If you work in food service....(Offensive)

GingerSnark

I worked as a hostess at a Cheesecake Factory in a wealthier area. You could tell the minute certain folk walked in the server was not getting a decent tip. Most of these people would piss & moan about anything just to complain to the manager to get a free meal or a huge discount.

You could tell instantly as a hostess b/c you get used to reading the customers. We had entire tables of people try to walk out without paying thinking no one would notice. Then b/c they got caught, they refused to pay the entire bill b/c it included an additional 18% for parties over 7 people. They didn't want to tip at all. They didn't plan on paying is what it seems.

If you cant afford to tip at a restaurant keep your broke *kitten* home. Sorry, that's my opinion. Save your money for some etiquette lessons.

LycraLegs

Tips are not obligatory, nor does someones skin colour define whether they will leave a tip.
Things like this make me want to avoid America like the plague, In the UK I feel that people who work hard and give good service, get good tips.
As a former waitress, I knew that my salary was the only sure thing, anything above that would depend on how well I did my job.

I live in France now, and the French dont tip typically, but I still choose to tip as I would in the UK, or anywhere else.
Good service = good tip, If I have to send my food back because you did not take my order correctly, we never got our drinks and you were outside having a cig for 20 mins just after we asked you for the bill, dont be shocked when we dont tip.

If you have high rent, tuition fees, high living costs, get a higher paying job!

AmandaB4588

Tips are not obligatory, nor does someones skin colour define whether they will leave a tip.
Things like this make me want to avoid America like the plague, In the UK I feel that people who work hard and give good service, get good tips.
As a former waitress, I knew that my salary was the only sure thing, anything above that would depend on how well I did my job.

I live in France now, and the French dont tip typically, but I still choose to tip as I would in the UK, or anywhere else.
Good service = good tip, If I have to send my food back because you did not take my order correctly, we never got our drinks and you were outside having a cig for 20 mins just after we asked you for the bill, dont be shocked when we dont tip.

If you have high rent, tuition fees, high living costs, get a higher paying job!

I agree that skin color does not determine whether or not someone will tip. I know servers who will treat a table differently if they are black because of this stereotype---- and perhaps that is the reason they do not get good tips! As a server, I treated all of my tables the same and cannot make any generalization about who tips well and who doesn't.....

except for foreigners! Most foreigners do not tip well, and your type of attitude is the reason why. I talked to a few locals at a beer festival in England, and they felt the same way you do. They were just as baffled about tipping in America as I was about tipping there. They couldn't understand why they should tip someone for pouring them a beer (it is my understanding that they do not tip bartenders,) while I couldn't understand why you wouldn't. Nobody is right or wrong, just different. It is normal for different countries to have differences in what is customary, so this really shouldn't be so baffling. The appropriate way to behave when tipping depends on where you are, bottom line.

That being said, the woman in the video is American. Most Americans would agree that she is tacky and annoying.

::EDIT:: I would also like to add that the type of service you mentioned definitely doesn't deserve a good tip. Had I ever treated any of my tables that poorly, a poor tip would not upset me. I don't think crappy service is what this is about. As for getting a higher paying job, waiting tables is (probably) generally the most profitable part-time job for somebody without a college degree.

leavinglasvegas

Tips are not obligatory, nor does someones skin colour define whether they will leave a tip.
Things like this make me want to avoid America like the plague, In the UK I feel that people who work hard and give good service, get good tips.
As a former waitress, I knew that my salary was the only sure thing, anything above that would depend on how well I did my job.

I live in France now, and the French dont tip typically, but I still choose to tip as I would in the UK, or anywhere else.
Good service = good tip, If I have to send my food back because you did not take my order correctly, we never got our drinks and you were outside having a cig for 20 mins just after we asked you for the bill, dont be shocked when we dont tip.

If you have high rent, tuition fees, high living costs, get a higher paying job!

Its not about skin color at all. I can't believe she brought it up, but theres alot of that in America. I think its funny that in the end she says shes calling Jonny Cochran. He died a few years ago and even if he didn't, I doub't he'd take such a stupid case.

Unfortunately, in America, tipping is neccessary. Our waitresses only make $2 an hour. I'm sure if they could find a higher paying job, they would. Right now, your lucky to have any job in this country.

leavinglasvegas

Most Americans would agree that she is tacky and annoying.

Thats putting it nicely. :laugh:

sassydot

Minimum wage is $12.50, or $12.75, an hour I think it just went up... General serving staff would get between min and about $16 an hour I would say.
$12.50 an hour probably sounds like a lot, but once you tax it, a single person living on about $400 in the hand a week, well, that's not much to live on! Especially when you're looking at around $150 a week just for your share of rent in a shared home, and it costs between $80 and $100 to fill an average car with fuel. Power, phone bills, food, clothing, insurances, and so on and so forth, to be somehow paid with the remainder...


20% sounds like a lot to us, because the server's wages are already factored into the bill. If we worked on a tipping system instead, the bill would be lower.

Wow, as a non-American, living in a country where tipping is really unusual and our waiters, barstaff, etc etc are all paid a living wage from the company they work for, I have to wonder whether tipping is a flawed system.

Here, I go out for a meal and pay $x for a meal, and that's it. I don't have to pay more than the advertised price (20% is HUGE in terms of adding cost to your meal!!) AND my servers get to go home at the end of the night with enough money to live off. And if I receive really great service, I could tip (it's sometimes done) or I could just give my server a genuine thank you and leave it at that.

I was in England last summer, and of all things, tipping was the biggest culture shock for me. I knew that tipping was unusual there and sometimes even considered rude, but that did not prepare me for when the bill came. I just can't NOT tip!

Anyways, my point is that 20% seems huge to you because you do not tip. I have been tipping my entire life, so an extra 20% is something I fully expect and intend to spend. It's not a big deal at all and even feels natural.

::EDIT:: Forgot to mention.... I am not sure which way of doing things is better or more profitable for the restaurant/employees. I am not sure how much servers make where you are from but it is entirely possible to make a living waiting tables in America. In my experience, far more people tip than don't.

leavinglasvegas

Minimum wage is $12.50, or $12.75, an hour I think it just went up... General serving staff would get between min and about $16 an hour I would say.
$12.50 an hour probably sounds like a lot, but once you tax it, a single person living on about $400 in the hand a week, well, that's not much to live on! Especially when you're looking at around $150 a week just for your share of rent in a shared home, and it costs between $80 and $100 to fill an average car with fuel. Power, phone bills, food, clothing, insurances, and so on and so forth, to be somehow paid with the remainder...


20% sounds like a lot to us, because the server's wages are already factored into the bill. If we worked on a tipping system instead, the bill would be lower.

???:noway: WHAT? Where the heck do you live that Min wage is that high? Its only $7.45!

PJilly

The federal government sets the absolute minimum at $7.25, but individual states can have a higher minimum. My state (Washington) has the very highest minimum wage, but it's $8.55, not $12+.

sassydot

The world is a big place...






i live in the same country as hepkitty, which is why i was able to answer those questions I quoted on.

A higher min wage doens't necessarily mean more money, as I showed. Our livings costs are higher too.

aippolito1

I tip based on service as well. Waitress & waiters WORK for their tips. If they don't work for my tip, I'm not giving them a tip. My boyfriend & I went out last weekend and it took the waitress 3x asking to get what I wanted and then SHOOK HER HEAD (my bf saw her do it) as she walked away, because I asked for lemon for my water. We gave her 10% at dinner time.

PJilly

The world is a big place...

You're right. :blushing:

sniffles

I don't know if it's a Canadian thing... but where I live 90% of the people I know don't tip. Mind you 90% of the wait staff I know make more than I do so...

$2 an hour???? That's... how is that LEGAL? What a flawed system! Why should the customer be responsible for paying the companies staff!???

leavinglasvegas

The world is a big place...






i live in the same country as hepkitty, which is why i was able to answer those questions I quoted on.

A higher min wage doens't necessarily mean more money, as I showed. Our livings costs are higher too.

Sorry. I still don't know what country you are referring to though.

sassydot

New Zealand. Should be on my profile, but MFP has been doing odd stuff all week.

xecila

Minimum wage is $12.50, or $12.75, an hour I think it just went up... General serving staff would get between min and about $16 an hour I would say.
$12.50 an hour probably sounds like a lot, but once you tax it, a single person living on about $400 in the hand a week, well, that's not much to live on! Especially when you're looking at around $150 a week just for your share of rent in a shared home, and it costs between $80 and $100 to fill an average car with fuel. Power, phone bills, food, clothing, insurances, and so on and so forth, to be somehow paid with the remainder...


20% sounds like a lot to us, because the server's wages are already factored into the bill. If we worked on a tipping system instead, the bill would be lower.

I make marginally more than that (after just getting a raise), and I pay for an apartment/car/electric/food/everything you said, PLUS an out-of-work boyfriend all by myself. And I work in an office. Go figure.

Anywho.. I'm torn on the tipping idea. Maybe because I did the same exact service as a waitress when I worked at a pizza joint (plus busing tables and doing dishes) and didn't get a single tip in the nine months I was working there. Yeah, I made more than $2 (woohoo, I made five and a quarter!) But I don't see why (as Mr. Pink put it) America says "tip these guys over here, but not those ones over there."

I also feel that waiter was a little out of line. I'm sorry, but I think I'd have just chalked it up to a loss and carried on. He was being just as tacky as she was.

Regardless... I tip a base of 15%, more for good service. If the server is downright rude (and I don't mean having a bad day, being frazzled, screwing up an order.. I mean being a pure jerk) then I'll tip less, but never less than 10%. I was raised better than that.

cmw72

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I have to side with youtube chick on this one.

Granted, she could have presented her argument in a more tactful manner, but that's beside the point. If tipping becomes mandatory, then it becomes pointless. If I get exceptional service, I'll tip appropriately. Even if I just get half-way decent service, I'll probably pitch in a few bucks if I have it on me. But I certainly don't feel obligated to do so.

You can say what you want to about that chick, but she paid her bill. To be chased down in the parking lot by the waiter for not tipping is beyond ridiculous. If that happened to me, I would be absolutely furious.

I once had a bartender go off on me, and refuse to serve me further because I didn't tip him.... As if it's that hard to add 1oz of rum to 5oz of coke, for which I'm already being charged $8?!? It's called unskilled labor for a reason. And I say this as somebody who worked in the food service industry for far too long.

Mr. Pink's comments in Reservoir Dogs pretty much sum up my thoughts on the matter.

Mina133842

ok, now I didn't see the youtube video clip, but on tipping in general, and yes, I worked waiting tables, and in a sandwich/pizza joint..etc. I tip pretty well, and I tip a lot of places besides in restaurants. I tip the pizza delivery drivers (especially if it's cold, snowy, or icky weather), I tip the waitress/waiter, bartender, and coffee baristas, housekeeping staff, all of them.. to answer about the $2 wage thing, some states can "assume" how much you earn in tips as part of your wage (you have to claim them as earnings) and pay you the "difference" for your hourly wage. I also live in WA, and the "norm" is to make minimum wage, plus your tips. I personally miss tips, now I'm not waiting tables, and I make a better hourly wage, and don't smell of food all day. HOWEVER, I once was given a business card thing - that said "I do not tip, no matter the service, because I'm trying to change the laws - fair wages should be paid to all." Now, that's a paraphrase of what was on it, but it was a larger order, and I gave great service, but didn't receive a tip because he believed I should receive a fair wage from my employer, which at the time, I worked in a different state, so wages were MUCH lower. I agreed with the concept, but sucks when they apply it to someone making very low wages. when I worked in the sandwich nook (little cafe restaurant in our small town) I did everything there from cook the food, serve the tables, wash the dishes, refill drinks, ring them up, the works. Often I was one of the only ones working (maybe one other employee). We hardly ever got tips. THAT was a place where they can see you making everything and doing it all too (visible kitchen area) and I was surprised that we got so little in tips - even if the menu items were relatively inexpensive (from $2-$10).

sassydot

I make marginally more than that (after just getting a raise), and I pay for an apartment/car/electric/food/everything you said, PLUS an out-of-work boyfriend all by myself. And I work in an office. Go figure.

Yeah, it's funny how $1 isn't worth $1 everywhere.

i remember in economics at school, they taught us about the "big mac index" and PPP

AmandaB4588

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I have to side with youtube chick on this one.

Granted, she could have presented her argument in a more tactful manner, but that's beside the point. If tipping becomes mandatory, then it becomes pointless. If I get exceptional service, I'll tip appropriately. Even if I just get half-way decent service, I'll probably pitch in a few bucks if I have it on me. But I certainly don't feel obligated to do so.

You can say what you want to about that chick, but she paid her bill. To be chased down in the parking lot by the waiter for not tipping is beyond ridiculous. If that happened to me, I would be absolutely furious.

I once had a bartender go off on me, and refuse to serve me further because I didn't tip him.... As if it's that hard to add 1oz of rum to 5oz of coke, for which I'm already being charged $8?!? It's called unskilled labor for a reason. And I say this as somebody who worked in the food service industry for far too long.

Mr. Pink's comments in Reservoir Dogs pretty much sum up my thoughts on the matter.

The reason the bartender is mad is because he just paid to serve you a drink. And what does the price of the drink have to do with him?

Tipping is common courtesy, and there is no debating that. Just as some people do not feel obligated to hold the door open for others, some people do not feel obligated to tip.

xecila

I make marginally more than that (after just getting a raise), and I pay for an apartment/car/electric/food/everything you said, PLUS an out-of-work boyfriend all by myself. And I work in an office. Go figure.

Yeah, it's funny how $1 isn't worth $1 everywhere.

i remember in economics at school, they taught us about the "big mac index" and PPP

Oh, I'm not saying I live well by any means... lol