I don't know if you live I the US, but if you just start walking around with five dollar bills and start handing them out, you really don't know what kind of reaction you're going to get. I tried giving my AT&T guy $20 for waiting for me, he wouldn't take it. Perhaps I could have insisted.

Americans can be deeply sensitive to people thinking they're poor and in need of assistance. And five bucks is practically nothing. Most people might well just take it to Starbucks anyway.

> deeply sensitive to people thinking they're poor and in need of assistance

Exactly. A gift card is appreciation. Cash is pity.

I think the common word that would be said aloud, while meaning pity, is charity.

"I don't need/want your charity..." vs "I don't need/want your pity..."

Not to mention, I think I've read that flight attendants are _prohibited_ from receiving cash tips, on pain of termination, non-cash gifts are presumably acceptable (I've heard of quite favorable treatment being lavished on passengers who show up with fresh baked goodies for the cabin crew)

I had a similar experience with the Best Buy Geek Squad. They went above and beyond and I tried to tip $20. The geek squad guy waved his hands, backed up and say "No I can't take that". He said the only thanks he wanted was filling out the survey and my repeat business.

Company policy is probably that they're not allowed to take tips. So accepting it would be a risk. Getting you to fill out the survey and give them good ratings could get them promoted instead of punished.