Gift gaffe

Ona yearly basis, my employer recognizes employees who have dedicated 10, 15, 20, etc. years of service as well as individuals who are retiring. These employees have their names published in local press and also receive a gift. This past year I completed my 10th year of service. While my name was published, I never received a gift. Everyone else received one, so it’s not that the tradition stopped and I was unaware; mine was just somehow overlooked. My co-workers tell me I should ask about it, but I feel kind of awkward doing so. Is it tacky to contact the human resources department and ask about the gift?

— Feeling Forgotten It’s not tacky so long as you handle it with tact. Send a short and sweet email to the human resources department. Start by expressing gratitude for their recognizing you in the local press. Then ask about the gift, taking care not to make demands >> It is, after all, a gift, not a right. So emphasize that you realize it’s not something you’re automatically entitled to, but you were just wondering if your not getting an anniversary gift was intentional.

Alternatively, if you feel too uncomfortable bringing the subject up yourself, you might ask a co-worker with whom you’re close to do so on your behalf.

Iam a good tipper. I always tip 20 percent for servers, pizza delivery guys, bartenders and baristas because they are serving me in some capacity. What I don’t understand is the tip line on the credit card receipt when I get takeout or ice cream. Is a tip really expected? What is the difference between tipping the girl who hands me my takeout order and the girl behind the fastfood counter or the girl behind the gas station counter? We are not asked to tip these folks.

I feel like a jerk when I draw through the tip line, but I just don’t feel an additional 20 percent is earned.

— Confused at the Counter

You’re not the only one. Many people are confused about whether or not they’re expected to leave a tip for takeout.

The reason you’re not asked to tip employees at a gas station or fast-food restaurant is because those employees are making at least minimum wage. The lines become blurrier in the case of getting takeout from restaurants. Many servers I’ve surveyed said that they depend on those tips, and stiffing them at the to-go counter is as much a problem as stiffing them for table service. But another factor is your state’s laws regulating service-industry wages.

So as much as I hate to say that it depends, well, it depends. I find that, when in doubt, I never regret erring on the side of generosity.

“Tipped Off” was inquiring about tipping at a doctor’s office. You never heard of tipping at a doctor’s office. You are correct, but it depends. You would never tip a nurse or a receptionist, or anyone fully employed by the doctor.

As a massage therapist of 20 years, I can attest, most massage therapists are not fully employed by the doctor, which means that we do not receive a salary, health insurance, vacation time or sick time. The massage therapist also has to pay licensing fees, continuing education costs and liability insurance! The only way a doctor’s “patient,” who is also a massage therapist’s “client,” can know whether to tip or not is to ask how much of the service fee goes to the therapist. You may also ask if the therapist pays the doctor rent. — Happy MT Thanks for the tip!

“Ask Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie” is out now! Annie Lane’s debut book — featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

ACROSS

1 Knock for a loop 6 “The jig __!” 10 Wing

measurement 14 The “N” of USNA 15 Beer-brewing

mixture 16 Taper off 17 Rare baseball

event 19 28-Across, in

German 20 Troubling Nixon

records 21 Supermarket

walkways 23 Falafel bread 24 Antiterrorism legislation of 2001 28 Single 29 Double-helix

molecule 30 Slake, as thirst 31 Hardly current 33 Bridges of Netflix’s “Bloodline” 36 Snob’s “in the air”

body part 37 Nightlife sphere

of activity 40 “That sounds

painful” 43 Brussels-based

defense gp. 44 Clear data from 48 Like a damaged atmospheric layer 50 Letter after pi 52 World Series

org. 53 Race terminus 56 Smear, as paint 57 Narrow

waterway 58 Coins of

59-Down 60 All-encompassing 62 Theater direction ... and a hint to 17-, 24-, 37- and 53-Across 65 Actor’s part 66 Narrate 67 Celebrated chef

Ducasse 68 Intuit 69 Canadian gas

brand 70 Big Apple 52-Acr.

player

DOWN

1 Colony insect 2 Tennis great

Navratilova 3 Takes to the skies 4 Frank of avantgarde rock 5 Magazine with the column “Ask E. Jean” 6 Little devil 7 Dinner course, to

Heinrich 8 TWA rival 9 Body structure 10 Equal or Splenda 11 Italian pal 12 “Bel Canto”

novelist Patchett 13 Video game

letters 18 Little League

broadcaster 22 Singer Rawls 23 Jack-in-the-box

sound 25 Limerick’s rhyme

scheme 26 Emails a dupe to 27 First word of numerous Grisham titles 29 Md. neighbor 32 German veal dish 34 Approximate fig. 35 Oak-to-be 38 Not pure 39 Opposite of paleo40 “That sounds

painful” 41 Action film

weapon 42 Bring comfort to 45 Composite dental

filling material 46 Flavored icy drink 47 Recede, as a tide 49 Syr. neighbor 51 Often hyperlinked

word 54 Low-cal beers 55 Tilted type: Abbr. 56 Newspaper

frequency 59 Tehran’s land 60 Collie’s comment 61 Clog front 63 Mop & __:

cleaning brand 64 Blasting letters