Tipping your waitress or waiter is encouraged. Likewise hotel bellhops and housekeepers, cabbies, barbers and stylists, pizza-delivery guys and so on. It’s a time honored tradition. It’s also the right thing to do.
But would you tip a government employee?
Of course not.
Well, I do.
Once a week, when I take two bags of trash to the Marion County transfer station west of Yellville, I’m charged two bucks a bag and I hand the attendant a five with a sincere thank-you. These are hardworking folks performing the very definition of thankless work in a less-than-pleasant workplace.
They may be paid by the county’s taxpayers, but somehow it feels proper to contribute a little extra for bottled water in the summer and hot coffee in the winter. That’s my tradition. I think it’s the right thing to do.
Deb and I followed our trash run today with a stop at the post office and the usual curbside pickup in Flippin. Back on The Mountain, she pointed out a few encroaching branches I’d missed yesterday — more than just fronds and vines that’ll yield as our cabin comes up the road tomorrow, these were of the kind that could scrape the siding or peel back the roof.
So I loaded up my tools, taking the truck this time for a little more reach, and spent an hour tidying up along the the roadside. Easily 90 percent of what I trimmed this morning was locust — damnable, thorny locust. I have the battle scars to prove it.
Now we’re ready. Tomorrow is The Big Day.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB