--- "David E. Haberstich" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Full disclosure: Many years ago a man gave me a $5 bill after I agreed to > expedite his photo order. I've always felt vaguely guilty about this, > especially since I forgot to report it on my taxes (please don't report me to > the IRS). I am now considering, after all these years, dropping $5.00 into the > donations box at the museum entrance. Don't feel guilty David, in the US, if you make less than I think $600 for Federal and $200 for VA State (all States vary) in "freelance" type income, you don't have to report it on your taxes. It will probably cost the IRS more to process your 1099 than the $5 you reported. > On perhaps three occasions, I've received small gifts from professional > colleagues. One was from a Japanese man who had a whole bag of similar gifts > (wrapped) to distribute to museum staff who helped him out, and I felt it > would be culturally injudicious to refuse. I'd welcome any discussion of such gifts. That's a cultural thing and in those cases, I think those gifts should be graciously accepted. They aren't meant as bribes or compensation but as an extra "thank you." Some people are taught to write thank you notes, other people are taught to give little gifts. Again, it's a cultural thing. As for Nicholas' suggestion that some museum staff won't get gifts like the janitorial staff, I don't think that should be a concern. You can always pass your gifts along to other staff by saying, "I got this from so and so but you do more work around here than all of us combined so I think you should have it." Or why should they have to know about it? I don't think that you should parade your gifts around the office either. If all staff are made to feel appreciated and treated curteously, I don't think a janitor will mind that a curator gets the occasional trinket for helping someone out. I mean, how often do we get things like that anyway? Once every 5-10 years? Maybe once or twice in our career? It's not a big deal. On the flip side, I've been in offices where we took up a collection every Christmas for the janitorial staff. No one has ever took up a Christmas collection for me, nor do I expect it. (But if Museum-lers feel the need, I won't decline any donations that come my way. ;) So I think accepting tips or gifts comes down to individual judgement. If it's a gift that is meant as a "thank you" for extra work or special attention, then I think it's alright to discretely accept it if people insist. If it's cash, then you can always turn around and donate it back to the museum. If you get the feeling a gift or tip is meant as a bride, especially if it is a large sum or a valuable item, don't accept it or return it with an apologetic note about your museum's no gift/tipping plan and suggest that if they feel the need to contribute, they could make a donation to the museum in your name. Deb __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! - Internet access at a great low price. http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).