It is the season of Christmas tips, les étrennes de Noël. You have to give tips to the concierge, the babysitter, the maid, the hairdresser, etc. Not having lived a very huppé lifestyle in New York, in a doorman building, the two or three times I lived there, this whole thing is foreign to me and I tend to forget about it until the coiffeur presents me with a handsome present or the concierge brings up a box of candy.
I wasn't expecting anyone, and no one had rung the interphone, so I was a bit alarmed when a tall black man in uniform rang my doorbell on Thursday. But then he held out a calendar and said, "Les éboueurs!" [The de-mudders, or the garbage men.]
"Ah," I said. "Let me go and get my purse." The door slammed shut in his face, rather insultingly, but it does that unless I remember to prop it open. I could not find my purse. I looked all over the house. Things have been in an uproar recently and it's been hard to have good habits about it with everyone coming and going.
I couldn't keep him waiting any longer. I went back and opened the front door. The éboueur held out the little calendar politely, but I said, very embarrassed, "Je suis désolée, Monsieur, mais je ne trouve pas mon sac!"
No one who actually knows me would have any trouble believing that I couldn't find it, but the man gave me a scornful, incredulous look , put the calendar back in his pocket, and went down the stairs. I half-expected to find an X marked in chalk on my door that night.
Of course, technically the éboueurs are not supposed to ask for money door to door like this, but it is a long-established practice for them to "sell calendars" every December. I always do buy them, if I'm home. I am still expecting the firemen and the policemen to swing by.
Do you give tips at Christmas, too?
The same thing happened to us! Well, nearly. The postmen came around with their calendars, and we always buy one from them because my husband once worked for the post and my mother-in-law retired from there. Anyway, when they came, we had absolutely no cash, but we assured him that we really wanted one! He said he would come back the next day and never did.
We haven't seen the firemen yet. I hope someone will still come; those calendars are actually quite handy!
Posted by: Vivi | 18 December 2005 at 10:40