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.
fuck you buddy. they are waiting on you and trying to make your dining experience the best it can be. their job is stressful and they have to deal with shitty people like you all the time. they make no money from the restaurant so yes, it is your job to tip them. if you have money to go out to eat, you have money to throw 20% towards the person who is serving you.
In reply to Julia
Why are you responding to this? The Tipping industry is thriving and always will and is never going away. These people are ridiculous and makeup like 0.00% of customers that come in. Don’t give them any time. Because while they’re sitting here talking about how they never tip, chances are the other hundred customers that come in that day are tipping 20%. I live in New York I make around 1100 a week. That’s fine with me I don’t know who these people are and chances are no one knows who they are either.
In reply to Julia
I could list over 100 minimum wage occupations that are both harder and more stressful than a waitress. Nothing they do warrants a tip. They already make minimum wage with or without tips and since a lot of people are brainwashed into tipping…the waitresses probably makes triple what minimum wage is.
In reply to Zeus
Haha you’re correct…kinda. I make 4 or 5 times than minimum wage, and people like you represent the minority, so unfortunately for you and fortunately for me that’s never going to change.
In reply to Gabe
But you dont deserve it. Youre no different than a bum with a squeege, washing windows whether they want them washed or not, and demanding payment regardless. You are literally completely unnecessary to the restaurant experience.
In reply to Jared
Mr Nick is what I call him, runs up 600 bill every time he comes in. Leaves 200.00! Why do I bring him up. Well I know him and I know you and when he sits he is number one and you will not see me till he gets everything he needs.
In reply to Zeus
2.13 an hour. When they paided waiters in Colorado 15 and the people stopped tipping the waiters went to work elsewhere. Restaurants closed! You see it’s a bunch of ignorant people dinning out now. Harder then you think to please what mommy put I your heads as to what you deserve. Don’t tip buffet will replace all restaurants and you can work to please yourselves. Lol
In reply to Julia
Your nothing but a mindless dog fetching my food and drink. Nothing you do deserves extra money.
You make min wage with or without tips. Be happy because even at min wage you are over paid.
In reply to $Bill
At my restaurant, the server makes half of the food at the table, listing off every ingredient as we go. We also prep these ingredients in the back of house. We specialize in a four course experience, and diners can be there for over two hours. If I spend two hours of my time on you, and end up with nothing more than the $2.95/hour I receive on my paycheck, you can bet I’ll remember your face. I have every right not to give a shit about you the next time. You’ll get your food, and it’ll be FDA approved, but you get last priority if you’ve already decided not to compensate me.
I dare you to talk to your servers like you do behind the veil of a computer. Let me know if they have the power to make or break your experience.
In reply to Jacob
Don’t forget to tell this asshole that we control his precious alcohol the drunk needs to function. And we can refuse to serve him for any reason. State law.
In reply to Jacob
You have NO right to NOT give a shit about a customer that walks into your restaurant. Listen to yourself, are you going to not give a shit about your loved ones cause they didn’t buy you a Christmas present that wasn’t expensive enough? Why do you sacrifice your customer service for a tip??? That is poor work ethic. I don’t care if you have to chop down a tree for a customer’s apple juice, if that’s your job, you can’t feel anything about it or expect anything extra out of it, you just do it. I never tip because I never got tipped when I was doing customer service work; I had to pick up another job AND WORK HARDER. But I NEVER got sour if I had to do extra work described to me in my job descriptions and I didn’t get a tip for it. Any employee that willingly breaks a customer’s experience should get fired, your job is to make an experience for A WAGE THAT YOU AND THE COMPANY AGREED UPON AT HIRING.
In reply to Jacob
I never speak to the hired help except to give my food order.
They are simply not worth speaking to.
In reply to $Bill
People like you will be fun to kill in the coming war. Watch you back =)
In reply to Iwillmurderyou
So what fantasyland do you live in?
I know you’re too stupid to have thought this through . Being wealthy makes it very easy to afford advanced weapons.
Barret M107 50 caliber night vision and heat signature scope. The difference between men and boys are the price of their toys.
In reply to $Bill
You’re a piece of shit, understandably because you’ve probably never worked in a customer service based industry. These people only deal with your arrogance to make ends meet. As someone who has first handedly dealt with your disgusting way of life, at least I, as well as many others, can actually experience life. Try valuing actual human beings over materialistic objects and perhaps you change your mind?
In reply to Fuckyou
No my $196,000 Audi R8 V-10 is more important to me then your human life.
In reply to Julia
Screw you Julia. You claim waitresses make no money at the restaurant. You say it’s my job to pay them.
It is not my job to pay them retard.
It’s the employer that pays you.
https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
I can’t wait for President Trump to institute tip pooling. Now all you lazy simple waitresses or boys waiting tables will be forced to get adult jobs.
No tip for you.
In reply to $Bill
Lol, im a trump voter, but people like you need to dragged out into the street and publicaly executed. Just some faggot baby boomer with a chip on his shoulder. I cant wait for civil war, people like you will be fun to kill
Holy s!!t this has over 11K comments. I’ve never seen that b4.
Anyway to stay in topic, does anyone else feel nervous about tipping now? Who knew waiters got so angry over this. And they’ve left stories about how they get revenge on ppl who don’t tip, by spitting in their food or worse…
To avoid the revenge I guess I’ll tip a little, but after reading this I don’t want to do the usual 20% anymore. I didn’t know so many felt like I owed them anything…
In reply to BT
I used to tip because I thought waitresses did not make minimum-wage. I was wrong they make minimum-wage with or without tips. https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.ham
I still felt bad because they’re not smart enough to do anything else for a living. I can easily afford to tip, so I was still willing to do so.
However, after seeing these mean comments by waiters and waitresses that think they are entitled snowflakes ❄️ It really pissed me off.
I will never ever tip again because they don’t appreciate it and think they are entitled.
In reply to Rachael
I don’t expect a good tip. I have to earn it through hard work and goodwill. And admittedly, you have the right to withhold whatever you’d like. But withstanding degradation from diners who consistently believe that we’re “not smart enough to do anything else” wears on one’s psyche.
Many, if not the majority of us, are paying for school, or supporting children, or financing a dream.
I greatly appreciate those who reward me when I succeed in making their night a little bit better, and I understand a lesser tip when I’m stretched too thin to properly tend to their needs. But withholding a tip in its entirety because of something that has nothing to do with me is just… Nasty.
It’s important that I note that I make $2.95/hour. I do not receive minimum wage by default. That said, I leave work with highly variable sums. Yesterday, I only made $25 for an eight hour shift. The night prior, I walked away with almost $200.
That is the power of the tip.
When I dine out, I tip well because I want to make someone’s night. If I can give them a sum so stupid that they’ll tell their mom about it later, I can feel a little warmer. Because they don’t deserve to be looked down upon all day. Nobody does.
In reply to Jacob
You are full of shit. No matter what with or without tips you have to make Federal or state min wage whichever is higher.
https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
No tip for you.
I also don’t give a shit the reasons anybody works as a unskilled waiter.
In reply to Rachael
Oh my god you say we’re not smart enough to do anything else??? Oh by the way we are… maybe some of us do that type of work as a second job to put ourselves through school or maybe just to earn extra money!! I can’t wait for the day that you sir have to work a job serving the public!! What goes around comes around!!! KARMA
In reply to Dawn
I would never be a server. I have a housekeeper and gardener to serve me. Only poor people believe in Karma. It’s a silly made up thing like the Easter bunny.
This article is great. I just got back from taking my wife to a fancy Italian restaurant. We had a couple bottles of expensive wine which brought our total close to $250 for the both of us. We didn’t tip as the server is already getting paid to serve us. Tipping is foolish.
In reply to Richard
Just think about how much money you can save in any given year when you don’t tip.
I saved enough money to take a family of four to Disney World including luxury accommodations at the Grand Floridian.
I won’t be tipping at Disney either. Mickey and friends need to get a better job if they want more money.
In reply to $Bill
You’re an idiot!!
At the end of the day, there is Karma.
Those who don’t appreciate genuine work of others by not tipping accordingly will suffer some way. Seriously, how do you feel if your partner, children, best friends were treated that way??
In reply to Serverforlife
Karma is complete bullshit. Karma is just a concept created by weak people to satisfy their simple minds . When faced with the question, why is a certain good thing happening to them without reason, they attributed it to something good that they did in past. When some bad thing happened, they think some bad thing they did in the past caused it. Stupid people need Karma.
My family does not do simple unskilled work, so they will never be treated like servants. Servers are nothing but modern servants that don’t get flogged when they speak.
In reply to Serverforlife
In what world is not tipping a BAD DEED??? I don’t get you fuckin people. When my friends are telling me to leave the tip after we’ve paid, I tell them to kick rocks we don’t have to pay that shit. If my son came home complaining about how much he didn’t get tipped, I think I would have murdered him by now, but I didn’t raise him to expect something from nothing so I don’t have that problem. My son was working a $3/hr restaurant thinking the tips could pay his rent, boy was he wrong, and I gave him no sympathy for it. People always say that “tipping is just what you’re supposed to do.” But didn’t anyone ever tell the employee that “work is just what you’re supposed to do.” No suffering has come my way for not tipping so far, so I’ll just call bullshit. P.S. I laughed at my son and told him to get a real job that deserves tips when he told me he had to pay me the following week cause he didn’t get tipped enough.
In reply to cam
And that sir is why you are a cunt that raised a cunt child
In reply to Jordan
He is raising a child that won’t be a prissy entitled snowflake. He will be a fine young man with an excellent work ethic without feeling the world owes him.
https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
With or without tips you make at least Federa min wage or state min wage whichever is more. You are severely overpaid.
I am not your employer so don’t expect me to tip you because you don’t have an adult job.
In reply to $Bill
And you are also a cunt with a cunty family.
In reply to Jordan
Don’t hate me because I’m wealthy and you’re just a unskilled conveyor belt. Get a real job, waiting tables is for teenagers.
In reply to $Bill
And how do you think children get wealthy jobs? Other than being “daddy’s intern”
People who have grown up in poverty have much less opportunity than an entitled fuck like yourself. OOOOHH congratulations that you grew up wealthy. A good percentage of the population wasn’t as lucky. Go suck your moms dick you fucking scum.
In reply to Fuckyou
People that are in poverty are too stupid to go to college. So they become waitresses.
Going to college and getting an advanced degree is how you become wealthy you stupid fuck.
In reply to $Bill
Before liberal nonsense took over our schooling system, perhaps that was true. Now, to do well in college and even GET that degree, you have to be willing to go along with extreme liberal rhetoric and have it preached at you on a daily basis.
Many entrepreneurs trying to get off the ground, people making extra money for their family, and people with other full time careers choose to serve at restaurants. Many of your comments are so hateful, I’m decently sure you’re just enjoying the drama of degrading people.
Servers get what they EARN. They don’t just get a salary they feel ENTITLED
to because they decided to show up for work that day. Now let’s imagine how much more productive other jobs would be if the same concept was applied. Sounds like a good way to MAGA.
Without the tipping system, restaurants would crumble. The price of the server being factored in would make food far more expensive and make servers far less motivated to deal with people like yourself. People enjoy going out to dinner and having a nice experience.
Then there’s people like you, who I’m sure don’t say please, thank you, or smile a single time the entire time you’re there. It’s people like you I feel bad for.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some TERRIBLE servers that don’t deserve tips. But to blatantly say that you don’t tip because you don’t like “the system” is a wonderful excuse for being a terrible person. I sincerely hope you enjoy the sad, cold, bitter world that you’ve built for yourself.
Have a blessed day, sir.
In reply to MAGA
“Without the tipping system, restaurants would crumble. The price of the server being factored in would make food far more expensive and make servers far less motivated to deal with people like yourself. People enjoy going out to dinner and having a nice experience. ”
We’ve proven this untrue mathematically multiple times. The tip credit is only $5.12 per hour. Barring the fact that, should a server not actually receive any tips their employer has to pay it anyway, that would never lead to a significant increase in food prices. Even if one server only handles 4 individual customers in an hour, that’s only $1.28 per person, split across an average order (an entree and a drink). Nobody is going to notice an increase of a few cents per item (in fact, it happens all the time, anyway). And if you’re managing your business so poorly that a given server is only handling 4 customers in an hour, you probably shouldn’t be open.
Also, don’t make tipping a partisan issue. Both “sides” think tipping is BS. Conservatives support the idea that if you don’t like how much you get paid at a job, that you should get a better job and stop expecting a handout (which is what tips are). Liberals think the tipping system is unfair (despite the fact that it’s actually more beneficial to the servers than they pretend it is).
In reply to MAGA
Hell, to add to what I said earlier, we know it’s complete BS because not only do they manage reasonable prices at restaurants in pretty much every other country in the world where tips are only given for exceptional service (or frowned upon entirely), but we know that fast food restaurants keep their prices low while not relying on tips. The cost difference between fast food and other restaurants is what pays for the difference in the cost of ingredients.
In reply to MAGA
All I hear is an excuse for you not to earn a college degree, or better yourself.
You are a modern day servant that does not get flogged when you speak.
Saying please or thank you is inappropriate for me as your only purpose is to serve me and not speak unless you are spoken to.
Your math skills are substandard because not tipping you unskilled morons will not affect the menu prices by more then a few cents per meal.
You all are assholes. I make $0 paychecks. Get your facts straight. Some bartenders or servers make an hourly, some don’t. Don’t go out to eat if you can’t tip your server. The whole point is to SERVE you. You don’t have to get up or make the food or do anything! THATS THE POINT OF TIPPING YOUR SERVER. I’m emotionally and physically drained from you ungrateful people.
In reply to Kay
You are so stupid you deserve to be a waitress, you’re also a lying sack of shit about getting a zero paycheck and here is proof.
https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
With or without tips you are guaranteed at least federal minimum-wage or state minimum-wage which is way more money than you should be paid in the first place.
In reply to $Bill
It’s very easy for a servers actual check to $0 or close to it because of taxes. We have to pay taxes on our hourly wage along with our tips but all of the taxes are taken out of our checks which could dwindle the amount down to zero. So she isn’t lying and you’re a sack of shit for not remembering taxes
In reply to Katlyn
Everyone pays taxes on income. Servers aren’t special there. Tips are income, so of course they get taxed. Thats the entire point being made.
The law says everyone makes at least minimum wage, including servers. For tipped jobs, the employer may deduct the /amount of tips received/ from wages (the tip credit) down to $2.13. Essentially, all this means is that:
1). Tips are just taking out the middle-man when it comes to wages by allowing it to come directly from the customer instead of the employer.
2). Any tips exceeding the tip credit mean the server is being paid above minimum wage.
Legally, if a server makes less than the full minimum (the higher of Federal or state), the employer must pay the difference. A server would legally have to be paid the full $7.25 an hour if they got absolutely no tips, regardless of their ability to do so in their position.
If their employer does not follow the law and they refuse to leave the job and/or do something about it, that is their prerogative. It is not, however, the responsibility of the customer to make up for their choice of job – regardless of reasoning for that job choice.
In reply to Kay
Serving a wealthy PhD such as myself, is a great honor for an unskilled poor person like you.
In reply to $Bill
As if a server couldn’t have PhD? Yeah, ok. How about you don’t assume the educational level of your server.
In reply to Katlyn
If you had an education you would not be performing unskilled simple labor for minimum-wage.
In reply to $Bill
Sure I would. People could be a server for all kinds of reasons. They are in between jobs. They are waiting to be hired in their preferred field. No where in their field is hiring right now. They have no other job experience so they are having trouble being hired. Or maybe (and this might surprise you) they actually enjoy waiting on tables. That is neither here nor there. It is rude to assume the educational level of your server. Perhaps you didn’t learn that while getting that beloved PhD.
In reply to $Bill
Idiot!! That’s all I have to say!!
Nobody is lying about anything here,everybody has their own right to stating their facts. But the thing is I don’t feel right having restaurant experience with tipping my server. I know I can place my order and pay without tipping.
A friend of mine opened his little restaurant. He doesn’t know anything about this kind of business so he let his wife handle it as a chef and owner. He made a mistake with servers salary. For almost 2 months their servers were paid minimum wage +their tip!!!You tell me if it seems fair!!!..sounded like employees get overpaid for their labor…what do you think?
I don’t mind the tipping custom. I just don’t like to tip where I think its a lousy restaurant. If you know the value of a true restaurant ,you know the experience is worth tipping.
In reply to Jimdimmahal
Stop being suck a cheap ass and always tip your server at least 20% if not more. I work hard all day making sure your order is correct. If you don’t tip I only make $2.13 an hour and don’t even get that as it all goes to taxes. People who don’t tip are losers and scum.
In reply to Ann
I said “I don’t mind the tipping custom”. I just go where it worth my money,that’s all. Unlike Bill ,he is truly cheap and full of shit.
I know it’s $2.13 and hour, you deserve 20% tip if you CAN make me happy with the dine in experience.
Not everybody is fit to be in server position.
You have to handle the multitasking well ,sometime with speed, accuracy,organize and very sanitary. If you know all in on flow,your next move is to kissing up to your customers.
When you moving around a lot,make sure that your look is pleasurable.
I don’t want to see your armpit sweating. If you happen to be one of those people who has strong body odor…….
please!!..don’t come near me…pee-ew.. !!!
(not everybody is fit for server position)
** not to talk about big group of people with strong body odor .They go dine in restaurant like nothing happen…..that’s truly wtf,sir? Server has to go take their order..omg.!… And in the end they tip 10%!!!…with writing on the credit card receipt said
” We’ll be back soon “….
In reply to Ann
You are a stupid lying bitch.
https://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/faq/esa/flsa/002.htm
You make minimum wage with or without tips. Tipping you 20% hahahaha.
You should work hard. You are unskilled scum labor.
In reply to $Bill
If you truly think that serving isn’t a skill then I suggest that you try it sir because not everyone can work in a restaurant. Some people just can’t handle it. You have to be quick, concise, and pleasing. Sounds easy enough right?? Until you add in the fact that you are doing this for 7-8 tables at once possibly adding up to anywhere from 60-80 people depending on the size of the tables. Ranging from all ages. Add in any kind of dietary restrictions and their orders can get pretty creative. Also the odds of their food come of out of the kitchen in the correct order is hit or miss so it’s always fun having to explain why a table got their food before another that had ordered first. The cooks pretty much have free reign on that one by the server is the face of everything. But yeah the “minimum” wage you speak of is specific to people who get a TIP. So a minimum of $2.13 an hour plus what ever taxes are taken out (including getting taxed on tips) as long as you don’t have a family to support, I’m sure everyone can do just fine without your tip and anyone else who thinks like you.
In reply to Katlyn
There is so much misinformation in your comment I don’t think I am even going to attempt to correct you.
Instead, I’ll suggest you read the Department of Labor link people keep posting here (read the whole thing), then Google what the definition of “unskilled labor” is.
Tips are wages. That’s why they’re taxed.
In reply to What a joke
How is it misinformation if it’s my life? I live out that comment everyday. Also I know that tips are part of wages. However I felt the need to bring it to attention considering someone was called a ‘lying sack of shit’ because she stated that she has received $0 paychecks in a previous comment. That is 100% possible their for she isn’t lying.
In reply to Katlyn
It’s your imagination, but fine, I’ll break it down for you.
“If you truly think that serving isn’t a skill then I suggest that you try it sir because not everyone can work in a restaurant.”
Serving is, by definition, unskilled labor, as is any job that does not require a formal education or apprenticeship.
“Some people just can’t handle it. You have to be quick, concise, and pleasing. Sounds easy enough right?? Until you add in the fact that you are doing this for 7-8 tables at once possibly adding up to anywhere from 60-80 people depending on the size of the tables. Ranging from all ages. Add in any kind of dietary restrictions and their orders can get pretty creative. Also the odds of their food come of out of the kitchen in the correct order is hit or miss so it’s always fun having to explain why a table got their food before another that had ordered first. The cooks pretty much have free reign on that one by the server is the face of everything.”
This is no more stressful than any other job, and is considerably less than most. Everyone has to juggle multiple tasks and deal with unpleasant people. At least as a server you don’t have to spend 10 months kissing their ass because otherwise your company loses a major contract. Even if you fuck up and lose your job, all it means is you go to some other restaurant down the street and get a new one. Compare this to a CEO fucking up and costing 100 people in the company their jobs, or even just a software engineer fucking up, setting back production a couple weeks, and getting fired to appease the clients. It’s so much harder for a CEO or software engineer to get a new job if they make a mistake. If you think being a server is difficult, then you’d *never* survive a real job.
“But yeah the “minimum” wage you speak of is specific to people who get a TIP. So a minimum of $2.13 an hour plus what ever taxes are taken out (including getting taxed on tips) as long as you don’t have a family to support, I’m sure everyone can do just fine without your tip and anyone else who thinks like you.”
As we’ve repeatedly explained here, this is not actually true. Minimum wage for EVERYONE in the US is $7.25 an hour, or more if state minimum is higher. The only difference is the employers of tipped employees may reduce their hourly pay by the amount of tips up to the amount of the tip credit , currently a maximum of $5.13 per hour. By law this may not reduce an employee’s wages + tips (combined!) to below the federal minimum of $7.25/hour (or the state minimum, if it’s higher). If a server makes $0 in tips, an employer LEGALLY has to make up the difference. Anyone who claims servers make $2.13 an hour is lying, or ignorant.
In reply to What a joke
Of course a CEO or a software engineer have more stressful jobs I’m not insane. However that doesn’t degrade my job. It doesn’t make my job any less stressful. It doesn’t take away the complexity of my work. You don’t think a server can get black balled from other restaurants?? If you live in a small town then odds are that all the restaurant owners in the area know each other and if you fuck up bad enough then good luck getting hired at one of the other restaurants. Also the fact that $7.25 is the federal minimum wage is irrelevant considering in order for a server to get that job they would have to get no tips and their is just enough of a mix between people tipping and not tipping that the odds of that happening are very slim. Depending on who you work for. A mom&pop place where you are more likely to get the $7.25 without a problem. A corporate chain restaurant, that could end up in a fight that the server couldn’t afford. Or it might not. I am lucky enough to not have to worry so much about that because I work for a mom&pop place. That put aside the minimum wage for people who receive tips IS $2.13 that is not a lie. It is $2.13 PLUS tips. Depending on where you live it could be higher. I’m lucky enough to make $4.95 PLUS tips. A server 100% can say that they only make $2.13 an hour or whatever they make because that is their hourly wage. That is the main wage on their paycheck. Tips are added in at the end of the pay week.
In reply to Katlyn
“Of course a CEO or a software engineer have more stressful jobs I’m not insane. However that doesn’t degrade my job. It doesn’t make my job any less stressful. It doesn’t take away the complexity of my work.”
The “complexity of your work” is, as I’ve said before, something they train animals to do, and that anyone who has made it to high school should be able to do without any problem. The only thing easier than your job is living on government money.
“You don’t think a server can get black balled from other restaurants?? If you live in a small town then odds are that all the restaurant owners in the area know each other and if you fuck up bad enough then good luck getting hired at one of the other restaurants.”
If you’re in a small town and you fuck up so badly that nowhere will hire you, you probably don’t deserve to have a job. Small towns are FAR more understanding of mistakes.
“Also the fact that $7.25 is the federal minimum wage is irrelevant considering in order for a server to get that job they would have to get no tips and their is just enough of a mix between people tipping and not tipping that the odds of that happening are very slim. Depending on who you work for. A mom&pop place where you are more likely to get the $7.25 without a problem. A corporate chain restaurant, that could end up in a fight that the server couldn’t afford. Or it might not. I am lucky enough to not have to worry so much about that because I work for a mom&pop place. That put aside the minimum wage for people who receive tips IS $2.13 that is not a lie. It is $2.13 PLUS tips. Depending on where you live it could be higher. I’m lucky enough to make $4.95 PLUS tips. A server 100% can say that they only make $2.13 an hour or whatever they make because that is their hourly wage. That is the main wage on their paycheck. Tips are added in at the end of the pay week.”
Did… did you eat lead paint as a child? Maybe grow up under power lines? YOU MAKE $7.25+ AN HOUR NO MATTER WHERE YOU WORK. IT IS NOT “It is $2.13 PLUS tips,” IT IS $7.25 AN HOUR MINUS TIPS AS THE TIP CREDIT. That “$2.13 an hour” is the minimum hourly pay after the tip credit (again, maximum of $5.13 an hour) is claimed, meaning you’re still making at least $7.25 BECAUSE YOUR TIPS COUNT AS YOUR PAY INSTEAD. The entire purpose of the tip credit is because legislators felt that it was bullshit for servers to get paid twice for the same work, and decided that if customers were going to pay you directly (via tips), then employers didn’t have to pay for that work.
Your ***hourly pay plus tips*** ***MUST*** come to $7.25 an hour or more, regardless of how much you get in tips. THAT IS THE LAW. As I said, to claim otherwise is either a lie or ignorance. Since you’re claiming it’s not a lie, I’ll assume you’re just ignorant, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.
In reply to What a joke
I get paid $4.95 an hour. That is my hourly wage on my paycheck. My tips are added in at the end of the pay week as a separate form of payment and I am taxed on the lump sum. That is how it is done on paper. If you think that means that I ate lead paint as a child so be it. That doesn’t change the fact that on paper I make $4.95 an hour plus my tips. Why does it bother you so much?? I’m not lying. I’m not deceiving anybody. That’s how it is. Do my tips and hour pay add up to minimum wage yes. Am I going to tell you that I make $7.25 an hour plus tips no. Because that’s not what I make according to my paycheck. That is what’s expected when you apply to another restaurant as well. When they ask mewhat I made an hour at my previous job they don’t expect me to tell them $7.25. They expect to hear $4.95 plus tips. I don’t understand how YOU don’t understand this. If I didn’t make any tips for the pay week then it would show on my paycheck that I made $7.25 OR It would show the typical $4.95 plus my suppliment pay. Have you never worked as a server?? Also I would LOVE to see a restaurant with animal servers. Honestly I think it would make what I do be appreciated more. The basic outline of my job could be done by a monkey yes. However the “complexity” that I speak of is being a people pleaser. Even to the most obnoxiously snobbish person that walks in the door. I have to be polite to everyone because I am a server. I do not however have to be “nice” people tend to forget that their is a difference. So being “nice” is expected. I am expected to make every table feel like my only table. Even if I was given 3 at a time. I must always smile. Even if I am in pain because shockingly as a server who is unskilled and not doing hard labor, I have back and knee problems. Couldn’t possibly be from carrying trays of heavy plates or walking/running 7miles a day (fit bits are so handy). Not to mention that when I’m not walking or running I am bending down and cleaning or just standing their. Waiting for one of my tables to need something. Could you imagine the hair issues??? People would never go out to eat again!Lastly, the small town scenario. It could have been as simple as a relationship issues between one owner and an employee. People can be cruel out of spite. Never assume, it’s rude.
In reply to Katlyn
“I get paid $4.95 an hour. That is my hourly wage on my paycheck. My tips are added in at the end of the pay week as a separate form of payment and I am taxed on the lump sum. That is how it is done on paper.”
How you understand it doesn’t make it true. The law says you make $7.25+ an hour. Period. Your tips *are wages.* You don’t seem to be understanding this point, so I’ll repeat it: YOUR TIPS ARE WAGES. If you make no tips, your boss makes up the difference. By law. You don’t make $4.95 an hour because if you receive no tips your boss must legally pay you an additional $2.30 per hour. Is this getting through yet? BY LAW YOUR EMPLOYER MUST MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE.
“If you think that means that I ate lead paint as a child so be it. That doesn’t change the fact that on paper I make $4.95 an hour plus my tips. Why does it bother you so much?? I’m not lying. I’m not deceiving anybody. That’s how it is.”
Yes, you absolutely are lying, and I know this because of what I said above, but also because you admit it here:
“Do my tips and hour pay add up to minimum wage yes.”
Because your tips count as wages. They’re even in the same spot on your tax form because they’re considered the same. Whether they come from your employer who receives the money from customers, or the customers give it to you directly. The source does not matter because, as repeatedly stated, if you don’t get the tips, your employer has to pay the difference. Understand yet?
“Am I going to tell you that I make $7.25 an hour plus tips no. Because that’s not what I make according to my paycheck.”
That’s what you make according to your taxes. At least that. It’s a lie to say otherwise.
“That is what’s expected when you apply to another restaurant as well. When they ask mewhat I made an hour at my previous job they don’t expect me to tell them $7.25. They expect to hear $4.95 plus tips. I don’t understand how YOU don’t understand this. If I didn’t make any tips for the pay week then it would show on my paycheck that I made $7.25 OR It would show the typical $4.95 plus my suppliment pay. Have you never worked as a server??”
I understand that they want to know how much you’re willing to let them take out of your paycheck for the tip credit, but I also understand that they know you’re dumb enough to work at a job where they do that. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re still going to make $7.25+ an hour regardless of whether you make tips or not, or else your employer is breaking the law. It doesn’t matter how they list it on the form, you’re still receiving $7.25 an hour compensation.
“Also I would LOVE to see a restaurant with animal servers. Honestly I think it would make what I do be appreciated more. The basic outline of my job could be done by a monkey yes.”
Just Google it?
“However the “complexity” that I speak of is being a people pleaser. Even to the most obnoxiously snobbish person that walks in the door. I have to be polite to everyone because I am a server. I do not however have to be “nice” people tend to forget that their is a difference. So being “nice” is expected. I am expected to make every table feel like my only table. Even if I was given 3 at a time. I must always smile.”
This is pretty much every job. If you don’t play nice with the boss, or coworkers, or clients you will find yourself out of a job. Every client is supposed to feel like your favorite client.
“Even if I am in pain because shockingly as a server who is unskilled and not doing hard labor, I have back and knee problems. Couldn’t possibly be from carrying trays of heavy plates or walking/running 7miles a day (fit bits are so handy). Not to mention that when I’m not walking or running I am bending down and cleaning or just standing their. Waiting for one of my tables to need something. Could you imagine the hair issues??? People would never go out to eat again!”
You think carrying “trays of heavy plates” is bad? Try doing construction work, then come back and complain. You think moving around is bad? See how bad it is for your body to stand or sit all day without moving. It’s actually a lot worse for you, believe it or not. Check out what carpal tunnel is like. It’s pretty much inevitable for people who work with computers.
“Lastly, the small town scenario. It could have been as simple as a relationship issues between one owner and an employee. People can be cruel out of spite. Never assume, it’s rude.”
That’s not assuming. I grew up in small towns. If you lose your job over personal issues, it’s your own fault for getting into that situation. However, petty shit and rumors aren’t likely to cause a big enough issue to prevent you from getting other jobs. There are people who have had all sorts of nasty rumors about them but it doesn’t prevent them from getting a job. People may talk behind your back, but for you to be unable to get a job you’d have to piss off and alienate every person in town. If that’s the case, then no point in staying since there’s no reason to stay.
In reply to What a joke
What do you think a servers pay check looks like?? Also what the heck does “how you understand it doesn’t make it true” even suppose to mean?? If I look at my paycheck and the pay stub with the breakdown of my wages shows the first line how much I make an hour ($4.95) then how many hours I worked then whatever over time I worked underneath that, on the second line, it shows my serving tips. So how exactly am I lying when I say I make $4.95 plus tips? That is the breakdown. How am I deceiving? How is it not true? Unless you’re trying to say that it’s not being done correctly? To tell it any other way I might as well just tell people what I make for the year and leave it at that.
Did you not see one of my previous comments where I stated that just because I’m not breaking concrete doesn’t mean that my job isn’t hard on my body?? Do you assume that I should ignore my back pain because I don’t do construction? Or should I appreciate the fact that I hurt my back serving rather than construction? Would that somehow make my back problems better? Like how dare I get hurt carrying dozens of trays at 50lbs a piece squeezing past tables and menuvering to place that tray on a stand or balancing it so I can serve the food while still holding the tray. To touch on your desk job being worse on your body, yes I have been advised against a desk job in the future because of the state my back is in currently. You don’t think a server can have carpel tunnel? Can you imagine how tedious it is to try and serve tables while wearing a wrist brace? The bowling jokes get really old really fast.
There is no point in googling a restaurant with animals as servers if it doesn’t exist. That is ludicrous.
In reply to Katlyn
You lost me when you said trays weigh 50 lbs lmao. A huge bag of rock salt weighs 50 lbs. I’d give any waitress $100 to see them put a bag of rock salt on a tray and carry it one handed. I think your exaggerating. At most a full tray of food weighs less then 20 lbs…probably closer to 10
In reply to Waldo
I have one hand under the tray while it rests on my shoulder and my other hand on it for support. Those are the largest trays I carry. On days when all I have are party’s. There are smaller ones too obviously for when I don’t have large tables.
In reply to Waldo
Not!! They weigh a whole lot!! At least 50 lbs.
In reply to Katlyn
I’ll make this simple. Look at your W2 for taxes. See box 1? How it includes wages and tips in the same place?
Your check stub breaks it down so that your employer can show what they are deducting for the tip credit, but, as I’ve repeatedly pointed out, it doesn’t matter one bit whether your money comes directly from customers (via tips), or by proxy through your employer. At the end of the day, what is counted as your income for your job equals $7.25 an hour.
Unless you can prove that the law *doesn’t* say that your employer must make up the difference, you cannot argue otherwise. Unless you can prove that your employer may LEGALLY pay you just $4.95 an hour if you get absolutely no tips, then you are lying about your income. And the fact is you simply can’t. We’ve provided the link here dozens of times. WE’VE read the FLSA.
You keep saying “assuming” is rude, but you know what’s a lot more rude? Misrepresenting your income to convince people to give you more money. And claiming that servers only get $2.13 an hour (or even $4.95 an hour) does exactly that. It ignores the caveat that if you receive absolutely no tips at all you will absolutely receive at *least* $7.25 an hour, regardless of how your stub labels it. It’s an outright lie because it’s simply not true. No server receives $2.13 an hour including tips, at least not legally.
In reply to What a joke
So when someone asks me what I make an hour you see it as untruthful and manipulative if I say $4.95 and hour plus tips? Even though after my tips I receive $4.95 from my employer ergo not a lie? That is what actually happens? You would rather me say $7.25 plus tips implying that I get paid $7.25 from my employer after my tips……which is a lie. Or again I can always just go with my income for the year. Just because an hourly wage from an employer on top of tips equals out to the legal amount doesn’t mean that a server isn’t TECHNICALLY paid that hourly wage plus tips. You are insisting on brushing over a technicality that exists and insisting that anyone who points out the technicality is lying and manipulating. I’m just pointing out the technicality. In everyday conversation if someone asks me what I make as a server I tell them $4.95 plus tips. They have a look of shock on their face and I explain to them that looking at both as a whole is actually a decent amount an hour. I’ve never had anyone accuse me of deceiving them. I help them understand that yes our wages are part tip, but if a server is good enough at their job then they aren’t dependent on your tip if you are dissatisfied with the service. This whole exchange I wasn’t sure if you really didn’t know or if you were just a jerk. I’m starting to wonder if you just hate servers who point out the technicality (which is most of us).
In reply to Katlyn
It is a lie because what you *actually* make is $7.25+ an hour regardless of tips. It’s a lie because without tips you will still get $7.25 an hour.
See, if you say, “I make $4.95 an hour plus tips,” and you take out the “plus tips” part (as in, you actually receive no tips), the $4.95 is not true. For “$4.95 an hour plus tips” to be true, it would have to be true even if your “plus tips” was $0.00, and it’s simply not. And when you say something that isn’t true, it’s called a “lie.”
Glad I could clear that up for you ;)
In reply to What a joke
$4.95 an hour plus tips is not a lie because on top of my tips I make $4.95 an hour.
Me saying that I only make $4.95 an hour and no tips is a lie and no where have I said that. I have only ever stated that a server gets an hourly wage from their employer on top of their tips. In rebuttle you have thrown law at me, economics at me and have implied/stated that I am lying. I’m not, you however seem to desperately want me to be. I don’t want to assume because I’ve I have stated that’s rude. However that is the vibe I am getting sorry if that’s not the case.
Glad I could clear that up for you ;)
In reply to Katlyn
Okay, let’s go over it again because, based on your grammar, you’re a simpleton.
If you say “$4.95 an hour plus tips” it’s a lie. It’s absolutely a lie.
Because if you say “$4.95 an hour plus tips,” it implies that if you get no tips you only get $4.95. If you get $0.00 in tips, do you get $4.95? No. No you don’t.
If you get $0.50 an hour in tips, do you get only $4.95 an hour? No. Your employer compensates you $6.75 an hour because your employer legally has to make up the difference, and you legally must be compensated at least $7.25 an hour between tips and whatever your employer gives you.
In fact, until you’ve got at LEAST $2.30 per hour worth of tips, your employer is legally compensating you more than $4.95 an hour to make up the difference.
In fact, the only way you can say “$4.95 an hour plus tips” and be even remotely close to the truth is if you’re making over $2.30 an hour in tips, and what would be far more accurate to say would be, “I make at least $7.25 an hour with or without tips, with a tip credit of up to $2.30 an hour.”
In reply to What a joke
What a joke you’re a fucking joke
In reply to What a joke
Happy to report I dropped human feces in the food of three known stiffs today. I sat there with my conspirator in the kitchen and watched the three dot head mofos talk laugh and drink wine together as they ate my poop.
Of course at the end of the meal they stiffed everybody as usual which was expected. But the satisfaction of watching these three douchebags ingest my hot steaming pile was worth it.
In reply to Plato de bacca
BULLSHIT
You are a jealous loser that will never leave your moms trailer.
In reply to $Bill
Says the penniless douchebag who is here constantly.
In reply to Katlyn
Serving is an unskilled simple job that requires no specialized education or training. Waitressing was meant for teenagers only. It was not meant for adults to support a family on.
If you are an adult and this is your job, then you are lazy, stupid, foolish, and deserve to be poor.
In reply to $Bill
You would be wrong on that. Serving was NOT meant for teenagers. It was once a very respectable job. That of course was before tipping became a custom in America and people started to think that they were to good to work in a restaurant. Also it DOES require training. Just because their isn’t college course on waiting tables doesn’t mean that it lacks skill or talent. If you have ever taken a home-ec class or a culinary course then you 100% learn how to wait in tables along with learning how to make food. It is also very taxing on your body just because I’m not breaking concrete doesn’t mean I’m not doing hard labor. A server is anything but lazy. Also just because you are a server doesn’t mean that you are poor.
In reply to Katlyn
What are you talking about? It was never a respectable job in the US. It was always looked down on, and considered a job for the under-class and uneducated. The entire reason tipping came about is because the rich liked to have a laugh at the sort of service they could get by throwing a few extra pennies at the poor (seriously). That’s why people in Japan, for example, consider it an insult to receive a tip. Tipping is a way to say you’re better than somebody, and receiving a tip is taking a handout for licking boots.
Every job requires some basic training, but there* isn’t any formal training at all for serving. Any reasonably capable person can walk in off the street and start serving tables. The fact that you state that you “100% learn how to wait tables” in a home ec class tells you this since home ec is a basic life skills class. They quite literally teach you the basics of how to be an adult, which used to be your parents’ job. People have actually taught animals to wait tables, so one would wonder how any person who isn’t capable of it manages to tie their shoes in the morning.
The fact that it’s a crappy job doesn’t make it difficult. It’s certainly not as physically taxing as construction work. It’s not mentally taxing unless you can’t read or do basic math, and certainly no more so than any other job.
Any person who claims waiting tables is in any way a difficult needs to stfu and get an “easier” job that pays better, if that’s the case.
In reply to Katlyn
I was a server at an exclusive country club as a teenager. The menu was very complex and large. So I took the menu home and researched preparation methods and dishes I did not understand. That took about an hour.
It was the easiest, most simple, laziest job I ever had in my entire life.
Any adult that does this for a living deserves to be looked down upon.
When I told my dad what a simple lazy job this was. He made me quit and work in his precious metals foundry. That was the day I truly learned what hard work was.
In reply to $Bill
Does it make you feel like a man to pick on women in the safety of your parents basement?? You are obviously a pathetic fraction of a man with a tiny little Weiner.
Chump.
Hmm…hey,Bill,let me ask you something.
You tried to hit on many waitress but they kept rejecting you,right?.don’t get mad,buddy…just let go.
What a joke..you’ve been through tough life and nobody love you,right?
You’re holding grudges,it has something to do with being ignore by wait staffs. Wait staffs have that social skills and surround with attention,something you don’t have.
OMG,nobody loves me too but I don’t give a damn,dude. I forgive everybody so I can spend every moment fresh and clean.
Learn to love yourselves and keep that worming love within. You don’t have to let anybody see anything because they can sense it.That’s how you attract love.
Forget about bad memories in your head.You keep building negativity yourselves,it spreads out and attracts negativity back to you.Being wealthy isn’t so great if you die tomorrow.Have something worth remembering,dude.
You know this is LIFE.
In reply to Jimdimmahal
I think it’s funny that you have to resort to ad hominem because you can’t counter the facts. Look through the nearly 500 pages of comments here at what horrible people the servers are. At all the racist, threatening comments they leave just because they don’t like being confronted with the facts.
$Bill has been a server, I’ve done some serving, as well. We have every right to look down on any grown ass person who sits in a shitty, dead-end job holding out their hand. I went from homeless to a college grad. $Bill had to make his own living. We’ve worked hard for what we have, without once expecting people to give us more than what we work for. Not even when I was homeless did I ask for a handout, and I’ve never accepted money I haven’t worked to pay back in one way or another. I even donate back into scholarship funds to pay back for scholarships I *EARNED* so that others can have similar opportunities. I even help the homeless because it’s actually really difficult to pick yourself up when you’re homeless. People aren’t inclined to hire people with no permanent address or phone number to call them at.
Oh, and I’m loved just fine, tyvm. By a Japanese woman who thinks servers whining about not getting tips is shameful, because it is. And my children. My co-workers are also quite fond of me.
See, I think that’s what bothers you all so damn much. I’m not some horrible monster who kicks babies. I’m well-liked, I get praised at work, I contribute a lot to the community. I happily pay more in taxes because of my income knowing that it will help those who are actually in need.
The fact that I speak out against lying, manipulative servers who pretend they only get pennies so people hand over wads of cash for them to do minimal work doesn’t make me a bad person. The fact that I’m vocal about employers taking advantage of their ignorant employees (whether willfully ignorant, or by chance) doesn’t make me horrible. It makes me somebody who speaks up against horrible people.
In reply to What a joke
You’re full of shyt. Both you and that clown bill are penniless wastes of life and you obviously live with your parents.
You people are always here. I could leave for 6 months and come back and you idiots will still be here.
No highly successful person wastes their time on a stupid blog arguing with servers about tips.
You’re a bunch of broke ass douchebags.
In reply to Fk your mom
I’m retired. I do what I want when I want. We also get notifications dumbass.
In reply to $Bill
You are obviously a pathetic loser with no life. Do you rush to the computer every time you get a notification from the silly blog? You can’t wait to push some lady around because she makes $5 an hour waiting tables? You are obviously a pathetic frail old fart who picks on weak people to make yourself feel better…fk you.
Clown.
In reply to What a joke
Boo- hoo
In reply to Dawn
I didn’t mean that towards you FK says
In reply to Jimdimmahal
I don’t associate with, or date the hired help. That is called slumming and I have better things to do.
In reply to $Bill
The only one you associate with/ date is your right hand.
You are a joke.
A clown.
Loser.
Pathetic idiot who likes to pick on women.
Little dick mofo.
In reply to Fk your mom
You are jealous that I eat at expensive restaurants every day. You are jealous of my mansion, cars, clothes, jewelry, and cushy life that I have.
In reply to $Bill
Multitasking with kissing up attitude is NOT what you are capable of,Bill,it never was.That’s why you left serving job.
Studying food menu isn’t enough!You should also study your wine menu. Find certain wine that goes well with certain dish.( That meant you have to know the food so well before move to the wine knowledge)
You want to make sure that you can sale a bottle of wine on every table.Next step is to manage timing.Don’t forget that latter on you should study more for the liquor knowledge such as cocktails ,vodka, gin, rum,cognac..etc etc etc ..
No matter how easy it seems to you.The challenging part is not when you have one table or two.Having about four tables and above with big bills,that’s when you sweat your ass off!,because it takes skill.This is only the beginning state of professional server.
In that crowdy environment you have to move fast with caution because you might bump into somebody and break something.This sounds like a job for ninjas not you,Bill.
You said you are retired.It meant your first serving job was about 40 years ago!!!or even more..I don’t think restaurant business in that time was very systematic.It’s was probably a lot less hassle than nowadays because nobody knows how to come up with knowledgeable ways of training.
Normally, people move on with they life,you know?
Nobody is going to stick with this job forever unless they have to.Sometime people might not be so fortunate to take different job but so what?
I’m not so sure why you two have to be here pointing out about tip custom!! ( btw, this is page 488!!!!!HAHAHA WTF,SIR?) Is it an addiction?
In reply to Jimdimmahal
Smart phones have apps that will pair food with wine. High-end restaurants use a sommelier that will do this as well.
The purpose of waitresses and waiters is to do the unskilled grunt work.
Being able to walk and chew gum at the same time is all the multitasking skill this pathetic job needs.
I didn’t leave that job by choice, my father expected more of me. I went on to great things because it was required of me. Wasting my time serving was wasting my skills.
In reply to Jimdimmahal
I am here because waitresses lie about not making minimum wage without tips. They also think they’re entitled to tips for simply doing the job they are paid to do. They think their job is difficult and skilled.
I am here to provide facts so people don’t waste money tipping these losers.
In reply to $Bill
Oh really? Than why aren’t you out living the high life? Why are you here commenting on wait staffs wages? Oh yeah that’s right you really don’t have a life!!! LOSER!!!!!
In reply to $Bill
You eat 99 cent cheeseburgers from McDonald’s and live in a weekly hotel in some shithole city. I doubt you own a car, you probably have a bus pass. The women you are constantly berating make more money than you.
Loser
Clown
Lowlife
Fking dork
At the end of the day, the OP is fighting against an already established practice. Most people tip, most people tip decently. Most people know that most wait staff make half minimum wage as a base.
To say that waiters should get a better job because the agreed about wage was agreed upon at hire is ignoring the above paragraph. The hired server knows he will most likely get a good tip from most tables. Therefore, it may make financial sense to be a server given the above probabilities. And that is taking into account the small percentage of people, like OP, who think they should not tip.
I cannot argue that you HAVE to tip. There is no law, there is no obvious or direct punishment for doing so. But, there are cultural practices that are for the most part ingrained into our society, and tipping wait staff is one of them. Its unfortunate some people cannot make a good decision simply because the law does not force them to. Also, you aren’t forced to leave an acceptable tip every time. You still have the option to tip based on server performance. I highly recommend that you do this. This will help let the server know how well they are doing, and if improvements in their work need to occur. Also, if you come back to the restaurant, and get a good server that you have dined in with before, they are likely to do just as good as job or even better because of your tipping reputation based on their performance.
Lets explore another issue with not tipping. Some poster above said that he spent $250 at a nice restaurant and did not tip the waiter. Guess what, even the waiter has to tip his/her support staff, usually about 3-4% of his/her total sales. So based on this persons 0% tipping, the server just paid at least $7.50 to serve them. And yes that is reality. I have personally seen and experienced having to basically pay for people to eat. Now, in the long run, its not that big a deal because it still averages out over the year to be a great job, but it still is emotionally taxing when it happens. And, IMO, it counters the arguments made by the no tippers. Don’t go saying something like ‘the employer should be compensating the server’. Maybe in a fantasy world, but as I explained before, it is culturally expected that the server will make enough in tips to justify the abysmal 50% minimum wage base.
And one last point. If a server is expecting a tip (because 99% of people do tip), and you decide to shaft them, you are going to cause them a great deal of stress. They will stress because they will try to figure out what they did wrong in their service and/or wonder what is wrong with you as person. This stress can then lead to them giving more service to some of their new tables that night simply because of the mental turmoil. Then again, most servers will get over it quickly and not let it affect them, but its still a possibility.
PS: can we please stop threatening each other over this? In my experience nothing productive and not much learning occurs when a discussion devolves into an exchange of threats.
In reply to Jim
Under the law a waitress tips out zero if she gets zero tips. At least get your facts straight and visit the department of labor web site.
If the unskilled serving wench is tipping out with zero tips then the law is being broken and should be reported.
In reply to $Bill
I tried to make some valid points, and I might be technically wrong. But I would still tip my support staff (busser/foodrunner/bartender) on a 0% tip because they depend on me to do so.
Im going to quote some of your claims and make a counter to each of them. These are my opinions, based on my experiences in the service industry, and I concur they may not be correct but I do think they have some merit.
“You act as if you’re my best friend”
I understand that not everyone wants a buddy-buddy server. But many restaurants train servers to be warm and interactive with the guests. Its how they build regulars and deliver a memorable experience. Obviously there are instances where this is not the correct form of service, such as business people discussing their matters or people who are in constant deep conversation. A server should recognize cues of whether or not to act like this or be more distant. Restaurant dining is also a very experienced-based thing for many guests. They go out to eat AND to have someone interact with them, talk to them, make them laugh, tell them stories, ect. Guests who want this are some of restaurant’s best regulars and best tippers for the wait staff.
“You don’t get paid enough”
What would most likely happen is that if employers paid waitstaff a near equivalent rate to their tipped income or even half of that, then the cost of your food would skyrocket to balance the increase in labor. So in a way restaurants are trusting you to cover the labor on part of server performance, which implies that you will tip based on how well the server does. Can some restaurants operate with increased labor cost without raising prices too much? Yes. Are there many restaurants who cannot or do not have business models in place to operate in such a way and would therefore close or never exist? Yes.
“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.”
I have actually known zero servers who threatened to spit in a guests food to their face or out of their ear shot. Im sure it happens, seldomly. And hey, maybe it even happened to you. But I am positive it is very rare and I would recommend not to think that most servers are thinking of doing this to you.
on the same note “Fortunately that’s why I prefer buffets” – Yes! You should absolutely go to buffets. The business model and culture around restaurants doesn’t seem to suit you, and its not meant for everyone.
“You get paid what the market will think your services are worth.”
IMO this is worst point you can make in defense of your argument. The guests are a critical part of the market, maybe even arguably THE market when you narrow the scope to this industry. And I can’t think of a decent server that I know who doesn’t make enough to make them happy or at least to make them want to stay in the industry. I make enough where I decided to stay in the industry, and I can take care of my obligations and reach my financial goals. But, the point is, my tips averaged across the year tell me that the market allows being a server to be a worth while occupation.
“Money doesn’t grow on trees”
You are correct, money is earned. Maybe you don’t think servers earn the money that they make. But, for most people, and it sounds like you may be one (I may be wrong), you worked hard for your money and you don’t have a massive amount of it (im not saying you dont have a small amount of it either). What I am trying to say is that if you are worried about money then eating out is absolutely not the best value for your money. I am sure you are aware that the same meal prepared at home will cost between about 1/3 to 1/5 the cost of eating it at a restaurant. Please don’t argue that you have the right to eat at a restaurant if your income doesn’t allow it. If that last 10% is such a big deal than I am sure the first 90% isn’t exactly affordable. Im not saying this to argue that you should save money for a server, but that you should not become upset about any of the costs of a restaurant when you are fully aware that the costs of a meal at one will be multiple times that of a home prepared meal.
I tried hard to explain things in a neutral and civilized tone. I hope that I have made some good points that will allow you to understand why servers expect to be tipped and why most people do in fact tip. Next time you are at a busy restaurant on a busy night and you have perceptively decent server, watch them. Im sure you will see how they are trying very hard to make people’s experiences pleasant while balancing multi-tasking. Hey maybe you are right, and theoretically they don’t deserve as much as they make (whatever that actually is), but you will see that most of their guests are happy with what he/she is doing, which will demonstrate one reason why there is a very real market determination for why and how much servers get tipped.
50% chance this is a troll thread. IMO I just cant understand why someone would make a thread over this topic.
In reply to Jim
My apologies $Bill, I thought you were the OP. The above post is in argument of her points and her quotes and its not directed at you.
In reply to Jim
You should be ashamed of yourself. A grown man doing a teenage girls job. Only a fool tips.
In reply to Waldo
Waldo, you argument falls under ad hominen logic fallacy. You have not made any decent arguments in defense of the OP or against my counters. I am up for discussion, not attempts at personally insulting people with differing opinions. And to be fair, I am not happy about the pro-tipping crowd here who resort to insults and threats as well.
In reply to Jim
There is no discussion. If the waitress wants more money then she needs to get a better job. She took the job at the wage offered by her employer. I am not her employer, therefore I do not pay her.
As a customer it is not my responsibility to pay her extra money for doing her simple job. Tipping is a waste of money and only fools do so.
In reply to $Bill
Did you not read what I wrote. The reason you bill is at its price is because the restaurant can offer a competive price on the food because it has to pay very little FOH labor wages. The culture of dining out in the states is that you tip the server based on performance, such as accuracy, personality, knowledge of menu, speed on refills, and the amount of care he/she puts into correcting mistakes that he/she made or that the kitchen made.
You can keep saying “she can get a different job”. Sure. But why would she. Most decent servers make a decent amount of money, as determined by the market, whether or not its provided by the employer or the guest. You are in the small minority in your decision. Being the majority or minority does not immediately prove an argument is right or wrong, but it should at least warrant investigation into why a majority of people act or think a different way. And it does indicate a cultural thing since most people who eat our do tip.
And to call people who tip fools is absurd. In the US people spend their money on all kinds of absurd things. Oversized and expesive vehicles, excessive amounts of alcohol, excessive amounts of junk food, overpowered guns and ammunition (im not saying that all guns are unnecessary or bad), video games… I mean the list can go on forever depending on a person’s opinion. Tipping has value in that it allows a regular to establish a relation with the server. if you tip well, then the server is most likely going to give you preferential treatment (while still giving great service to non-regulars). It is said that TIPS = to insure prompt service or to insure profession service. I know I know, insure should be ensure, but we dont have an ‘e’ in TIPS to work with and it sounds similar. Anyways, a lot of people, especially regulars, what that next level service experience, and they are happy to pay or tip for that when they come in.
I think I have thoroughly explained enough on the pro-tip side on the discussion to at least allow the non-tip crowd to at least understand the culture around tipping and why it exists.
Please do not retort to this post with more ‘only fools tip’ and ‘you should get a better paying job’. As I said, its great paying job and the market decided that.
In reply to Jim
It is ensure prompt service. Not insure, we are not doing car insurance.
The acronym TIP SHOULD BE TEP. The acronym tip is wrong obviously screwed up by a waitress.
With or without tips waitresses get minimum-wage. It has been proven time and time again on this site that even without tipping it would raise the price of menu items by only pennies. About 5 cents a meal.
I did not get wealthy by wasting my money tipping.
In reply to $Bill
$Bill, I clearly wrote in my post that I understand that it should be ‘ensure’, and I explained why insure is used.
“I know I know, insure should be ensure, but we dont have an ‘e’ in TIPS to work with and it sounds similar.”
See what I wrote?
And whether or not the price is increased by only 5cents per meal it doesn’t change why people tip. I explained why people tip, and what they expect to get service-wise for tipping. They have the choice not to yet they choose to. And they like what they get from it.
—-> And the market also proves that it is a functional part of the industry. <—-
Whether or not you don't like to tip, or if you think people shouldn't tip, or if you think servers dont deserve their tips. It happens, it happens consistently, and the industry functions well with it.
This is the last time I will post here, but I will be fair and come back again to read your response. Hopefully you can make a point better than 'I did not get wealthy by wasting my money tipping.' because I am very sure that you have or currently spend your money on things that you don't need to. And that tipping a server would be a very small amount of your wealth. Not that this proves that you should tip your server, but if this is in fact how you are, and if I am wrong and you actually do not waste your money on anything at all, then you need to understand that you are an extreme minority. And you should at least understand that most people tip and that in the scheme of things its not that big a deal when you take into account all of the wasteful stuff people spend their money on (like the extravagant costs of restaurant food versus the same meal made at home).
I am a waitress cause not smart enough to do anything else I do drugs have several kids out of wedlock and live in a trailer park. You should tip me because I need drugs and cigarettes and have no ambition to get a better job.