SHAREABLE version so that we can get the word out!! Today a girl told me that she doesnt tip because its not necessary. Not because the service was poor or that the food was bad, just simply because it wasnt necessary. Being a server, I didnt take this lightly. No, yea youre right..Ill give you that one: its not necessary. Its not necessary on the basis that no legal action will be taken against you if you dont tip, but it is necessary if you dont want to seem like a horrible person. First Im going to start you off on some facts because not many people know this: a servers wage is $8.90/hr and minimum wage is $10.25/hr (and about to go up). Why? Because the government believes that you will break minimum wage with tips. 80% of our income comes from our tips because when the time to do our taxes rolls around, the government takes most of our paychecks. If someone says that they cant afford to tip then DONT GO OUT TO EAT!! When going out to eat nowadays, a typical meal ranges from 10 - 30$ depending on where and what you ordered. If you cant be bothered to add the additional 1 - 4$ onto the bill, then you probably shouldnt be spending that money in the first place. Not only are you spending money that you shouldnt be spending, you wasted an hour of my time. If in fact youre paying a bill of >100$, Ill admit, thats a lot of money to be paying for a meal..but you can clearly afford it, therefore, you should be able to afford tipping. People say that if tipping was necessary, then it would be included on the bill. Actually, some places do do this, its called gratuity and is often a set amount. Most restaurants however, give the guests the opportunity to tip accordingly to the service. Regardless of the service, you should still tip. An average tip is around 15%. Exceptional service often results in a 20% tip or higher. However, if the service was poor, there are still 14 numbers in between 0 and 15. Tip somewhere between 5-10%. People need to live too. DONT, however, ever leave a 1-25c tip. This is considered a huge insult. Id rather receive nothing than that, its like a slap in the face. However, if the service was exceptionally awful, then leave a penny and a comment card to let the server know how to improve. Serving is a difficult job, its not as easy as everyone not in the industry thinks it is. It isnt just pouring drinks, taking an order, and bringing you the food. Its that - times 20. Youre doing all this for up to 10 tables, and there are at least 2 people per table. Youre running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to keep everyone happy. On top of all that, weve got our ongoing side duties to perform as well. I am not asking you to make up for non-existent tips, just cover yourself and keep your eyes open to the reasons why your server may not be at your table every second. They also do a lot behind the scenes, as far as cleaning and stocking the kitchen/server pantry. Many people believe that if their friend is their server, then they dont have to tip as much, because well, you know them! Thats an unfortunate way of thinking, because as a server, were thinking hey! Its our friend, lets try to keep them happy! As your friend, your server will try even harder to impress you and keep you happy. They may spend even more time at your table than they should, having other tables suffer. They will adhere to everything you ask because you guys are chums! So all this, and you decide, well thanks buddy, see ya soon, heres 5$ on >100$ bill of beers we just racked up. oh and also can you get us a discount? Next time you go to a restaurant look around for the neediest, loudest, messiest table you can find and they are usually the ones that tip the worst - think about how you would handle being their server and having to remain peppy and calm with all of your other tables at the same time. Thank you to all those who tip your servers and I hope that this has put tipping into perspective and gives you a more informed decision when tipping. (:
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 04:39:38 +0000