Who Deserves a Holiday Tip Best Year-End Tipping Practices

In this insightful clip from "Black Out with Ian & Rashad," hosts Rashad Bilal and Ian Dunlap dive deep into the important—yet often misunderstood—topic of year-end tipping. Responding to a listener question, they break down who should be on your tip list during the holiday season, how much you should give, and why showing appreciation to those who make your life easier is essential. Rashad shares common scenarios, highlighting everyone from sanitation workers, teachers, and valets, to barbers, school bus drivers, and even your building’s concierge. Ian provides real-life examples from his own life, pointing out the value of tipping your cleaning crew, building staff, and even the mailman. The duo discusses the nuances of tipping based on the service received, relationships built over the year, and the importance of recognizing excellent customer service. They also tackle those awkward gray areas: Is it necessary to tip your child’s high school teacher, or does it stop at preschool? What if the service was subpar? Both hosts agree that monetary gifts should go hand-in-hand with outstanding service and positive energy—but getting the etiquette right can sometimes confuse even the most well-meaning among us. Whether you live in a home or apartment, rely on daily or weekly help, or simply want to ensure you’re not missing an important gesture, this clip is packed with practical tips, etiquette reminders, and candid stories about why tipping matters—not just for gratitude, but for better service in the future. Ready to level up your holiday tipping game and show some love to those who support you all year long? Rashad Bilal and Ian Dunlap have you covered! *Hashtags:* #TippingEtiquette #HolidayTipping #YearEndGifts #ServiceWorkers #BlackOutPodcast #IanDunlap #RashadBilal #Gratitude #PodcastClip #LifeAdvice #BetterService #SupportYourCommunity #Appreciation #CustomerService #MonetaryGifts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank.
A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring,
and sure they definitely can be. But understanding of professionals
routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little,
day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank.
It might seem boring to save, plan and make calculated

(00:21):
decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is
what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P
and C Bank Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly
Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of
the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank
National Association Member FDIC.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Oh, okay, let's talk about tipping.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Who gets tipped? Who should you tip? What's the best
practices for end of the year tipping? You know, it's one
of these things a lot of service workers. This comes
from my key access question.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
It's a great question.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Garbage garbage man, valet Parker, Like if you live in
a building that has the valet Parkers, those guys concierge service.
If you live in a building but then it goes
down teachers, Yeah, and then at what age do you
like preschool teacher stuff like that? Are you are you

(01:20):
giving money to your your son's high school teacher? Like
what who really needs an end of year monetary gift?

Speaker 5 (01:30):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (01:31):
Well, Valet for sure, shout to the guys Dorman.

Speaker 5 (01:37):
For sure, because they keep a lot of chaos away
teachers if they are a good teacher.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
So age, what age teacher, I.

Speaker 5 (01:48):
Don't know, but but the ones that I've had has
been now first through fifth. For Xander, I like his teacher,
his primary teacher a lot, so I definitely give him
something tomorrow better fact so, but I think it depends
on But even in preschool, they you may think that
they were not doing a lot, but when I would
just popping, they were. And then it was a family

(02:10):
run daycare. They're do a really good job. So I
brought some stuff up there for Christmas too, and then
cleaning ladies like that's like my second family. They make
my life so much easier. So those are the ones
that I take care of in my circle. Valet, Doorman, teacher,
house manager.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
And it depends on if you live in an apartment
or if you live in a home too, because sanitation,
that's a home thing.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
That's a private home thing.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Yeah, if you live in an apartment, you don't see
a sanitation worker, so that's not even a thought. If
you live in a home, then yeah, the sanitation guys
come and you know they come every Wednesday. They pick
up the trash, you know, so that's a more personable thing.
So I think it depending on life because a valet parker,

(02:56):
like I said, if you live in a building, that's important.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
That's a close relationship.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, the mailman, the mailman, maybe.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
It depends on the relationship.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, it also depends on the service.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
But you know, it's just like if you know, if
like I feel like the male man's is important.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
People who've been getting male like that anymore?

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Na, people still get male they get bills. But but yeah,
the male the male man.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Barber, Oh yeah, Barbara for sure, Dave says.

Speaker 5 (03:40):
Made that conversation go crazy about if they charging too much.
But definitely holiday time, you gotta take care of the barber.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
School bus drivers mm hm, that's the good one. The
school bus drivers.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Those guys are important or women, they're important because they
make sure your kid gets to to and from. Who
are you not tipping anybody that does a bad job
just because you do something. If you're a bad sanitation
worker and you always the trash is always on the lawn, No,
I'm not.

Speaker 4 (04:09):
Tipping you because you just have horrible energy.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Orf. Yeah, if you're not a nice person. Yeah, but
if you do your job well, how much do you tip?

Speaker 5 (04:19):
It depends on a relationship, to be honest, clean ladies,
they make my life so easy.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Nice gift every year, you know, because this goes back
to the wedding thing. Remember we talked about wedding. A
lot of people don't know a lot of people, especially
unfortunately our community, they don't fully understand etiquette.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
A lot of times when it comes to weddings gifts.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
A lot of people don't fully understand etiquette when it
comes to year end gifts, tipping, holiday tips.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
They don't even know you.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
They don't even know you have to do that or
that is something that is you know, expected on a
certain level. Right, So it's it's not even that they're
trying to be cheap and the thought never crossed their
mind that to give a sanitation should work one hundred dollars.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
Yeah, but people also what my thing is to do
to others?

Speaker 5 (05:05):
How you want them to do you so deep that
I think some people know, they just may not think
it's a requirement. Even in business, you should be sending
gifts out in the year for the people that are
taking care of you.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Bone well, that's bonus. You're in bonus.

Speaker 5 (05:19):
Yeah, and a gift may not be bad in addition too,
so in combination if a person has been an exemplary
for you.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, But rule of thumb, anybody that anybody that you're
relying on, either on a daily or weekly basis, that
has a high level of customer service throughout the year,
it should be getting a tip. So if you if
you're relying on your on your sanitation worker, if you're
relying on your valet parker, if you're relying on your
concierge got your building, if you're relying on your on
your FedEx worker, if you're alying on your mail worker,

(05:50):
if you're a lying on your barber, if you're relying
on the lady that does your manicures, if if you're
relying on you know, your the bus driver to make
sure that your kid gets to it from school safely.
If you're relying on a on a preschool teacher that
has to stay with the kids all day, every day,
and they don't get different classes. They only have one

(06:11):
group of kids for the whole entire day. Because A
you're thanking them, but B you're also having some level of,
let's be honest, preferential treat treatment going forward. Yes, they're
gonna treat you better, paying in advance. Let's let's be honest,
right Like I mean, it's just one of those things

(06:33):
like if you have one, they're going to make sure
that you get better treatment than everybody else because you
went over and above everybody else.

Speaker 4 (06:41):
Especially in the restaurant.

Speaker 5 (06:42):
I set them too, Like one way to get great
service is a tip as soon as.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
You get there.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Before before dinner helps a lot.

Speaker 5 (06:52):
I only had a reservation. That'll go away in a
couple of times. I used to have an issue in
Sexy Fail, No.

Speaker 4 (07:00):
Worry about it, thank you.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
You know what your brell brought it broke it down
passport heavy shot to him. He said, what he does
is he started tipping the hotel, checking people.

Speaker 4 (07:12):
It helps a lot. It helps a lot. Bro especially
La Mexico.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
He's like, he starts, he's like, and then miracuously he
just starts getting room upgrades, fruit baskets sent to the realm.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
Even when I go to Cabo, like, they'll connect you
with the other people that are moving to show. Hey,
do you know such and such he's the director though
I don't know. I have no clue what that Nature
documentary was on BBC. Cool connect me because you're you're
paying it forward first and they may not be able
to give you the gratitude back monetarily, but they'll be
able to do it in service or another way.

Speaker 4 (07:46):
It helps. Yeah, and for.

Speaker 5 (07:49):
Your cleaning people and drivers and all that. If you
don't treat them well, your your information may end up
on the dark web. So be careful, take care of them,
Take care of them please.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
That's fact. That's a fact. Monetary gifts for everybody. That's important.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
Earners, what's up?

Speaker 1 (08:06):
You ever walk into a small business and everything just
works like the checkout is fast, the seats are digital,
tipping is a breeze, and you're out the door before
the line even builds. Odds are they're using Square? We
love supporting businesses that run on Square because it just
feels seamless, whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor
at a pop up market, or even one of our

(08:28):
merch partners. Square makes it easy for them to take payments,
manage inventory, and run their business with confidence, all from
one simple system. One of the things we love most
is seeing neighborhood businesses level up. Business West Indian Spire
writing our community that started with a small takeout counter.
Now with Square they've been able to expand into a

(08:49):
full sit down restaurant and even started catering events across
the city. That's the kind of growth that inspires us,
and it's powered by Square. Square is built for all
types of business, from the corner bagel shop that turned
into a local chain, to the specialty market with thousands
of unique items, to the stylist who's been holding you
down for years. If you're a business owner or even

(09:11):
just thinking about launching something soon, Square is hands down
one of the best tools out there to help you start,
run and grow. It's not just about payments, it's about
giving you time back so you can focus on what
matters most Ready. To see how Square can transform your business,
visit Square dot com, backslash, go backslash eyl to learn

(09:32):
more that Square dot com, backslash, go backslash eyl, don't
wait don't hesitate. Let's square handle the back end so
you can keep pushing your vision forward.