Dear Mrs. McVeigh,

I have several questions about tipping.  If you are charged for valet parking, then do you need to tip the valet?  Also, there is a man who comes through my office selling tamales, when I buy from him, should I tip him?  The third is if I get take-out at a Chinese restaurant, do I need to tip anyone? Thank you.

S.M.

Dear S.M.,

In the case of the valet, he/she is not keeping the money that you pay for parking, so a standard $3.00 - $5.00 tip is appropriate.  For the gentleman who sells you tamales, I would tip him 10 – 15% of what you pay for the tamales.  At the Chinese restaurant I would not feel obligated to tip.  If there is a tip jar at the counter, then a minimum tip is optional.

Dear Mrs. McVeigh,

I work for a large company. About 10 of us order records from an outside source on a regular basis. The CEO of the records company is very appreciative and comes in every 6 weeks to thank us with lunches and gifts. However, we recently discovered that not everyone gets equal treatment. Those who have higher orders get better lunches at expensive restaurants, and more expensive gifts. Since it is
easy to talk about this among us, we have realized that the CEO is playing favorites based on dollar amounts. But the three who get less are always very gracious and
always send thank you notes to the CEO.  Should they stop sending the notes, as they are getting annoyed and irritated as time goes on? Or just swallow their anger?  Should everyone just overlook this and let it go for the good of the company?

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

It is not uncommon for companies to reward their clients based on the amount of business that they do with the amount of money that they spend on the reward.  If you are bothered by the way this CEO is handling things, then he/she obviously is not being very effective in her attempt to thank you. 

It is a very nice gesture to send him a thank you note, no matter how large or small his thank you gift is to you.  If you are irritated or offended by his gesture, then I would not send any more notes, however, he may stop giving you gifts if he thinks that you do not appreciate them or care.  Also, remember that those who are getting better gifts are not at fault, so please do not feel anger towards your co-workers.