Folks Who Work In Tipped Jobs Would Like You To Spend A Minute Looking At Something

[davidthegnome]

32. Yep...

Doesn't it suck to be handed a three dollar tip for a fifty dollar meal? Happens all the time. You run your ass off to make sure everyone is served and happy, and you close up your shift at night having made like 20 bucks for eight hours of work. Plus whatever small hourly compensation your employer provides (is forced to provide). I've worked for several restaurants, generally as a dish-washer rather than as a server. I knew many waitresses though, and waiters - for the most part, business is not good enough for them to make much money. The economy isn't good enough, either. Everyone is poorer now, it seems to me, than they were in my youth. People used to spend more money, used to be more generous, up here.

The closures of our base (Loring Air-force, in Northern Maine)... oh, fifteen years ago or so, led to the closures of many local businesses, the loss of thousands of jobs. What little opportunity we have up here tends to be service jobs. The pay isn't very good, your feet are going to hurt like hell, and a lot of people are going to be mean and unpleasant and expect you to be grateful for a three dollar tip. Even so, you are expected to smile, provide the utmost best service, wink and flirt and generally do whatever the hell your boss tells you to - because, they will remind you, you can be easily replaced.

It doesn't suck quite as bad for me, now being a hotel front desk clerk, I make eight dollars an hour regardless of how busy we are. With this, I can afford to pay for my car, for gas, and a little (very little) more. Some times the waitresses will make out great, like a hundred, or two hundred dollar night - but these are very rare. I often end up earning more in a week than they do, and I am not forced to work half as hard.

Lousy damned economy - but what makes it even worse are the people who can afford to be generous, and simply aren't. If your server is decent, and doesn't screw things up too badly... I think you have an obligation to offer a fair tip. Fair, to most, is 20%. For really good service, perhaps as high as 30. Good luck getting it though.

My advice is to not be a waitress or waiter. Don't work in the service industry - it sucks. Seduce a rich man or woman, as the case may be, and get them to provide for you.