[RubberMallet]

OK, now you guys are out of control. You're tipping them because you feel sorry for them from what I'm reading. mrmacphisto obviously just downright views them as charity cases. And I should tip them as much as possible because the evil restaurant overlord is forcing them to work there. I agree with everybody, the pay sucks. So why would you work there?

Because for some...that's about all they can do. Maybe it's the only job flexible enough for their life....maybe it's their second job & they are just trying to make ends meet.

I don't feel sorry for them because they wait tables, that's their job....I feel sorry for them when people are ignorant or apathetic enough to not leave them a decent tip.

my old roommate did it because he made bank...many don't do it because its some crappy job where they just need money...

my good friend stopped managing a restaurant and took a waiter job at another restaurant....he made close to 70,000 dollars last year working 30 hours a week....

[ToTheLeft]

30%

Especially at B-Dubs, they have to wait on me for hours, holding up one of their tables. They earned it.

I have been known to tip as much as 50% depending on the bill.

[thepostman]

wow this has turned into bragging about who is a better tipper....

[ToTheLeft]

wow this has turned into bragging about who is a better tipper....

well that's not why I posted mine.

I think service people should be rewarded for being enslaved to us for so long, and deserve a good tip.

[RubberMallet]

wow this has turned into bragging about who is a better tipper....

i pay all my tips in rolls of nickles...

[jmdickens]

OK, now you guys are out of control. You're tipping them because you feel sorry for them from what I'm reading. mrmacphisto obviously just downright views them as charity cases. And I should tip them as much as possible because the evil restaurant overlord is forcing them to work there. I agree with everybody, the pay sucks. So why would you work there?

Because for some...that's about all they can do. Maybe it's the only job flexible enough for their life....maybe it's their second job & they are just trying to make ends meet.

I don't feel sorry for them because they wait tables, that's their job....I feel sorry for them when people are ignorant or apathetic enough to not leave them a decent tip.

my old roommate did it because he made bank...many don't do it because its some crappy job where they just need money...

my good friend stopped managing a restaurant and took a waiter job at another restaurant....he made close to 70,000 dollars last year working 30 hours a week....

We know he isn't working in Lynchburg then..

[thepostman]

wow this has turned into bragging about who is a better tipper....

i pay all my tips in rolls of nickles...

well, i do mine in rolls of penny's!! beat that!!!

[ToTheLeft]

canadian pennies.

[Sly Fox]

Its easy to be generous in a thread online ... much tougher when you are trying to figure out how you pay for lunch the next day if you tip 20%.

[thepostman]

Its easy to be generous in a thread online ... much tougher when you are trying to figure out how you pay for lunch the next day if you tip 20%.

agreed....

[RubberMallet]

Because for some...that's about all they can do. Maybe it's the only job flexible enough for their life....maybe it's their second job & they are just trying to make ends meet.

I don't feel sorry for them because they wait tables, that's their job....I feel sorry for them when people are ignorant or apathetic enough to not leave them a decent tip.

my old roommate did it because he made bank...many don't do it because its some crappy job where they just need money...

my good friend stopped managing a restaurant and took a waiter job at another restaurant....he made close to 70,000 dollars last year working 30 hours a week....

We know he isn't working in Lynchburg then..

my roommate in lynchburg actually pulled down quite a bit per week too.....not quite 70 grand but part time he did pretty well...

[ALUmnus]

If you work in a busy place and really push the booze, you can make a ton in Lynchburg.

[RubberMallet]

story time....the last time me and my wife went out to dinner....it was a local italian restaurant....


the waiter comes and asks if we'd like to have something to drink....my wife always gets water but as soon as she's about to say it, i interupt and say "we'll both have water"...i can see the look on the waitress's face oh no i can expect a crappy tip...she brings us back our water and asks if we'd like an appetizer, i say "no thanks, just keep the bread coming"....i can see it in her eyes...at first she was like, ok maybe they just like water, this could still be alright...but after the keep the bread coming comment she knew that it was for real...

so then she asks if we were ready to order... i tell her we are going to split the chicken parmesean (cheapest on the menu) and that we'd like it separated out onto 2 plates....seriously she was staring at my fork, i think she was either going stab me or herself with it....at that point i couldn't hold it anymroe....i said, "oooh ok, i was joking, i'll have the porterhouse medium rare, i'll have a cesar salad, and then whatever my wife wants....oh and bring me a coke i'm dying over here)....we had a good laugh and she was an awesome waitress the rest of the time...

[TDDance234]

story time....the last time me and my wife went out to dinner....it was a local italian restaurant....


the waiter comes and asks if we'd like to have something to drink....my wife always gets water but as soon as she's about to say it, i interupt and say "we'll both have water"...i can see the look on the waitress's face oh no i can expect a crappy tip...she brings us back our water and asks if we'd like an appetizer, i say "no thanks, just keep the bread coming"....i can see it in her eyes...at first she was like, ok maybe they just like water, this could still be alright...but after the keep the bread coming comment she knew that it was for real...

so then she asks if we were ready to order... i tell her we are going to split the chicken parmesean (cheapest on the menu) and that we'd like it separated out onto 2 plates....seriously she was staring at my fork, i think she was either going stab me or herself with it....at that point i couldn't hold it anymroe....i said, "oooh ok, i was joking, i'll have the porterhouse medium rare, i'll have a cesar salad, and then whatever my wife wants....oh and bring me a coke i'm dying over here)....we had a good laugh and she was an awesome waitress the rest of the time...

Very nice.

[mrmacphisto]

That's hilarious, Mallet. Well played.

[FlameDad]

Outstanding

[JDUB]

i don't see what the big deal is. the waiter system works fine.

1. they aren't enslaved. they can quit any time, and they knew what they were signing up for

2. every waiter i know makes great money, in lynchburg, and hasn't found another job that pays more than waiting does.

3. if a waiter does there job, they have no reason to be on a message board wining about how bad it is b/c they'll get decent tips

[thepostman]

i don't see what the big deal is. the waiter system works fine.

1. they aren't enslaved. they can quit any time, and they knew what they were signing up for

2. every waiter i know makes great money, in lynchburg, and hasn't found another job that pays more than waiting does.

3. if a waiter does there job, they have no reason to be on a message board wining about how bad it is b/c they'll get decent tips

*ding*ding*ding*

we have a winner....

this is exactly right!

[mrmacphisto]

i don't see what the big deal is. the waiter system works fine.

1. they aren't enslaved. they can quit any time, and they knew what they were signing up for

2. every waiter i know makes great money, in lynchburg, and hasn't found another job that pays more than waiting does.

3. if a waiter does there job, they have no reason to be on a message board wining about how bad it is b/c they'll get decent tips

*ding*ding*ding*

we have a winner....

this is exactly right!

Except for the fact that even the best servers still have to put up with crap from customers who work them like a dog and leave a 75-cent tip.

[thepostman]

i don't see what the big deal is. the waiter system works fine.

1. they aren't enslaved. they can quit any time, and they knew what they were signing up for

2. every waiter i know makes great money, in lynchburg, and hasn't found another job that pays more than waiting does.

3. if a waiter does there job, they have no reason to be on a message board wining about how bad it is b/c they'll get decent tips

*ding*ding*ding*

we have a winner....

this is exactly right!

Except for the fact that even the best servers still have to put up with crap from customers who work them like a dog and leave a 75-cent tip.

i know that happens...but if you are professional and get through those bad one and continuing to treat people well, the good ones will out weigh the bad ones and you will do pretty well for yourself...my sister waited on tables for over 4 years and that is what she always told me...she said if you let the bad customers ruin your night then it will truly ruin your night because it will reflect your service to other customers....

[belcherboy]

My uncle is on staff at a fairly large (and wealthy) church in southern Florida. He was telling me how the staff is now REQUIRED to leave a minimum tip of 20% at restaurants now. I guess some of the staff was being stingy on tipping in local restaurants, and was giving the church a bad reputation with those in the food industry. The head pastor found out about it and became upset enough with some on his staff that he created the rule. IIRC I think my uncle told me that this pastor preached a sermon on it and tied it in with several biblical principles.

[Ed Dantes]

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the tip system was designed to benefit the customer. It's a service-oriented job. It doesn't pay well so that there's incentive to give the customer good service. If they just paid everyone $8 an hour the service would be something akin to what you'd expect at a fast food joint. The same would be true if everyone always tipped 20% no matter what the service was like. There'd be no incentive to provide good customer service.

Do people go into the job not knowing that?

That's a very good point. I'll still tip poor service but I'll tip even higher for good service so there is still an incentive.

No, if there is poor service, you tip $6.66.

[RubberMallet]

we once had a server who you could tell was having a rough day....it just wasn't good service....it wasn't like bad service just because she didn't care, you could tell she was having a bad day...

my dad tipped her with a 20 dollar bill. with a note, "looks like you are having a bad day, hope this helps make it a little better" we went back in a few weeks later and she approached him and told him thanks and that she did indeed have a bad day and that because of it she wasn't gettin gvery good tips as hard as she tried...but that that brightened it up...

[SuperJon]

I try to do the same thing, although not with the $20. If it's obvious that a waiter/waitress is trying and it's just not her day, I'll give a little extra to try and make them feel better. It's fairly easy to tell when things are going on affecting their service as opposed to them being a terrible server. We all have bad days. They're just in a situation where their bad days effect their pay.

[Ed Dantes]

Hillary Clinton on tipping:

But once they (a waitress and Hillary Clinton) got talking, she was honest with Clinton about her need to work two to three jobs.

"I've been doing it all my life. Why should it change now that I'm old?" Esterday said.

Esterday does not think Clinton got it. "I don't think she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday said, adding, "I mean, nobody got left a tip that day."

Clinton may have decided not to tip. She was also never given a bill — her meal was on the house. Still, Esterday said Clinton might have left her something: "Maybe they don't carry money, I don't know."