50 people who act like being a waitress is a career, not a failure.



"Servers expect..."

That's exactly what's wrong with "tipping"

I could add to your last sentence and say "anyone who EXPECTS 15% no matter what, should not be working a job that any monkey can do".

:1orglaugh

Well yeah that's why I say this "Also with restaurants.... they pay their employees minimum wage, and pass the cost of their employees onto the customer. As if you haven't already paid enough for the food, now you are supporting their employees directly. Who ever thought of this concept is/was a brilliant business person...

(Also in some States, the restaurant owners are allowed to even pay their servers UNDER minimum wage, I've heard of servers getting like $2/hr base, because tips supposedly make up the rest)"

I do tip quite well sometimes 20-20% even if the service is mediocre. Also, yes I never leave "exactly 20%, I will round up.

However, these service industry people should talk to their bosses who don't pay them enough. It's not the customers fault there is this whole tipping business. Which doesn't happen very much anywhere in the world besides U.S.

EXACTLY. They won't say "Oh my service must have not been that good tonight." They say "wow what an asshole!" - because of course they never do anything wrong and think they are hot shit.

I just want to clarify that my working knowledge is 100% bar/club based. I am familiar with how restaurants work but I'm by no means going to assume that I know why things happen as they do.

Servers/waitresses/bartenders/whatever deal with a lot of shit every night.

I was behind a bar for over a year, 7 days a week and some of the customer-horror-stories I have are incredible. Guys coming in and tipping me a quarter for a round of drinks, people coming in daily and not tipping at all, people bitching that we didn't serve pitchers of beer (one guy with about 5 teeth asked "what kind of dump doesn't have pitchers of beer"... this was at a strip club), people bitching that they couldn't taste the booze in their drink no matter how much you put in there, beer is too warm, beer is too cold, ice melted too fast, not enough ice, too much ice, my straw is too short, glass was too small, too much soda, too many bubbles, this isn't XXXX liquor and that's what I asked for even though I watched you pour it, prices are too expensive (we ran $5 you-call-its for almost a year). I could go on.

I know for a fact that it wasn't my "service" as I knew all of the regulars drinks and they were waiting on the bar for them before they even sat down and even with a packed bar I was on everyone when they had about 1/4 left seeing if they wanted more. People are just fucking cheap sometimes.

I've never worked so hard for so little money in my life.

I always tip....

Tipping does help people to go above and beyond in their jobs - well above and beyond or just creative. ie create work where there isn't any and expect a tip :disgust

Who do the tips go to?

I mean from my perspective tipping $1 per drink is paying for ~20 seconds of work - so that's what $180 an hour.

My True Embarrsing Tipping Story...

I was in a cub in Tampa (As A VIP) for the first night EVER having been awaty from the UK...

Sexy young girl turns up, and asks what I wanna drink? I say 'Beer?" she says Fine.... I say 'How Much?" She says $5.00

5 mins later she hands me a beer. I hand her the $5.00

As far as I am concerned, in my own had, I have for fulfilled the contract...

I have a beer, she has her $5.00

So why did she look at me like I was a cunt?

I asked an american, and he said I HAD to tip!!! I DID NOT KNOW!!!

I went looking for her with $20.00 but I couldnt remember who she was. I felt really guilty and shitty... I did not know!!!

From then on, I tipped WELL over the expected amount to make up for it... For 7 years :thumbsup

Well, I still kinda feel guilty about it today... I simply did not know the protocol...

Aside from getting the sack because he/she is shit at the job they are being paid to do, you mean?

Yup - works in the rest of the world and the service staff still do have the opportunity for a tip when they provide great service.

Anyone who doesn't tip 20% has never worked service, is cheap, or thinks they are better than everyone else.

I tip 20% as a standard, even if the service isn't great. Because I know how shitty that job can be and that just because I got bad service it might not be the servers fault (could be some asshole in the place wasting their time, could be a 12 top, could be working twice as many tables because one of the other servers called in, computer system could be down, bartender might be behind, kitchen might be behind). Restaurants are literally organized chaos.

If you think you need to make a point to a server and tip them something shitty, then you need to change some things in your life. I've got more important things to worry about and I don't need to be a dick to people because they're having a bad day. And If you can't afford to tip someone something decent then you probably shouldn't be taking in the experience of eating out, you could always order -to go-.

I'm generally for tipping workers who earn under minimum wage or barely minimum wage what is customary. However sometimes I wonder if the service being provided is really worth 15-20% of the total cost.

Let's say you are at an expensive restaurant and for two people the cost will be $100. The whole experience lasted 45 minutes. The waiter came to the table let's say 4 times, each on average for two minutes. Is that eight minutes of time (let's double it to account for unseen time involved in getting the order right) really worth 20% of the cost of the food or $20?

Of course make it a $30 meal and the $6 tip becomes much more reasonable for that 8-16 minutes. So maybe there is an argument for tipping not based on the percentage of the total cost but based on the time, costs, and actual labor involved (and it makes for some questions with Real estate agents as well) . Of course the common pay structure and the IRS messes this up since I believe the IRS assumes a certain amount of tips based on a percentage from a tipped employee.

I understand what tipping is. It's me giving a little extra for someone that gave me a little extra as a show of appreciation and recognition of that fact.

The problem seems to be that the shit wait staff which are basically unemployable dipshits with zero skills whatsoever to help them in the job market think they are entitled.

Waiting tables as an adult is supposed to be a wake up call. Not a career.
:2 cents:

all you cheap fuckers make me laugh. how much are you really losing when you are tipping people? add it up. you probably spend more on coffee. in the end if you don't agree with the tipping system, don't punish the employees. change needs to start with the employer.

OR they live in a country where employers pay their employees rather than everyone else having to do it for them.

i pray you cheapos never visit a 3rd world country with that no-tip attitude

How much do you tip the person at McDonalds that slides you your big mac?

Just curious

I never understood why the tip should be based on a percentage of the bill. WTF is that all about? If I order a $20 pizza compared to a $10 pizza why should the driver get another $2? Cause the $20 pizza weighs an extra 6 ounces?

I tip whatever coins I have left over from a note, if I have no coins left over then no tip:1orglaugh

i hate it when a tip is included in the price and still the waiters expecting you to tip them additionally. it is outright extortion in my book, not better than underpass beggars and makes me want to forget about that place for ever.

One thing I dont agree with is tipping for bad service, it's still the norm to tip a lower amount even if you thought it was poor poor service, shouldn't get anything!

also where's the cut off point, i'll never forget, we were in Hawaii, had a slap up family meal in a nice hotel, over the xmas period, the total bill was just under $1,000, so it wasn't cheap, my old fella gave the waiter an $80 tip, the waiter complained 'sir, tips should be at least 15%'... I couldn't believe it, he wanted $150 for a few minutes with us, really?? no offence to him, he was very good, but he was serving food not defending us in court!!

What was your dads response ?

My Grans friend was in the states a couple of years ago ( 80 something year old woman ) and did not tip purely because she did not know it was 'how things are done'. The waiter accosted her infront of the entire restaurant - belittling her until she handed over money.

nothing but they get paid slightly more than minimum wage. they do not bring me my drinks or food to my table. ask if i want another, ask how my meal is. nor would they get me anything, etc..

I always tip drivers a standard 5 or 6 bucks. I don't equate driving a pizza to someone's house to the same thing as waiting on a table. Percentage is only at the restaurant.

The waitresses on this site will get the tip of my dick.

http://www.smokinghotwaitress.com/

Tipping is a art ...

I typically tip about 20-25%, sometimes up to 30% if I really like the service. If it's a place we go to often and they take care of us, sometimes it's more. Always leave a $5 minimum regardless of what the total bill is.

At bars, it's usually $1 a drink, but it depends on the bartender.

If I know I'm going to be at a bar for hours with a group, I tip the bartender $20-$40 right up front. When it gets 3 deep at the bar later, he/she will always be looking out for me when I'm trying to get another round. It's not really a decent tip, considering it's stretched out over the entire night, but something about the large sum at the beginning will make them remember you, and make you a priority.

I tip 20%. It's a flawed system that waitstaff rely on tips to make ends meet, but people refusing to tip isn't going to solve that... It's just going to make it hard for your waiter to make rent.

I'll tip you guys $50.00 bucks to stop talking.

It used to be one which paid a living wage. There's no reason to disrespect people for what they do. Many people would consider being a waitress to be more respectable than what we do. Who are you to judge anyone simply because they make less money or have different skills?

Lol, thanks for that memory. I totally forgot all about it that one. :1orglaugh

Agreed.

Starbucks is a gray area. If you're ordering something straight off the menu and they throw it at you like it's McDonalds, then yeah, no tip, but if you're ordering a crafted beverage and it's made with care than IMO they deserve a little extra.

If you go to a real coffee bar I think you should tip like you would at a traditional bar. Essentially the barista is doing the same skilled work an providing the same service as a bartender, sometimes even moreso. Just my :2 cents:

In that situation that is pretty much how I handle it too. There have been times where the food runner has been more attentive and hospitable than the actual waitress / waiter, so I make it a point to seek them out and put some cash directly in their hand. Honestly though, at the Olive Garden I pretty much expect the server to be a dumb ass.


I don't really agree with that. Are you talking about the restaurants where they have like 4 servers on different levels wait your table and / or a server that stands by your table while you eat? I never really cared for that type of service myself. It's overkill.

Personally I generally tip 20%. If the service is poor I go down to 15%, if it's great I go higher. If the service is abysmal then I literally leave :2 cents: I've only done that a few times in my life though, and the server has to be pretty much fucking with me or someone else at the table to get it (ie- trying to hide meat in a vegetarian's food, intentionally spilling a drink on someone). If I do it, I don't go back and it's usually accompanied by having words with either the server or the manager. Like John Oso said, if you don't actually explain to the server or the manager that the service wa bad they are just going to chalk it up to you being a cheap fuck.

Also if your waiter / waitress hooks you up or you get any type of discount (ie- appy hour, etc) you should always tip on what the price would have been. If the drinks are 2 for 1 tip on 2 drinks, if the server knocks some shit off your bill hook them up in return. You shouldn't short your server for saving you $$

Also with the hiding the meat in the food thing, one of the veggie burgers had bacon on it and a salad had chicken under the lettuce- like old, dried out floor sweeps chicken snibbles. The veggie burger kept getting sent back and it kept coming back with bacon on it. The first time the bacon was only half peeled off, the second time it was remade with the bacon hidden in a different spot, like it was a fucking game and the server laughed about it.

I know some of you might think it's funny too, but it's someone's life choice and its pretty much as disrespectful to someone as you can fucking get. I'm sure there was probably spit involved too. No one ate their food, I only paid for the drinks and left the 2 cent tip, bitched out the manager and wrote a scathing letter to corporate.

Corporate sent me a bunch of vouchers for the restaurant. I think $200 worth if I remember right. Not gift certificates but actual vouchers from corporate that might as well have had a big red stamp on the back that said "please spit in my food". I had them sent to an office where I worked at the time. I guess someone I worked with had sticky fingers and couldn't resist but help themselves to some of them. To be honest I didn't mind. Kind of like instant Karma, a restaurant has to give out food for free and a theif gets their meal fucked with. LOL

Wtf, this means bartenders make more money than 95% of population? 1$ minimum, so 2$ average, 500 "tipped" drinks - at least 1000$ a day?

That's quite a bit for a normal bar, although I can see dropping that much at a decent club. I might use that strategy in the future.

30% just because higher end restaurant and despite if they did a good job or even if they not mixed the order?

Since when? When was being a waitress something that paid a living wage? What are you basing that on? Thats a pretty broad statement given the fact that a restaurant could be 5 star or a diner or fast food.

I've got news for you. You can make $500.00 a night being a waitress at the right place. You can make $20.00 a night being a waitress at the wrong place. As an individual, you are supposed to be striving to improve yourself, your skills, your knowledge and your value in the job market and move upwards. Not devote yourself to a job that requires no skills, no talent, no education and then start demanding more and more and more. We are not in the Soviet Union. If you want to make more money, keep working towards a better job/career. That is how life works. Most people learn that before they get into the job market.

This whole pathetic conversation is like arguing that a guy who delivers papers in the morning should be getting $25.00 an hour... because he deserves a living wage. He is supposed to be improving himself and looking for something better. Delivering papers is not supposed to be a career.

If you don't like the money you make doing your shit job, then find a new job.

If you don't like the money you make doing your shit job, don't expect me to pay you extra just because you are unhappy

If you want me to pay you extra... you better go above and beyond and earn it. I'm not in the business of going around all day passing out 5 and 10 dollar bills just because people feel that life isn't fair. I got my own to worry about.

I suspect we just have different ways of seeing the issue as well as different ethics. The way I see it - long story made short - if you don't want to pay your employees a living wage then you should have to do it yourself. I see all the looking down upon them and the disrespect for their labor as just a way to justify and rationalize paying them less (iow, to exploit them).

tipping IMO is mostly bullshit these days. with coffee places expecting tips to waiters(es) saying 20% should be the norm? fuck that.

If you want 20% then you better provide excellent fucking service.

All you waiters and waitresses... when I go out to eat and order a $100 bottle of wine versus a $25 bottle of wine, what extra fucking work do you put into it that you think you deserve $20 for opening a bottle of wine versus me giving you $5? Because its more expensive? GET REAL :1orglaugh

I tip around 15% on food and $1 or $2 per drink and $5 per bottle of wine. When I go out to clubs/bars I tip NICELY for the first round depending on your poor. If you poor like shit, don't expect a tip from me.

I will normally order a scotch on the rocks or rum and diet. If you make it strong, then I'll tip pretty well, sometimes $5 or $10 on a drink so you keep hooking me up. Ive had times where the drink is $11 and I give a $20 and say keep it, they take my glass and fill it with booze to where a rum and diet looks like a browish see through drink

Your view assumes they are "exploiting employees" which is a wildly subjective concept. I know waiters at high end restaurants who make a killing. 100K a year. I know people that think they are being exploited no matter what you pay them or not matter what the circumstances... Just ask any teen who's being asked to clean up his/her own crap or take out the garbage.

I am not in the business of paying other peoples employees. If someone sells coffee for $5.00 a cup, that's my obligation. I order it, they give it to me. Everything beyond that is on the individual.

If you want to run around throwing money at people all day long to clear your conscience, that's fine. But just to do that because you feel any minimum wage job should be paying a livable wage? That's not me. I tip for people who give great service and where tipping is customary. I don't go around throwing money at people out of pity.

BTW... i checked my lunch bill for today. $19.00. I tipped $4.00. They always go out of their way to take care of me, I acknowledge it and show my appreciation for the effort. But I don't "owe" them something just because they might be trying to turn a low wage job into a career, that's on them.

In the end you are entitled to your opinion and what you decide to do with your money. The biggest problem I have with what you have said is that you seem to look down upon those who perform these jobs. That's entirely your right but it seems a little judgmental to me and I think you should reconsider. Not everything is about money and someone isn't necessarily a "failure" because they work as a waitress. That is a very disrespectful attitude and unfortunate.

I notice something. The server was probably fucking with the vegetarian because they didn't respect the life choice and were judgmental about it. But then it comes full circle here when we see people who fuck with the servers because they don't seem to respect the occupation and look down upon them as "failures". It seems like a little more respect and less judgments from all parties might go a long way. FWIW, I think messing with someone's food should be a felony.

in this thread: angry food service workers :D

I agree with you and my disrespect. It is the attitude that i have no respect for however, not the person performing the task. I can also appreciate that you are a bit more mature about it than I am.

It is not that i "look down" on someone bringing me my food, shoveling shit or cleaning toilets or whatever. Those are all functions in a society that someone must perform. My issue is what I believe to be the complete lack of perspective on the issue. If McDonalds pays 6.50 an hour and the employee is displeased, they are supposed to be. They are supposed to look for something better, to better themselves and strive to improve their station in life... not demand more from society to compensate them until what is their own personal sense of "fair" is satisfied.

I also strongly disagree that I "owe" it to them. That's not what tipping was. That's simply what tipping has become. Furthermore, this general idea (one so popular here among those who will never earn real money in their lives) is how people are now rationalizing their own poor life choices - poor career choices. Shitty jobs are just that. Whether its making 6.00 an hour working at a car wash, 5.50 an hour delivering newspapers or shoveling horseshit. It's not anyone's place to start demanding more.

People who think a business should pay more don't seem to get that people are paid exactly what they are worth based on the demand for those jobs and the employers ability to fill those jobs. There is a high turnover with these kinds of jobs because they aren't supposed to be careers. They are just the thing you do until you find something better, finish school, finish getting your degree or whatever.
:2 cents:

Its just a good rule of thumb to treat everyone like a human being, how you would want to be treated.

The world needs dishwashers / ditch diggers too- shitty quote but it's the truth.

Who am I to shit on someone's station in life. Makes us no better than the people who judge us for what we do and call us smut peddlers. :2 cents:

in theory yes.

I know bartenders that pull 1500+ a night.

But the bars they make that at are only open a couple of few nights a week. Friday and Saturday nights are really the only nights you'll pull that number, the rest of the shifts you work are so you CAN work Friday and Saturday nights.

In most 3rd world countries i've been to they are fucking ecstatic for a quarter.

See that is just fucking ridiculous.