Community Corner
Should public servants , police , firemen etc. accept free items ?
This question sounds like a personal preference of the business or person making the gesture of a free gift or soda or free lunch . But is it ? Many private clubs across the country terminate employees who accept a tip , gratuity or free item . To some, this is hard to understand because it goes against free enterprise or paying someone extra for providing good service . So it would seem.
Why would a private country club terminate an employee for accepting a gift or even a tip ?One would think members of a private club have the money to tip an employee , so what is wrong with this ? Contrary to practical belief, it is exactly why private clubs have such a termination policy for accepting tips . Private clubs have built in gratuities and by design or practice , cash is never needed at a private club . In fact , Sunset Country Club has a history of one of it’s famous early members , August Busch , whose own personal graciousness to employees gained him disfavor by other members of the club because they could not keep up with the level of gratuity . This making it seem like his own personal private club , with the other members feeling like second class citizens within the club .
How other members ( citizens ) of a small City , like Sunset Hills , feel about other citizens or businesses possibly receiving better service than they receive , as result of it’s public servants accepting any gratuities , is important . There is also a small entity ,called the Internal Revenue Service , that may be concerned about such gifts or gratuities being taxable income . Public perception of receiving equal service and protection is paramount . Do you believe there are citizens receiving better than equal treatment or service from public servants ?
Whether you answered yes or no to above , realize that you will never know how all the citizens would answer . Which is why the strong responsibility is on the public servant , no matter what his or her tax paid salary is . The next time you see or hear about any free item or service , whether while on duty or not , remember how nearly 9000 other people may feel about it .