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Dang, I'm super delayed on my portraits the past few weeks...please forgive!

Carrying on...

As a kid, I remember my parents always making it a point to leave a few dollars behind for the maid service at every single hotel we'd ever stayed at. As a gesture of gratitude, this was as much a part of our checkout routine as sweeping the room for any forgotten toiletries, blankies, headphones, chargers, etc. I can still hear my parents discussing on the last day of each and every stay which one of them would make sure to have a few bucks set aside specifically for this reason -- in whatever currency was appropriate for that particular trip! When my sister and I became old enough to stay in a separate room, we were added to this conversation as well. In all honesty, I don't remember a single occasion where this gesture did not occur. Which, is really saying something, considering we have been blessed to do quite our fair share of family adventuring around the globe.

As an adult, this is something I assumed for a long time was the norm for all hotel guests. When I started traveling for my last company quite frequently, however, I learned that this is more often than not an exception, and not a rule. I was sincerely surprised to hear how many of my teammates had never once considered doing this -- and flustered when the finance team questioned that line on my expense reports. My humble thinking? Someone had cleaned a toilet I'd been using for a week. The least I could do was scratch out a quick thank you on a standard hotel notepad with a few dollars to boot.

Now, you can of course do whatever the heck you want in regards to tipping maids, or any other, similar, services! There's no hard rule in the Universe that demands this. I understand that tipping can get a bit out of control, and you should absolutely reserve the right to let someone know when they have not met appropriate expectations for their services. But we also aren't talking about much, here.

The photo above is a whopping $3 for one night spent at a lovely property during my Weebly travels 2 weeks ago. Let's be serious -- $3 ain't much to write home about. So I hope I don't come across as pushy or judgmental in this post, wagging my finger at anyone who's ever not left a tip for a hotel maid, or suggesting you should break the bank each time you travel.

BUT.

It's nice to acknowledge gratitude traditions passed down from the family, don't you think?

And.

It's nice to acknowledge someone who has made your life even the slightest bit easier or more pleasant, particularly if it's at a job you yourself would not enthusiastically jump to sign up for. To say to another being -- we never officially met, but I see you, and appreciate you. It's nice to feel like there is an exchange in this way; a small, soulful recognition without ever needing to physically cross paths.

I wonder, what can we teach our own children about gratitude in this kind of habitual, natural, tradition-like way?

Food for thought is all.

In Gratitude,

Trish