bilboburgler

Postmen get tips at Christmas? In Cornwall?

Dickie_Gr

"and people want to pay them less"

No , just want their employers to pay them. Seems reasonable.

Graziella5b

I agree with Dickie , i wish that the Restaurant owners that overcharded me for a bottle of Pellegrino or wine pay them.

annhig

Postmen get tips at Christmas? In Cornwall?>>

The taxman assumes that all postmen receive £150 pa in gratuities:

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/c...mas-gratuities

spaarne

London cabbies are the most honest and respectful of taxi drivers anywhere. I always tip them about 10%. I never tip on the Continent, except sometimes in Holland.

PalenQ

On Coronation Street, which is supposed to refelct lower class British society - even these low lives reguarly tip the barmaid at the dumpy Rovers, saying keep the change and regularly tip the cab driver as well.

But as they say I guess Coronation Street does not reflect Brits in reality?

bilboburgler

so right, tipping in your local is just weird, which just shows it is not their local

jamikins

Agreed...we never tip at the pub.

Hooameye

"But as they say I guess Coronation Street does not reflect Brits in reality?"

I'm surprised anybody, even remotely thinks it does.

PalenQ

Oh it remotely reflects British life but everything is taken to an extreme = like the crime rate on Coronation Street must be tops in the world - 3 or 4 murders - lots of assaults, etc.

sofarsogood

<< like the crime rate on Coronation Street must be tops in the world - 3 or 4 murders>>

oh I think Midsomer is far more dangerous, as is Oxford with Morse and Lewis on the beat; must be something in the water that makes the Home Counties particularly risky.

And I would be wary of Northumberland with Vera finding corpses everywhere. Then there's Glasgow with Taggart. In fact there's hardly a corner of Britain where you have a more than 50-50 chance of waking up in the morning. Makes Tony Soprano et al. look like Downton Abbey.

Dickie_Gr

Strangely enough, the murder rate in Montalbano's Ragusa is actually lower than than in real life.

Salvo racked up around one corpse ever two episodes which if half the weekly rate in SE Sicily.

annhig

not to mention St. Mary Mead with Miss Marple tripping over corpses wherever she went.

Fictional England is a very dangerous place.

Heimdall

I have become addicted to Montalbano. Last Saturday was the first episode of "The Young Montalbano", which is looking like a good prequel to hold us over until the real Salvo returns. Ystad in Sweden looks like a dangerous place as well, if "Wallander" is anything to go by.

annhig

thanks to Patrick on another thread I managed to catch up with the first episode of il giovene Montalbano last night and enjoyed it very much. no matter how I try my eye is drawn to the subtitles but I kid myself that it's still good for my italian to be able to listen to what they are saying even if I'm not actually translating it myself.

DH claims that he watches it for the scenery but his eye does seem to linger on the women, especially the young girls, who seem to be figuring prominently in this series. no wonder he wants us to go on holiday to Sicily, despite the bodies piling up. [only two last night surely or did i lose count?]

MissPrism

A friend from Milan who occasionally has to the English titles when characters dialect

Dickie_Gr

After spending a week in Sicily, I can put your mind to rest Ann.

Those stunning young women seem to be a figment of the media's imagination!

Be careful if you go, need careful planning. Parts are beautiful, other areas are bloody awful.

Grindeldoo

The taxman assumes that all postmen receive £150 pa in gratuities:

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/c...mas-gratuities

However annhig's reference above relates to conditions more than 25 years ago, in 1985. Things have changed considerably since then, including salaries. Postmen now earn on average around £21,000 a year, but I doubt if many of them get £150 a year in tips. I don't know anyone (including my elderly neighbours) who tips any more.

annhig

Those stunning young women seem to be a figment of the media's imagination!

Be careful if you go, need careful planning. Parts are beautiful, other areas are bloody awful.>>

you're making it seem more attractive to me, dickie. Any chance of a TR so the rest of us can make sure we see the beautiful parts and avoid the bloody awful ones?

<<However annhig's reference above relates to conditions more than 25 years ago, in 1985. Things have changed considerably since then, including salaries. Postmen now earn on average around £21,000 a year, but I doubt if many of them get £150 a year in tips. I don't know anyone (including my elderly neighbours) who tips any more.>>

but i think that HMRC still assumes those £150 in tips, grindeloo. or do you know different?

Hooameye

"Last Saturday was the first episode of "The Young Montalbano", which is looking like a good prequel to hold us over until the real Salvo returns."
Thanks for the info, I watched the episode last night and thought that was the first one, I'll have to catch up on Iplayer.