Jimmy Buffet, multi-multi-millionaire, once mentioned how rewarding it can be to discover a $5 bill in the pocket of some old jeans. Funny how that works. When my Dad would visit me at college, he would slip me a $50 - "walking around money." Small gestures and unexpected small rewards can mean a lot.
Our early Spring Cleaning has resulted in small hills of those black leaf bags filled with old magazines, old books, old clothing, household clutter, obsolete paperwork, lots of shredded old financial records and tax records, etc etc. Some fairly heavy, some not, but far beyond the usual.
We are required, more or less, to separate bags of theoretically-recyclable garbage from other garbage, but I believe it all ends up in a dump in West Virginia. Regardless, when we have large piles I always scotch-tape a $10 or a $20 to the pile.
To the sorts of people who say "He gets paid to do it anyway," I say "Bullshit." The piles of snow and ice do not make the job any easier. My theory is to always tip people who do personal work for you unless they are the owner of the business. When you give a tip, you make life better for a little while and you feel better too. Even if it's only beer money.
For some very occasional household jobs like rug cleaners, window-washers, or annual barn-cleaning crews, I will tip before the job begins. Try it sometime. I make a point to always have some $5s, $10s, and $20s in my pocket to show gratitude and to create small moments of good cheer and more positive helpers.
