Are there any Canadian born and bred folk who can comment on this? I have always given the dustman something at Christmas, both here and in the UK.

I gave the bloke a $10 Timmies card this morning and asked him to ignore my grass clippings in the bin next summer. He smiled and seemed appreciative, but to this day I have never seen or heard anyone else giving anything.

Is this a British trait?

I asked the same thing last year.... mixed response....

But since the dustmen went on strike for several months this summer leaving me dealing with my own rubbish and maggots, they can suck on my fat one this year.....

I thought that was Danny was suggesting as well, and the Timmies card was just an extra

I think he was all for giving not receiving.....

AH yes you could have a point there

Get real, I'm a male...

Never stopped DBD....

Or Philip Larkin apparently

and of course there was that incident with George Michael in the 'cottage'

If it was the same guy on the same route every week, I could kind of understand that, but in our area it's a team of 3 on the truck (and 2 trucks - one for garbage, one for recycling), and it seems to be different people every week (who do varying qualities of work), so I wouldn't bother.

Ours don't stand still long enough to see who it is let alone run out after them waving a Timmies card.

They get paid, they aren't my servant, I feel no need to bestow gratutities.

With a base rate of $22.00 per hour , and all the benefits , no friggin way do they deserve a tip , they do not even get out the truck we have to wheel the garbage can to the curb, placed not too near the road just off the side walk etc... the truck comes along a mechanical arm comes out picks up the can dumps the trash in the back of the truck , drops the can back , sometimes it falls over and gets left where it lands , wind blows them around ,no way do they deserve a tip, and we never see who the truck driver is . I remember many moons ago as a kid back Ome!! when the team of dustbin men would come in to our garden take the bin to the curb empty it then return it to the garden , they got a tip from my parents , as did the post man , paper boy, bread man and milk man ,, and deserved it too , but that was only 50 years ago , how times have changed !!for the better !!

Back in Drumheller I left a case of beer out for them. (Well they did cart away all my crap in minus stupid).

This year obviously not living in town, I don't have dustmen and have to cart it to the dump myself. So I bought myself a case to say thank you.

The basic protocol in this country is to never give a tip to anyone who's salary is paid for by taxpayers and who has better benefits than you.

Seems to be a mix of people who do and who don't tip. I'll carry on with with it, I don't care how much they earn or what benefits they get, it's a job I do not envy.

As for those mechanical arms lifting up the wheelie bin, what did you expect them to do? lift it up over their shoulder and empty it?

So do you tip everyone who has a job that you don't envy? If not then why the binmen?