Found it a bit humorous as well as sad when I worked both as driver/kitchen staff and on occasions where we were extra busy or short handed and so waited tables for an hour or so. To wait tables I had to punch out and punch back in as wait staff because not only was it a different wage, but they also were required to track my tips. Unlike my normal position where I just tracked my own tips and reported the total to the IRS at Tax Time.
Because breakfast is usually much cheaper than a dinner, it’s only fair to tip well more than 20%….Servers make about $2. 35 per hour. The rest is made up with tips. If they don’t bring them up to minimum wage, the employer has to kick in the rest. I always tip in cash so there is no record of it, and the server can pocket some of it undeclared….
In my youth I worked for bands, which means I worked with bartenders & waitri. Then I married a waitress. I know what both their work & their pay is like.
20% is for when the service is lousy. And don’t lower your tip if the food sucks; it’s not the server’s fault. Tip the server for the service, and tell the manager/maitre’d/etc the food sucks.
A wealthy person took my family out for dinner. He did not get wealthy by being stupid. As soon as we were seated at the table, he gave a generous cash tip to the waitress. I was impressed and so was the waitress. I watched the waitress for the rest of the time that we were in the restaurant. She moved only slightly slower than an Olympic athlete.
I live in a country where the tips ( To Insure Prompt Service ) are automatically included at 10% of the total. Wages are higher here, so additional tipping is not expected in most places.
That said, I almost always leave at least an additional 10% for the server or bartender. My Ecuadoran wife thinks I’m ruining the economy, by doing so, but old habits die hard.
I’ve been there, so I know how hard servers and bartenders have to work.
i go to Taco Bell often. With my senior discount, I get the grilled breakfast burrito for 90 cents, plus 7 cents tax. I always pay with $1.00. One of the employees who waits on me often ALWAYS asks if I want the 3 cents. I always say I want it. Perhaps that’s how she gets her tips. I don’t like beggars, but many waiters / waitresses at casual dining restaurants and other restaurants seem like beggars, with their hands held out. I pity them sometimes.
These comment are a fascinating sample of what people think and do, none nearly as twisted as our man “Bob”, who is not likely to have a fine dining experience. For my two bits, I always carry cash to cover whatever, and never leave coin for any tip. That’s reserved in one pocket to handle a cashier, who can then just hand me change in bills. My tipping focuses on the performance and manner of the waitstaff, from a minimum of a dollar for a cup of coffee, or an insulting 10 percent for lousy service. But like poor food is not the fault of waitstaff, neither is woefully inadequate staffing that results in slow coverage. Those rare complaints go to the front, and I won’t return that year. Most of the time, I do 25 percent. And , yes, I’ve bussed and waited tables, starting at sixty five cents an hour.
All the comments are interesting to see. My wife would go hungry rather than not be able to tip anyone for doing their job, I’m not like that.
A tip is expected here in the USA because owners are not required to pay the help for what they do. Judging by the comments a tip is required no matter how poor the service was, it’s required just to thank the staff for showing up at work!
It looks to me like the general public is enabling the poor pay habits of the food establishment owners. Everyone suffers except the owner who doesn’t have to pay his help what they deserve.
The economy’s doing OK now (tho not everybody is getting the benefit of it), but it hasn’t always in the past and won’t always in the future. In any slowdown of the economy, 3 groups are the 1st to feel the pinch:
• pets
• waitstaff
• non-profit organizations
If you have it in your means and heart to be extra generous to any of these, please do. Somebody else who wants to can’t.
Tips are foreign to most countries. In France being a waiter is considered a career, and tips are almost an insult. It’s really bizarre it’s held on so long in the US.
Growing up in a small town in the midwest in the 50s and 60s, waitress was pretty much the only career for women — secretaries and store clerks tended to be the wives of the business owners and we didn’t have a hospital. Full time waitresses got $0.50 and hour and part-timers (high school girls) got $0.25. The car hop at the drive in got $0.10 (but she didn’t have to help with the dishes). Detasseling was the best paying job, but it only lasted 2 weeks. I was lucky to be the lifeguard for $1.00 and hour but it only paid for hours the pool was open (not for the hours you spent teaching swimming lessons, etc. or if the pool was closed for weather). Times have changed but people’s economic status stays the same.
Tips should be extraordinary gifts for when service exceeded expectations, not something expected by default, but since the law has allowed managers to make tips a part of the waitstaffs wages, what you should be doing to change things back to how it should be, is campaign for ending the exception, that allow the managers to pay their staff below minimum wage because the customers give them gifts, not stop tipping, stopping tipping for anything but extraordinary service, should only come after the law ensure waitstaff are paid properly.
Here in Denmark we made laws to that effect back in 1969, the cost of service must be included in the price establishments charge, and service staffs wages, are required to be within the laws about minimum wage same as all other jobs.
This mean tipping isn’t the norm here, but you can of course still tip, if you found the service was above your expectations, you just aren’t expected to do so by default.
KenTheCoffinDweller about 6 years ago
Found it a bit humorous as well as sad when I worked both as driver/kitchen staff and on occasions where we were extra busy or short handed and so waited tables for an hour or so. To wait tables I had to punch out and punch back in as wait staff because not only was it a different wage, but they also were required to track my tips. Unlike my normal position where I just tracked my own tips and reported the total to the IRS at Tax Time.
Varnes about 6 years ago
Because breakfast is usually much cheaper than a dinner, it’s only fair to tip well more than 20%….Servers make about $2. 35 per hour. The rest is made up with tips. If they don’t bring them up to minimum wage, the employer has to kick in the rest. I always tip in cash so there is no record of it, and the server can pocket some of it undeclared….
Charliegirl Premium Member about 6 years ago
Slap him upside the head, Flo!
Cozmik Cowboy about 6 years ago
In my youth I worked for bands, which means I worked with bartenders & waitri. Then I married a waitress. I know what both their work & their pay is like.
20% is for when the service is lousy. And don’t lower your tip if the food sucks; it’s not the server’s fault. Tip the server for the service, and tell the manager/maitre’d/etc the food sucks.
Cozmik Cowboy about 6 years ago
That guy reminds me of a line from a Jim Post song: “Your heart is in the right place/But your head is up your………”
For a Just and Peaceful World about 6 years ago
A wealthy person took my family out for dinner. He did not get wealthy by being stupid. As soon as we were seated at the table, he gave a generous cash tip to the waitress. I was impressed and so was the waitress. I watched the waitress for the rest of the time that we were in the restaurant. She moved only slightly slower than an Olympic athlete.
Masterskrain Premium Member about 6 years ago
OOohhh…bad move!! NEVER piss off the Waitstaff!
Linguist about 6 years ago
I live in a country where the tips ( To Insure Prompt Service ) are automatically included at 10% of the total. Wages are higher here, so additional tipping is not expected in most places.
That said, I almost always leave at least an additional 10% for the server or bartender. My Ecuadoran wife thinks I’m ruining the economy, by doing so, but old habits die hard.
I’ve been there, so I know how hard servers and bartenders have to work.
neeeurothrush about 6 years ago
@ wiley – hope you and your family are safe and well – weather sucks (not certain if the first time worked)
Durak Premium Member about 6 years ago
What Bob really learned was a lesson in timing.
DonaldH1 about 6 years ago
i go to Taco Bell often. With my senior discount, I get the grilled breakfast burrito for 90 cents, plus 7 cents tax. I always pay with $1.00. One of the employees who waits on me often ALWAYS asks if I want the 3 cents. I always say I want it. Perhaps that’s how she gets her tips. I don’t like beggars, but many waiters / waitresses at casual dining restaurants and other restaurants seem like beggars, with their hands held out. I pity them sometimes.
Oldgrowth about 6 years ago
These comment are a fascinating sample of what people think and do, none nearly as twisted as our man “Bob”, who is not likely to have a fine dining experience. For my two bits, I always carry cash to cover whatever, and never leave coin for any tip. That’s reserved in one pocket to handle a cashier, who can then just hand me change in bills. My tipping focuses on the performance and manner of the waitstaff, from a minimum of a dollar for a cup of coffee, or an insulting 10 percent for lousy service. But like poor food is not the fault of waitstaff, neither is woefully inadequate staffing that results in slow coverage. Those rare complaints go to the front, and I won’t return that year. Most of the time, I do 25 percent. And , yes, I’ve bussed and waited tables, starting at sixty five cents an hour.
becida about 6 years ago
All the comments are interesting to see. My wife would go hungry rather than not be able to tip anyone for doing their job, I’m not like that.
A tip is expected here in the USA because owners are not required to pay the help for what they do. Judging by the comments a tip is required no matter how poor the service was, it’s required just to thank the staff for showing up at work!
It looks to me like the general public is enabling the poor pay habits of the food establishment owners. Everyone suffers except the owner who doesn’t have to pay his help what they deserve.
Richard S Russell Premium Member about 6 years ago
The economy’s doing OK now (tho not everybody is getting the benefit of it), but it hasn’t always in the past and won’t always in the future. In any slowdown of the economy, 3 groups are the 1st to feel the pinch:
• pets
• waitstaff
• non-profit organizations
If you have it in your means and heart to be extra generous to any of these, please do. Somebody else who wants to can’t.
gorbag about 6 years ago
Tips are foreign to most countries. In France being a waiter is considered a career, and tips are almost an insult. It’s really bizarre it’s held on so long in the US.
GreenT267 about 6 years ago
Growing up in a small town in the midwest in the 50s and 60s, waitress was pretty much the only career for women — secretaries and store clerks tended to be the wives of the business owners and we didn’t have a hospital. Full time waitresses got $0.50 and hour and part-timers (high school girls) got $0.25. The car hop at the drive in got $0.10 (but she didn’t have to help with the dishes). Detasseling was the best paying job, but it only lasted 2 weeks. I was lucky to be the lifeguard for $1.00 and hour but it only paid for hours the pool was open (not for the hours you spent teaching swimming lessons, etc. or if the pool was closed for weather). Times have changed but people’s economic status stays the same.
tarrangar over 3 years ago
Tips should be extraordinary gifts for when service exceeded expectations, not something expected by default, but since the law has allowed managers to make tips a part of the waitstaffs wages, what you should be doing to change things back to how it should be, is campaign for ending the exception, that allow the managers to pay their staff below minimum wage because the customers give them gifts, not stop tipping, stopping tipping for anything but extraordinary service, should only come after the law ensure waitstaff are paid properly.
Here in Denmark we made laws to that effect back in 1969, the cost of service must be included in the price establishments charge, and service staffs wages, are required to be within the laws about minimum wage same as all other jobs.
This mean tipping isn’t the norm here, but you can of course still tip, if you found the service was above your expectations, you just aren’t expected to do so by default.