Perhaps it’s because I spent years being a waitress where tips are not above and beyond pay, but your actual paycheck, that I have an attitude about tip buckets at so many establishments. But this constant attitude of deserving more for doing your basic job, annoys me.

I notice that there’s never a tip bucket at the crucial jobs; the Emergency Room, the Animal Shelter, the teachers desk or at the police station. But instead, once a job is provided and the recipient is grateful, the workers, who often make wages similar to the popular tip bucket jobs, then recommends the individual give a donation back to the organization or even pay it forward.

What a difference. From an emphasis on the person doing the job (and their need for immediate reinforcement) to the job that really needs to be done (and their desire to have more people embrace it). Perhaps if we spent a bit more time, being grateful for the nurse who made it into work in time to save our life, even though she has a sick kid and parent at home, then the 20-year-old kid that pushes a button on a coffee machine, we’d all feel the holiday spirit a bit more.

As for me, I’d rather save my dollars from the buckets and send some of these crucial, but so often under-thanked jobs a well-deserved treat this holiday season.