It never fails to shock me how a tip is demanded in the US. People simply refuse to listen to reason when we (yes, there are others!) tell them that leaving a tip isn’t necessary. Well, I’m hoping for too much here, but if you’re a waiter, here are 5 reasons why I will try my best not to give any money to you and why the reasons for tipping are crappy.
1. You act as if you’re my best friend
Just leave me alone ok? I don’t want to bloody chit chat with you. I want food. FOOD! Get it? It’s a restaurant. I go there to eat. I go because I want either Italian food, Chinese Food or something else which I can’t get in a McDonald’s. So I come to a restaurant to fulfill my cravings for it. I will pay for what I value – food. Not you.
Christ, you offend me – kneeling down next to my table, pretending to like me and chatting as if you’re my best friend when it’s obvious that all you’re after is the tip! I’m not a bloody money bag you know. I will pay the bill which includes the cost of the food, the environment and the salaries of the people involved – nothing more.
The only way to get money out of me that I don’t have to legally pay is by prying it out of my cold dead hands…
Bottom line: I don’t want to know your name, or interact with you for any longer than I have to in order to place my order. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the equivalent of a conveyor belt that brings me my food and a computer into which I input my order. Of course, I won’t be rude. But don’t expect me to interact with you any more than I would with some stranger.
Image Credit: cafemama
2. You don’t get paid enough
And this is my problem how exactly? It’s astonishing that customers are expected to make up for your employer’s cheapness in not paying you a decent wage. Please include the full cost in everyone’s bill thank you very much. I’ll pay it because I have to and the charge is there for me to see.
What’s really funny here is that no one seems to criticize the employers! All criticism is reserved for non tipping customers instead of the owners of the restaurant for not paying a decent wage. Wtf! Could it possibly be because you guys know you can make much more by tips and under report your income to the IRS?
3. You’ll spit in my food if I don’t tip you?
And I’ll shoot your kid if you don’t give me a million dollars. Seriously, am I even hearing this right? You’re actually using the threat of blackmail to make me pay you? Well as long as you’re openly claiming to be a criminal it’s all right I guess.
Fortunately that’s why I prefer buffets. Listen apart from it being illegal, this shows your poor integrity. But if you spit in someone’s food because they didn’t give you money you didn’t earn, then you’re a loser and deserve to be a waiter for the rest of your life.
4. Bringing me my food isn’t worthy of being paid extra
Did you cook it? Did you invent it? No. You picked it up and brought it to me. While it might not be easy, there are plenty of jobs which are much worse – shop floor workers for example. And I’ve been a shop floor manager, so I know. Face it – compared to other jobs, being a waiter is unskilled. You get paid what the market will think your services are worth. You don’t deserve more for your work over and above what your employer should pay you.
5. Money doesn’t grow on trees
I expect you to be grateful and pray for me at night if I tip you 10%. Be happy I gave you anything at all. I worked for the money in my wallet and by giving you some I didn’t have to, I’m doing you a favor. Learn to remember that when people give you something they don’t need to, it’s a favor. You don’t complain that they didn’t give you more!
By the way, the same thing above applies to all professions that demand tips including those on cruise liners.
So now that you understand why I won’t give you money you don’t deserve, stop with the “oh how could you?” attitude. I can. And I will.
Update: Here’s a rebuttal of the many silly justifications for tipping that people have given in the comments section.
You should rename this article, 5 reasons why waiters will spit in your food.
1. You are an arrogant.
2. You believe you are entiltled to have someone serve you while they are paid $2 bucks an hour.
3. You are selfish
4. You are a tightwad
5. If all of the above is not enough you are also a paki and therefore probably a terrorist.
You are a selfish, arrogent, self important little prick. Do you have even the remotest clue what these servers have to go through every day ? You think they pretend to be friendly and act like they like you because they want to ? Im am sure while they are kneeling there pretending to like you they are thinking, I would like to smack this greasy smelly paki in the mouth. They pretend to like you because they are forced to, they are dragged into the office cussed out by their managers and threatened with their job if the manager believes they are not being friendly enough, not smiling enough or not going back to the customer often enough to ask if you need anything.
I am quite sure you have never worked hard in your entire life or have even the first clue what working low paid jobs is like and how the employees are treated. Your attitude tells me you were probably born into a wealthy family, spoiled, given whatever you wanted, have never actually worked for anything in your entire life and you probably believe sitting in the office in your “job” daddy provided for you, is working for a living.
In reply to dandelion
You have an unskilled job. That is the reason you’re treated like dirt. If you want to be treated well, get an advanced professional degree. Then you will make real money and be respected.
In reply to Mindy
And who on the Earth proclaimed the fact that in order to get respect you have to have an advanced professional degree? Would you happen to be a lawyer, a doctor, a pharmacist, Albert Einstein perhaps? If you have SUCH a problem with these “unskilled” workers, then do not go to any restaurant, any retail establishment, or anywhere for that matter. Stay at home, grow your own food, make your own clothing, fabricate your own phones and computers. Money does not equal respect, I’m sorry to rain on your parade. If you are someone who believes having lots of money gains you respect, it doesn’t. I would rather have no money than live my life believing that I have to earn millions of dollars to feel vindicated and believe that I earned the respect of someone else. What a pathetic excuse of a person you must be to have that kind of mind set. And before you even start trying to insult me, I actually am working towards an “advanced professional degree” but I would never utilize it as a crutch to pass myself as a superior being. When you grow up a little bit and realize that you are not the center of the galaxy, maybe you’ll humble yourself a bit when things don’t go your way because your degree and money didn’t work out. All of that money and respect can be gone in the blink of an eye. Please remind me to never come into contact with you or anybody you may be related to, I’d hate to see the kind of lessons and ideals you may pass along to other simple minded people.
I get that you “don’t want to tip” but I figured I would do you a favor and dissect your little “philosophy.”
You’re under the assumption that you are entitled to the service that you get. You claim to “pay for it” and yet you do not tip (the optional amount for the optional service of courtesy.) You can easily choose to dine at places that do not have servers and there you can get your own drinks and pick up your food at the counter, simple and you will get what you pay for. The issue of raising prices for food to pay specific servers additional pay, is the concept of contribution. One server may be more skilled than another, and the market can decide very easily how to properly reward them by giving that power to the consumer. If you think the sever did an exceptional job , then you may “tip” them the amount you think they deserve. Or to put it more plainly, pay the additional amount you think the meal was worth. Some waiters/waitresses work harder and they should be rewarded more, now in the restaurant business (This is the important part here. I own a few restaurants so know that this comes from decades of experience on the matter, so you are in luck as I am going to give you this information for free. You are most welcome by the way.) in the restaurant business, it is difficult to judge the satisfaction of a customer on every level so you must use every tool at your disposal. Poor responses on exit can give you a tell, repeat customers is important but, more often than anything else, TIPS tell you how satisfied the customer is. A server does so much more than just drop your food at your table and slap a drink in your hands. You (as the customer) do not realize the level of expertise it requires for a server to do their job properly. They must judge the customer on who they are as a person (often within moments of entry) they need to monitor the customer and be ready to take care of them at a moments notice, and the must stay in contact with the kitchen, and floor managers to ensure their customers are taken care of, without incident. Now, as difficult as that seems, you would be surprised by the small number of complaints you get as a restaurant owner, no, the customers simply stop returning, if they receive, poor or inadequate service. Therefore it is important for the restaurant to know how well the server is doing, and that is the most powerful and clear connection that a restaurant can have with their customers, and that is with their wallet. If a customer has a problem with the restaurant but leaves a good tip then you need to look internally, whether it be with the dinning experience or the kitchen. If the customer has a problem but leaves a poor tip then it may have been the server. Since the entire product is such social experience you can’t pay everyone the same, as some will be better than others and that wouldn’t be fair. (It’s the same reason that athletes and actors are paid on different scales.) Tipping allows the customers to decide how much the servers are worth as a service. Since most menu items are priced at their base value (some carryout items or even delivery) it would make no sense to release a menu with (up to) 3 different prices on them just to cater to people who refuse to tip on these flimsy reasons. Not to mention, if they did, it would defeat the entire purpose and you would be tipping regardless of what you thought of the service, which would be a far worse system.
You stated that “servers are nothing more than conveyor belts to bring you the food” Though I should point out (again from decades of experience, so you would do well to listen, too many young people tend to speak without listening these days.) if you were to get your own refills or pick up your own food at a counter you would consider yourself “ill used” or “demand better service” so obviously you prefer servers over self service. Otherwise you would go to restaurants with self service and this article would be about convincing restaurants to switch to that style, but that is not what you have written so I can’t post about that. Following this we must both accept that you do NOT want to take care of these things, but rather prefer that someone else do that for you, which (if you have been reading up to this point) means you need to pay for that additional (optional) service.
I would like to expand on this previous point, your statement is incredibly insulting, these “conveyors” are actually people, someone’s brother or sister or child or parent. You should, in no way, every consider another human being as you would an object. They are doing a great deal more, for you, and the business, but we’ve already covered that. That being said, the fact that you would say that brings me to another point. Waiters and waitresses also have to deal with difficult people and in a timely manner, this often leads to a level of disrespect for the servers, often tips are used to pay the server for dealing with problems and issues that go beyond their already intricate job requirements. How often have you entered a restaurant in a poor (or “off”) mood and left in a better mood? There were several factors involved in that, more than just the food. After all you do not generally ‘see’ the chef, and it is the server that interacts with you as a human being (a largely ‘social’ creature) and they are right there, dealing with your poor (or “off”) mood seeing you through it by doing simple tasks for you, so you can remain seated and relax, or get your mind set right. It seems almost to slip into the background, which is why this thought of “never tip” come into play so often, people tend to forget or misunderstand the point of tipping in the first place, and often ignore how important the work of their server was in their enjoyment of their meal. (If you come back to the option of paying the servers more and increasing the prices to reflect that, then I advise you to read the above paragraphs again to help with the matter.)
Now, I must reveal the reality of this article to you. You aren’t saying you shouldn’t have to tip people, you already choose not to tip people. That’s a really important part, you don’t tip people, no one is forcing you to tip anyone. That is the rather the point of a tip based system actually. No. What you are actually saying is, you don’t want to tip AND you don’t want to feel ‘guilty’ or ‘bad’ about it. Though, you must accept this fact, just as no one is forcing you to tip, no is forcing you to feel bad about not tipping. That is something that you are doing all on your own. YOU are deciding to feel bad, to feel guilty. Though, that is a psychology that I do not want to go through at the moment, it is something that you need to soul search, for yourself.
Finally, I will bring up a solution that some restaurants are going for, a solution that you may find to be pleasing. Some places are putting a mandatory gratuity of (15-25%) on dine-in orders, I personally don’t like this system because I prefer to see the customers, voluntary tips, but it is something that you would prefer, as they are doing exactly as you ask, and simply adding the amount to the ticket. In that sense it is clear, you order a 10 dollar meal, you pay 12.50 and the waiter gets their tip. All calculated for you, added to the price of the meal and you get exactly what you always wanted. Though in my mind, it is a lot simpler to just tip the amount you think the server deserves.
This isn’t about culture, or customary actions, it’s an incredibly efficient system and it has lead to amazing customer satisfaction. That being said, servers are not required for every restaurant, it all depends on the market that you are in. Some would do better, and even have higher customer satisfaction if they were built on self service, it is a case by case basis that this should be considered.
I want to point out that I am not trying to anger you, but rather enlighten you on the reasons “Why you should tip.” so you can better understand the situation. More than just arguments of “You’re a horrible person” (Wrong, you are just a person, just like everyone else) or “Tips are customary” (To some degree, yes, but mostly it is based on a system that is used for so much more than just payment, it is a connection that allow for restaurants to improve.) So Hopefully, you, and anyone else reading, can learn from this comment and have an amazing day.
If I have left anything out, or didn’t cover something adequately enough, please let me know, and I can help as best I can. This whole post was kind of ‘off the cuff’ so to speak.
(Reposted: To ensure the maximum number of people can see this, hopefuly, to ensure that you can see it twice.)
In reply to Jack Lowe
That was very long and boring. Bringing me my food is not worthy of a tip. You’re just doing your job as a conveyor belt. Not tipping you does not make me feel guilty. It makes me feel smart I did not waste my money on you. Get a real job if you want more money.
Here’s an idea: if you can’t afford the tip after you chose to go out to eat. Stop going out to eat. Stick with McDonalds or carry out places where you aren’t expected to tip. These servers that you’re calling “unskilled” are often students trying to pay their way through college, teachers who don’t make enough, single parents, and others who you’re essentially making work for free. If you don’t want people to talk to you and just bring your food, that’s fine. But don’t make these people who are working their butts off work for free. You talk about how hard you worked for your money, well they’re trying to do the same except they’re making nothing when you’re sitting at their table.
You sound like an idiot that’s cheap, and no I don’t serve food. I would suggest however you change the “I’ll shoot your kid” portion, especially with your name. That alone will give someone the reason to ruin your life.
In reply to Dontneedwordpresstomakeablog
You are a jerk for thinking that bringing me my food is worthy of extra money as a tip. I am not going to pay you extra money for such a simple task. I paid for my food, if you want extra money get a better job. If you do this for a living and you are an adult, you are pathetic.
In reply to Josh
Wow you are such an ignorant person.
In reply to Josh
you are nothing more than a pathetic piece of shit, who is going to bring you the food if they go get a “better” job? I’d love to kick your ass just once.
In reply to Josh
There is a lot that goes into being a waitress, not just bringing you your food… Not to mention a percentage of the waiters overall tip goes to bussers too, who are really the back bone of up front service. Waitresses and bussers are in their feet for longer that 5 hours a shift serving to mostly rude customers keeping a smile on their face, not dropping your goddamn food even though they can be carrying 20+ pounds, and they clean up after your dirty ass. You have obviously not worked as a waiter or busser…. Get a job as one of those then tell me how you feel free a week. Your weak ass probably wouldn’t even be able to move after one 4 hour shift.
In reply to Amanda
You have an unskilled job being a waitress Of course it will be physical and tiring. Because you have no skills, you’re going to be doing heavy grunt work.
I will never have to do such embarrassing work because I have a doctorate degree in chemical engineering. I make a very good living, because I am a highly skilled professional.
You have a retarded job a monkey can do. You deserve to be poor and to struggle financially. Waiting on important people such as myself is an honor for you.
I refuse to be bothered with tipping. It is stupid and I don’t do it. I don’t really care how poor you are. If you don’t have enough money to pay your bills or eat that is not my problem. You chose to take that unskilled low-paying job, deal with it.
In reply to Scott
you probably have great luck with the ladies with that arrogant attitude
In reply to Carly
Why can’t you guys see that all these ‘you’re poor I don’t care’ people are just a select few trolls using fake names and identities (I’m so sure all these highly paid rocket scientists hang out on an indian blog ;;eyeroll;;) to try to engender distrust and hatred for the more well off portions of society by those less well off? Class warfare at its finest and you are letting it work on you!! Wise up and ditch this poison penned blogger that’s getting rich off of your backs in advertising dollars!
In reply to Scott
I love how some of these ignorant people are so quick to say “you chose that pathetic job.” When most waiters and waitresses are college students trying to go to school and better their lives. Serving is usually the best type of job for a student or an extra source of income for someone that already has a career. So quick to judge someone for being a server, when at least these people are working. Is it glorious, prideful work? No. I’ve served tables back in college and unless you have done it, don’t be so quick to call it pathetic. What’s pathetic is your arrogant attitude and your comments such as “I’m a chemical engineer” when your probably just butt hurt you weren’t offered a job as a server when you were school and you were placed as a dish washer or fry cook. Not that anything is wrong with those positions. I agree it’s shitty on a restaurants part to not pay their servers more, but have some respect for the people doing it. It could be you one day when you’re chemical engineering career comes crashing down around you.
In reply to Dontneedwordpresstomakeablog
It finally happened.after 6 years of driving cab in vegas and being insulted by non tipping dot heads i finally went over the edge.most of the time i just take the curry eating d-bags the longest rout i can find and get my tip anyway but i decided to the nice guy one day and take what seemed like a nice Indian family the short rout from the hotel to the mall.the fare was 8.14 and i totally thought these people were going to tip just by the way they were talking in the cab.when we got there the girl in the back gave me a 10$ bill plus 14 cents.a two dollar tip.not a real tip by any means but good for a dot head…just as i was opening my door to leave the “man” came around the car and asked for his two dollars back…i was stunned.I couldn’t believe it.usually I’m good at holding down my temper but not this time.I told him most people tip when they get good service.this clown actually said “go pick up most people then”…so i call him a piece of sh%×.then he made the mistake of running his mouth…it almost happened in slow motion i ball up my fist and i give him one right on the tip of his nose, and the little turd went down like a sack of Idaho potatoes…his wife ran to his side screaming and cursing me in her language ROFL…thought it was my last day as a driver but they never called anyone.
In reply to brian
Putting your hands on a person because they did not tip you is extremely dangerous. I am a very polite and thankful person. However, I must think pleasant thoughts, and do deep breathing exercises to keep my military training in check. I am a Dot Head. You are a very disrespectful person. If that were me you punched, you would be dead sir. Your life would have ended for a measly two dollar tip. You are paid for driving a cab. You are paid to drive, that is your compensation. I don’t tip, but even your life is worth more than two dollars. If that were me you punched, we would not even be having this conversation. Your family would be in mourning. I pray in the future you do not die for such stupid actions
In reply to Dontneedwordpresstomakeablog
Why the fuck people tip is beyond my comprehension.
If you’re at a restaurant/eating out and someone brings you your food and at the end of the meal you owe them $30, then why would you tip them $10 just for carrying a plate of food back and forth. At the end of the meal it makes no difference whatsoever if you give them that extra money.
A waiter will get at least minimum wage no matter what because even if their base rate is below minimum wage their employer has to by law make up the money. They do not deserve some stupidly high pay for their menial work.
Why do idiot waiters expect 15-20% tip no matter how large the bill is? If I order food that costs $1000, why should a waiter expect $200 for the same amount of work as if I had ordered a $5 sandwich? It’s carrying a plate of food ten feet to a table, a monkey can be trained to do it, and they do not deserve wages higher than people who were smart enough to graduate college and not do some dumbass work.
Waiters are slaves. You make a living waiting on other people bringing them food and drink. Its been around for thousands of years except back then you were rewarded with your life and punished with lashes or death. Waiters are modern day servants. No tip for you dumbass!!!
In reply to Dontneedwordpresstomakeablog
Why the fuck people tip is beyond my comprehension.
If you’re at a restaurant/eating out and someone brings you your food and at the end of the meal you owe them $30, then why would you tip them $10 just for carrying a plate of food back and forth. At the end of the meal it makes no difference whatsoever if you give them that extra money.
A waiter will get at least minimum wage no matter what because even if their base rate is below minimum wage their employer has to by law make up the money. They do not deserve some stupidly high pay for their menial work.
And why do idiot waiters expect 15-20% tip no matter how large the bill is? If I order food that costs $1000, why should a waiter expect $200 for the same amount of work as if I had ordered a $5 sandwich? It’s carrying a plate of food ten feet to a table, a monkey can be trained to do it, and they do not deserve wages higher than people who were smart enough to graduate college and not do some dumbass work.
Waiters are slaves. You make a living waiting on other people bringing them food and drink. Its been around for thousands of years except back then you were rewarded with your life and punished with lashes or death. Waiters are modern day servants.
In reply to Dontneedwordpresstomakeablog
Why the **** people tip is beyond my comprehension.
If you’re at a restaurant/eating out and someone brings you your food and at the end of the meal you owe them $30, then why would you tip them $10 just for carrying a plate of food back and forth. At the end of the meal it makes no difference whatsoever if you give them that extra money.
A waiter will get at least minimum wage no matter what because even if their base rate is below minimum wage their employer has to by law make up the money. They do not deserve some stupidly high pay for their menial work. .
And why do idiot waiters expect 15-20% tip no matter how large the bill is? If I order food that costs $1000, why should a waiter expect $200 for the same amount of work as if I had ordered a $5 sandwich? It’s carrying a plate of food ten feet to a table, a monkey can be trained to do it, and they do not deserve wages higher than people who were smart enough to graduate college and not do some dumbass work.
Waiters are slaves. You make a living waiting on other people bringing them food and drink. Its been around for thousands of years except back then you were rewarded with your life and punished with lashes or death. Waiters are modern day servants.
In reply to Dontneedwordpresstomakeablog
I have a college degree and wait tables to get by for now. I am not lower than you because I make my money waiting on people. Think what you want and act how you want, I hope that makes you feel good about yourself. Come sit in my section anytime you want and I will treat you respectfully and do a great job and you can shove the tip up your ass. You being a deplorable human being won’t stop me from treating people with respect. I wouldn’t want a dollar from you. Apparently you need it more to be such an ignorant ass.
In reply to Kerri
Don’t worry I was never planning on tipping you anyways
i usually tip as little as possible if i’m at a restaurant where i know the cook in the back is doing the floppy weenie trick on the waitress that is bringing me my food. I think he should have to work just as hard for money as i do. I also tip extremely poorly if i sense a lesbian in the place, i never use my actual credit card but will use a gift card or cash instead so i don’t get continually charged long after i’m gone. I will however tip enourmously at a mexican restaurant because any mexican restaurant does everything right, good food, good service, good price, good manners, good people. I’ll either tip extra, or buy a round of beers for the people at the bar at those places.
In reply to josh
A. I’ve been working in restaurants for years.. What the fuck is the floppy weenie trick….?????
B. Do you have some sort of lesbian sixth sense? Do you expect all restaurants to have a lesbian screening system in place so that you will tip like a normal fucking human?
C. What restaurant continually charges credit cards? Have you ever heard of the law and/or court?
D. I WONDER WHAT RACE YOU ARE
In reply to josh
So hey about that gets everything right at a Mexican restaurant a waiter was a little to fast to help and refilled the wrong drink in my parties cups but we laughed it off cause it wasn’t like we couldn’t switch cups.
Hmmm….I don’t know…but when I was young and single, and someone took me out and didn’t tip, there would be no second date. I’ve always believed that how someone treats service personnel is a keen indicator of what is in store for me in the future. Before anyone goes there, I am not motivated or impressed by money–I have always been independent and never allowed a man to support me. But, really, not tipping is a real turnoff, and objectively I find non-tippers usually hover somewhere in the narcissist/neurotic spectrum. Not trying to be dismissive or accusatory, just being real. Ladies(and gentleman), should you encounter someone who rigidly and perversely refuses to tip, run away! Chances are they are parsimonious in other matters as well!
In reply to Maggie
You should get on your hands and knees and suck my dick for the free dinner I treated you to. You are a unappreciative bitch that would never get a second date from a normal man. The tip is never the woman’s concern. You need to learn your place.
In reply to Josh
You kinda just proved her point…
In reply to SMB
I disagree, she did prove she was very unappreciative. When I dated I did not look at the bill because it was not lady like. I was brought up better than that. If the man pays the bill, the tip is his business whether he wants to leave one or not. A man that takes a lady to dinner and pays is a real man.
In reply to Amy
If taking a lady out to dinner and paying is considered a real man, that’s awfully sad…how bout we try considering a real man to be one that doesn’t tell a lady to get on her hands and knees and suck his dick. Good on you josh. And Amy, I’m hoping you were brought up to realize that it’s 2015 and you should focus on what makes a real woman, pay for your own dinner. Oh, and don’t forget to tip:)
In reply to Liz
Like you never go on all four an sucked someone’s cock, and moaned and enjoyed doing it.. Bunch of fucking hypocrites… If a guy doesn’t wanna tip -he doesn’t wanna tip so fucking what, no need to separate yourself from other cum swallowers, we all know you’ve done it…
I am a 19 year old girl going into my Sophomore year of college at a prestigious University and I decided to wait tables this summer to earn cash for college and also have something on my resume that depicts hard work/well-roundedness as i prepare myself for co-ops and internships. Statistically speaking it is likely that I am far more intelligent than the ass whipe who penned this blogpost, as well as 99.98% of the remaining uninformed though ignorant population of commenters agreeing with anything written in this post, so please do not come at me with anything about being ‘stupid’ or ‘lazy’ as to why I am working as a server because not only are you incredibly wrong but in fact such adjectives could likely be used to describe yourself in comparison. I do not usually act/speak/write in this way but this entire debauchery has made me so angry I can barely breathe.
now a VERY important part of everything that people don’t seem to realize:
it isn’t my employer’s fault that the minimum wage for a server is $2.33. the federal government has set this rate BECAUSE EVEN THOSE CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WING DIP WAGONS THAT SIT IN OUR CONGRESSIONAL CHAMBER UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF TIPPING. If it weren’t for the fact that people tip, or in this case make up for your lack thereof, the costs of food when dining out would be inflated beyond anything reasonable. you dont want to tip? so, you want to pay a standard of, say, $22 for a burger of any higher quality than that of a big mac? so, you may ask, how does it make sense that one could be paid $2.33 an hour, legally? the answer is logic and economic algorithms which you clearly have no capacity of understanding, as they revolve completely around the concept of tipping.
now lets suppose everyone had this outlook on dining out– no tips, and we should be grateful if you decide to leave a few dollar bills when you spend $50 or more on food. that means, legally, a server would need to be paid the minimum $7.25 just like everyone else, with shift managers, floor managers, front and back of house managers making more, as this is now a regular and competitive job market. do you even care to imagine what this would do to your food prices? in order to make profit, generally, a restaurant’s labor costs cannot exceed 25% of the net sales per hour. thus after corporate, general management and upkeep and food costs are factored in on a staff of 4-5 waiters, 4 cooks, a hostess and a manager, there would need to be around $1000 made per hour in sales, which means your meal– at a minimum– would probably be $25-$30. a mimimum. like im talking buffalo wild wings type of quality. as in $25 for an order of 10 chicken wings, at a MINIMUM. finer dining would likely begin at an average of $100 per person.
now this is clearly a hypothetical situation, as in reality, such a situation would never survive in any economy, let alone this one. there would be no point in even having a restaurant.
at the end of the day, tipping is the reason why a restaurant in which you are waited on even exists. due much in part, also, to the fact that cash tips are relatively untaxable by the IRS, which is a whole other factor in why tipping exists rather than a higher wage, all of which works as much to your favor as to ours. so you dont want to tip? don’t bother dining out, because in your world, your only realistic option is crushed up baby chicks deep fried in 12-day old canola oil.
In reply to honestlywtf
You think you’re smart, but honestly you are less intelligent than 99% of the population. http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm You are already guaranteed the state minimum wage, with or without tips. Going with the outrageous suggestion of a 20% tip, the most a hamburger can go up is 20%. Not the ridiculous figures you come up with. Get your money back from the Mickey Mouse college you’re going to You won’t need a college degree. I’m sure being a waitress is your real career path.
In reply to Amy
this is response is as humorous as it is absurd. you cannot factor a wage increase as a monetary increases in a singular unit like a lone hamburger??? for a restaurant to have a hamburger they must be ordering dozens of pounds of beef– each patty must be prepared, cooked, paired with toppings and side items, even the price of washing your plates and utencils- there may be exaggerations in my logic because of the idiocy of the logic in not tipping. my minimum wage is, again, $2.33. Because even our scum of a government recognizes tipping and factors it into my wages. I don’t understand the mindset of people who really think they shouldn’t tip.
In reply to honestlywtf
Your minimum wage is $7.25/hr with or without tips. Your not fooling anyone with the I only make $2.33/hr. Go back to economics you unskilled loser.
I don’t believe that servers deserve to be tipped. The bussers, dishwashers, and especially the line cooks work way harder than the servers do, and they’re barely tipped out to at all. I think that the servers feel automatically entitled because of their $2.13 hour wage…But the truth is, no one is forcing them to work there. And I think it’s amazing how I haven’t seen ONE busser/dishwasher/cook come on to this thread and complain about how hard their job was, and why they should be paid above $8-$10 and hour.
In reply to Ashley
Okay I’m a busser, and I’m here to say it’s just as hard as a waiter’s job. Both jobs are very hard, and you really really need to tip the waiters becuase part of their tip is given to bussers and food runners too. Servers not only have to balance 20 different people and their orders but they have to fill waters and carry plates and plates of them, check in your orders, some restaurants have waiters run food, and on occasion they have to clean up after customers too. They have to deal with rude ass customers and all this with a smile on their face. It may not sound to bad to someone who hasn’t worked in the restuarant business, but it really is a difficult job. As I said before, work a day or two as a waiter and tell me how you feel afterwards.
I don’t believe that servers deserve to be tipped. The bussers, dishwashers, and especially the line cooks work way harder than the servers do, and they’re barely tipped out to at all. I think that the servers feel automatically entitled because of their $2.13 hour wage…But the truth is, no one is forcing them to work there. And I think it’s amazing how I haven’t seen ONE busser/dishwasher/cook come on to this thread and complain about how hard their job was, and why they should be paid above $8-$10 an hour.