I know it’s the question of the day on most military spouse forums…”Do You Tip at the Commissary?”
Now I’m not here to tell you that you better tip but I will tell you why I choose to.
If their is anything that tugs at my heart strings it is an elderly man or woman standing at the edge of a counter (in the commissary) hastily lifting my heavy jugs of juice and cases of water and neatly tucking them in a cart (with a smile on their face) in preparation to be pushed to my car. All I can think of is that this is someones mom dad or grandparent and here they are taking my groceries to the car for me. Yes I admit the elders usually score five bucks or more from me , no matter how much I spend .
Ok back to the point: For the new spouses to the Army, yes the people who bag your groceries do not get an hourly wage. They work strictly on tips. You will hear many people who have hangs up about tipping and strict limitations on why they don’t, but please don’t let that deter you from giving.
I am completely aware that if they screw up your groceries that their tip will be considerably low if they receive one at all. What I don’t agree with is letting a bagger bag your groceries , having them walk groceries to your vehicle and letting them walk away empty handed. If you don’t have the money to tip (which I do understand) then politely inform them that you will bag your own groceries and you will take them to the car.
I’ve asked this question on the Army Wife 101 Facebook Fan Page and now I wanna know what you think ?
Hooah & Smooches
Army Wife 101
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
I totally agree, I ALWAYS tip at the commissary. No matter what I get. If everybody just tipped 1.00 or even $0.50. Some of the younger people I see are trying to make some money for their family to eat.
Wow I didnt go to the commissary yet. I went off post to a store that closer to me and were I am on post. But if I do go There I agree on tipping them. People who work on tips like waiters and that are all ways walking away with 5.00 or more because to me it less work I got to do lol
I definitely tip. Even if all I have is 3 dollars, I give it to them because I think that’s somone’s mom or something trying to help support their family. I haven’t been a bagger before but I have worked at a crappy job just to make ends meet.
I have known since day one to tip the baggers. Our Commi at Ft. Riley has self check out. So if you don’t want to tip, go through there instead. I always give $5 and have never had a bad bagger.
I tip every time. Usually between 2 and 3 dollars. We were at drum so in the winter, on bad days, I tried to keep enough on me to tip around 5 dollars. I know paying with a debit card at the register helps because I can get change with cash back. When I didn’t have the money for tipping, I always chose the nearest off post store.
I tip every single time and at least $5. Here in Germany there really isn’t a whole lot of options for the high schoolers as far as work goes. I overheard one talking a few months ago about how he was saving up to MOVE back to the states for college because his parents still had quite a bit of time left here. That kid got almost $10 out of me that day.
I have not shopped in the commissary in years! But when I did, I tipped what I could. On the occasions I didn’t have tip money, I would bag my own groceries.
The only problem I had were the baggers attitudes. I have never had a happy, polite or even nice bagger! They were ALWAYS been sour faced and grumpy. Acting as if they really did not want to be there.
So, i am a little torn with tipping. I am at Ft Campbell and during the day it is mostly older korean women and they are mostly rude. There is no, “politely” telling them your going to pack your own bags. I will tell you what, at a post this size these people make a killing in wages with these tips. I once seen this woman (whom i seen as a bagger) in the bank depositing a wad of cash. I bet they make more money bagging our groceries then our soldiers do in a day. I tend to go through the self check-out line most of the time to avoid tipping. Now, I am all for the high school kids packing my bags and tipping them. But as far as the others, I just try to avoid them.
when you want a great wedding decoration, just fill them up with
many flowers and laces-