I’ve always held the opinion that everyone should spend at least a week waiting tables at some point in their lives.
It really is a fun job. It’s fast-paced, hectic, challenging and one of the few occupations where you are immediately rewarded for the work you put into it.
Until you aren’t rewarded, that is.
Waiters and waitresses generally only make about $2.14 an hour, which means they depend on tips to pay the bills, an ominous thought considering that tipping is considered an optional courtesy when dining out.
It’s especially unnerving for servers that sell alcohol to tables. There’s a system referred to in restaurants as “tipping out,” in which some servers have to give a percentage of their alcohol sales to the bartender on duty. What this means is that a server who gets stiffed by a table of beer drinkers has to pay money out of their own pocket to compensate the difference. Essentially, they have to pay to serve customers who are either unaware or don’t care how tipping works.
Of course, there is such a thing as bad service, and bad service should not be rewarded with good tips. But not tipping at all? There are very few instances where that is acceptable.
For example, if a customer’s food takes a long time to prepare, some feel it is appropriate to tip the server poorly. In reality, there are many other elements at work within a restaurant that could have caused the delay, and stiffing the server is a lot like killing the messenger. Punishing the server for a simple mistake that may not even have been their fault is completely illogical.
So tip your servers, and if they give excellent service, then leave an excellent tip. They will appreciate it and remember your face next time you’re there. I promise.