very angry and gave me the salute.  I told my wife what happened and she told me I had insulted the woman.  Now I always smile and put it in their hand with a gracias. 

This is common manners for most everything, whether you are tossing money on the counter to pay for something or tossing food instead of placing it in their hands. In the case of food, it would be perceived as if you were feeding a stray dog. Lots of good videos on Mexican manners out there as well as a class at LCS.

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Just now, Rassabossa said:

This is common manners for most everything, whether you are tossing money on the counter to pay for something or tossing food instead of placing it in their hands. In the case of food, it would be perceived as if you were feeding a stray dog. Lots of good videos on Mexican manners out there as well as a class at LCS.

I don't think not just tossing change on the counter has anything to do with Mexican manners. I think it's poor manners anywhere.

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22 hours ago, henrylaxen said:

Dear Liana,

Did you notice the line where I said: "Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card."? When I carry cash, I give cash.  When I don't, I give candy.  

You are pardoned.

Best wishes,

Henry Laxen

Genius score-100

Common sense score-0

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Dear fellow web board members,

Let's review:

I originally said:

Here is a helpful hint:

Sometimes I go in the store with just my credit card.  In order to tip the bagger, I buy a Snickers or Milky Way and give it to them when the are done.  I always get a nice smile in return.

After which More Liana said:

Pardon me, but when children and elderly people are working for tips, they need money.  They can't pay their bills with a candy bar.  You like the smile you get back, but you're interpreting it to your benefit.  Not necessarily so.

followed by:

Of course I noticed.  What I said still stands: take enough cash to give a tip to your bagger.  How hard is it to stick 10-20 pesos in your pocket AND take your credit card?

then Yo1 said:

This reminds me of the aguinaldo at Christmas.  It is supposed to be paid in cash, not in gifts.  I heartily agree with More Liana.

Let's pause here so hopefully you guys can learn a lesson.  Never assume the worst about other people.  I have learned the hard way that when I do that, I am wrong 99% of the time.  Rather than assuming, why not ask?

Here is some background.  I like to go for long walks and listen to books on my iphone.  It is about 2.5 miles from my house to walmart.  I don't like to carry around a lot of stuff, so I have a credit card in one back pocket and the iphone in the other.  If I could pay with my iphone I would, and leave the credit card at home.  Usually when I leave the house I don't have any intention of going shopping, but sometime my sweet baboo calls me and asks me pick up something on my way back.  So I walk in, buy something, and to make sure the bagger doesn't work for nothing, I buy her/him a candy bar.

Could I have left the house with some pesos in my pocket?  Sure, but I didn't.  I don't know if I am the only person who has ever gone shopping with just a credit card, but I doubt it.  So suppose you do, and you find yourself checking out of walmart with no real money.  As I see it, you have only two choices.  1. Give the bagger nothing. 2. Buy something with your credit card and give it to the bagger.  Sadly, I hate to admit, for quite a while I did option 1 because I never thought of option 2.  Then one day I did! Great, now I know what to do.  Perhaps the idea of buying something with your card and giving it to the bagger is obvious, but it wasn't to me.  When this discussion arose, I thought to myself, "I'll bet other people have found themselves in my situation and just walked out without tipping.  Here is an idea for them that they might find helpful."

Did anyone say, "Henry, that's a good idea.  I'll do that the next time I find myself in that situation."

No.

So with that backstory in mind, let's classify the discussion in terms of helpful vs not helpful.

Henry's original statement: helpful
More Liana: unhelpful
Yo1: unhelpful
  By the way, we pay the aguinaldo in cash on the first payday of the month along with a full month's salary so our employees have plenty of money for Christmas, rather than paying them weekly as we usually do.  Again a helpful hint, in case you haven't thought of it, though aguinaldo has nothing to do with the original post.

Maybe I'm too thin skinned, but while I was expecting kudos, I felt like I received nothing but censure.

This was then followed by me saying: Okay guys.  Wow.  I'll be sure to think twice before trying to be helpful in the future.

After which Xena said: What a strange take away. You could have said, “I’ll think twice before leaving the house without change.” You could have said, “I never realized other people had such strong feelings about this.” Or, even, “I’m surprised people think giving a candy bar is not a kindness.” But, no, you decide to think twice about being helpful. Such an odd response.

timjwilson said: Sometimes very difficult if you have no cash and the ATMs are sold out. Not all that rare. A candy bar beats nothing right?

More Liana said (responding to timjwilson): No.  And frankly, when was the last time an ATM spit out a 10 peso coin or a 20 peso bill?   ... Be a mensch.

pappymarket said:  Genius score-100 Common sense score-0

Let's rate these:

Henry's second statement: unhelpful
Xena: maybe helpful, but I felt phrased in a snarky way I think.  Was that your intention?
  I did think "I’m surprised people think giving a candy bar is not a kindness." and that is what I should have said, but I chose snarky.  
timjwilson: helpful
More Liana:  unhelpful and snarky
pappymarket: ? I don't know ?

I have often seen people on the board be snarky towards others, but this is the first time I've experienced it myself.  It is quite unpleasant, and I can honestly appreciate why some members drop out or just don't bother posting.  My advice: If you are posting something that could be helpful to others, by all means do so.  If not, just skip it.

And please, don't assume the worst about someone you don't know.  You will almost always be wrong.

Best wishes,
Henry Laxen

 

 

Edited by henrylaxen
accidently quoted other posts
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