Ok OK im a tightwad... but still....

I just find it hard to believe that on an average night more than 1-2/15 tables leave no tip even at just an average resteraunt (judging what a few friends usually pull in a night)

Waitresses and Waiters must be different in CALI... Here many (not all) weigh about 200-300lbs, have nver touched a gym, and usually smoke.. Not exactly what i would call physically fit

 

1. It is not illegal to not leave a tip, therefore it is not a requirement.

2. Whomever came up with this 20% crap is an idiot. I tip for the service I get, sometimes it's a dime, sometimes it's $50, and I don't care how much the meal was. Your tip is NOT paying for any part of your MEAL, it is paying for a SERVICE.

Get it straight people.

 

First of all, those pulling up concrete that are not in the Union are called scabs. In NYC, a unionized concrete worker makes about $61.00 per hour, and MASSIVE benefits. Hardly the $4.75 you claim. Just because you did it, doesnt mean thats the way it is. With the service industry, thats the way it is everywhere.

Second, the federal minimum wage for service jobs IS NOT THE SAME as regular federal minimum wage. Its under $3.

 

You really are in fairytale land. Let me explain some things to you.

First of all, being a server in itself isnt rocket science. I would bet my s2000 and my RL that you cant do it. Why? Because its a skill schools cannot teach you. Being able to control a room. Being able to remember things. Dealing with people, who like you, constantly belittle you, but you still have to keep a smile plastered on your face.

Now, to be a high end white glove server, requires a lot of training, and only people over 40 usually do it. It is a professional field that pays OVER 6 figures and is very respected. I suspect you think chefs dont deserve 175K a year right?

Next, not all restaurants turn over as much as you think they do (most dont) and NO waiter works a 4 hour shift. I dont know where you are from nor where your friends work, but this info is just silly.

I used to make $1500 CASH in one night bartending. Thats more money than most professionals make. Sure that was out of the ordinary, but it does happen. Am I an uneducated a$$hole since I made all that money? No, I happen to be very good at my job, and am now a very well "used" resource in Manhattan.

A lot of important jobs do NOT require College.

Also, waitstaff needs to make money, because they are direct link between a restaurant and the customer. Waiters/tresses can bankrupt a restaurant so fast the owners head would spin. Rudeness, stealing, etc kills a lot of places in NYC, thats why when you find quality servers you hold on to them like white on rice.

Fact of the matter is, tipping, while not a law, is required. Next time, for no reason, dont tip. See if you feel good about yourself and see the reaction of the server. You dont feel nice do you? But if its not required, why do you feel that way?

Tipping was left the way it is out of nostalgia. A restaurant can easily jack their prices 25% up, give waiters 20% of the check, and be done with it. It was left to keep the experience of going out something different. They do this in Europe. Everything is included in the bill and you have nothing to worry about. Thus the myth that Europeans dont tip because they dont know they have to. They know, they just plead ignorance and always claim thats not the way its done at home. In the US, tipping is left to the customer, and is required by social standards, NOT LAW.

P.S. I have done dirty labor (worked at a masonry shop) when I was 14 for spare cash. I would move pavers, bricks, etc in summer heat from one place to another, loading someone's pickup...etc. Back to your chipping concrete job...if you think thats harder than 10 hrs in a busy restaurant, you need to think again. Chipping concrete is cakewalk compared to a 10hr restaurant shift.

Why dont you tell your opinions to your server next time, and see if your dining experience for you and your girlfriend/wife doesnt change.

Thanks for listening.

 

I kind of agree with this. But personally, I have no problem tipping higher or lower than the norm, if the situation calls for it. And I spent 3 years waiting tables. I also made a good deal more than minimum wage for a job that required no huge amount of special skill and no education. I was lucky to wait tables, in my mind. Then again, MOST of the time, I think are more personable and intelligent than your average minimum wage earning fast food employee.. So maybe they do deserve more than minimum wage. Then again, your average fast food employee earns like 7 bucks an hour, i believe.

 

Given the specifics of the restaurant and the waitress, I'd write this off to a cultural difference. Americans have way more inhibitions where it comes to asking for money/expecting money in situations where it is an understood thing. My family from Costa Rica and my family from Greece have no problems whatsoever asking where their gifts are when we come to visit, it's expected culturally for visitors to bring gifts. It's not a rude thing, it's just a different culture.

 

When figuring incomes keep in mind that CASH tips are typically not reported so it is an equivalent of about 130% of what you leave since taxes aren't taken out of it.

Now a tip on a credit card is reported so never feel guilty about putting $0 in the tip portion of your credit card bill.

As someone else said, get it straight, it's not about food, it's about service. I just wish most of the wait staff would get it straight!

 

always haapens in asian resturant

 

Oh what hipocrisy.

 

While I agree with most of your post, this portion is incorrect, and that's a fact.