young boy gives carolers $180 tip

[Amby 490]

A 7-year-old English boy gave three teenage carolers $180 in cash as a tip without permission, his father says.

Howard Davis of Andover said his son, Andrew, apparently wanted to give the three singers a gift for their holiday spirit and gave them a pile of cash sitting on a kitchen table without his approval, the Daily Mail reported Friday.

Apparently there were three teenage lads at the door singing 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' ... and he went to find some money, Davis said of the recent incident.

I'd left the 120 pounds ($180) on the kitchen table to pay for a child minder and he must have just picked it up and given it to them.

Davis is hoping the singers recognize their one song was not worth the cash payment and return the overly generous tip, the Mail reported.

I know it's the season of goodwill but no one is that generous, Andrew's father said.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/oddities/1614...urce=r_oddities

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Is tipping normal for carolers?

[Amby 490]

Honestly I have no clue

[MrsCat 6]

I don't know for sure, but I think hot chocolate, coffee, tea, cookies are ok for carolers however money is supposed to be frowned upon since its not keeping with the spirit of the season. I don't know where I heard that from. I might have just made it up. . . . . .

[Amby 490]

I don't know for sure, but I think hot chocolate, coffee, tea, cookies are ok for carolers however money is supposed to be frowned upon since its not keeping with the spirit of the season. I don't know where I heard that from. I might have just made it up. . . . . .

Good info...I think I'll Google it because I now have this strange urge to know for sure

[Amby 490]

This is something someone posted as an answer on one of those yahoo question thingies

Oh, goodness, no - there’s no tip required!

I’ve never had carolers come to my house, but I went caroling every Christmas in college with a group of friends from the dorm. We never got anything for doing it, but we never expected anything, either. The one exception was when we stopped at one house and a little boy came outside with his dad and asked us to sing Rudolph. Of course we did, and the kid sang along, and when the song was over we started walking down the street. We got a few houses away and heard someone yelling, "STOP!" There was the little boy’s mom running after us with tons of cookies and fudge all wrapped up on paper plates. We tried to tell her that we weren’t out singing for food, but she lowered her voice to a whisper and told us if we didn’t take the treats they’d be eating them through February and to please just take them.

Um, OK...twist our arms, then.

Honestly, as poor as we all were, I would’ve been kind of taken aback if people had offered us money. It would've felt like people were totally missing the point. We didn’t say no to the treats, but we didn’t expect them either; they were definitely appreciated, but we didn’t think badly of the people that came out to listen to us that didn’t offer us anything. Even if that woman hadn’t caught us afterward, we got what we intended: the smiles of the people who came out to listen, the grin on a little boy’s face as he got to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and the warm gratitude of the parents who loved seeing their child so happy.

So don’t worry about tipping. But if you are lucky enough to get carolers, be sure to tell them how much you enjoyed it. The smiles and thanks were always more than enough for us.

[Welshcookie 17]

yeh...it's like begging but some work goes into it

It is customary for charities to knock on doors with a float booming out christmas music to collect donations....but really, carol singers I haven't seen since the 70's in the UK

[Niels Bohr 72]

I have doubts as to the carolers returning the money.

[MrsCat 6]

I think its tacky that he's demanding return of the $$$. I mean, I know it was an accident and all, but its not a million dollars. Chalk that one up to lack of supervision and move on with life.

I mean in 10 years from now, I am sure it'll be a family favorite xmas time story to tell. The year that Johnny gave away $180 to these sketchy carolers.

[andreea 0]

i think it depends. different yards, different customs. here carolers r being tipped. but they r kids. those r the first money u earn as a kid. u cant wait to go the first time, cant wait the Christmas to come to go make yr money. u make a plan. pick a repertoire. calculate how much it takes u to sing all u have to sing, how many doors u ca knock on, decide what time to start and is painful when u have to go home. then u remember the good tippers, the bad tippers, so next year if u r short on time, u know exactly where to go. usualy u see somth in a store u really want, and u set a target, and u r willing to die singing carols rather than not fullfill yr plan. then u grow up, and u know the good times r soon over. is like a psychological limit. the last year when u can go caroling and earn money with it. some push it, and ppl look at them with the 'this guy didnt know when to stop' face. and when the happy years r over, u still go caroling, but teenagers go in groups. usualy from school going to their teachers and then to all their parents houses. and they go as long as they can, because usualy u get served with cookies, and a lil glass of wine, somth. but many many lil lil glasses add up. thing is, the way we have it kept it going. and christmas eve is all carols everywhere u turn. i like it. now i dont go, i am waiting for them. with a big jar of coins prepared.

[MissStacey 1]

I have never seen a caroler before- I didn't know people actually still did that.

[caybee 21]

We used to do it, but mainly just for very old folks, shut-ins. They never gave us anything, and we would have been shocked if they did, but they would smile so big, and many times they would invite us in to their impossibly hot little front room with the heater that took up half the space.

[NickD 203]

Ha, not sure to pay them for their singing ability, or to pay them to get them the hell off my property. Or have them arrested as peeping toms for peeking in my windows.

[Nessa 23]

carolers here are shot for trespassing.

[Fandango 1,439]

i think it depends. different yards, different customs. here carolers r being tipped. but they r kids. those r the first money u earn as a kid. u cant wait to go the first time, cant wait the Christmas to come to go make yr money. u make a plan. pick a repertoire. calculate how much it takes u to sing all u have to sing, how many doors u ca knock on, decide what time to start and is painful when u have to go home. then u remember the good tippers, the bad tippers, so next year if u r short on time, u know exactly where to go. usualy u see somth in a store u really want, and u set a target, and u r willing to die singing carols rather than not fullfill yr plan. then u grow up, and u know the good times r soon over. is like a psychological limit. the last year when u can go caroling and earn money with it. some push it, and ppl look at them with the 'this guy didnt know when to stop' face. and when the happy years r over, u still go caroling, but teenagers go in groups. usualy from school going to their teachers and then to all their parents houses. and they go as long as they can, because usualy u get served with cookies, and a lil glass of wine, somth. but many many lil lil glasses add up. thing is, the way we have it kept it going. and christmas eve is all carols everywhere u turn. i like it. now i dont go, i am waiting for them. with a big jar of coins prepared.

I have just decided to never type text speech again.

oh, and 'you are willing to die singing carols rather than not fulfill your plan' ? #######?