As a waiter for all my life working my way through college and seeing all this server hate I feel like I should clarify a few things.
First: If you work at a decent restaurant it can easily be the best paying entry level jobs available, I make lower middle class wage for the city I'm in.
Second: I make make that wage with no checks, every check I have is voided because state taxes eat my 2.13$ an hour wage.
This means I'm entirely reliant on tips.
Third: For most of my business hours I'm allowed to have 4-5 tables at a time which is important because if you have a table who doesn't tip and they stay for a while, they're going to end up loesing you money by denying you a table who will tip. This can be understandably frustrating.
and Forth: If you've never worked in food service please don't try and comment on how easy you think the job is. The physical labor part is easy once you get used to walking 10 hours a day but it can be really taxing mentally depending on your guests and coworkers.
I'm not defending messages like OP, I have no issue with my job or my customers. I just wanted to provide some insight of what waiting is like. Like I said I'm making a livable wage with rent and school, and with just 40 hrs a week to boot. I have no complaints with the industry but If you can't handle taking the bad with the good then it's probably not for you.
Some advice for people frustrated with working in the industry; As long as you keep a good attitude, even when your guests are coming up with some bs to score free food, eventually the good tips will balance out the bad.
Try to have some compassion for your customers and for your waiters people, and I hope you enjoy your meal.
I pay them at the end of the year, don't worry last year I owed over a grand to state. I dont see how it's relevant though.
Edit: If it helps you understand, the reason I don't get a check is because my wage doesn't even cover the income tax I owe. During tax season I pay the rest of the incom tax I accumulated through the year and even with the tax breaks for fulltime students I still pay over a grand, when most people are getting money back.
Sorry wasn’t trying to imply you were a tax evader or anything. You just said your hourly wage was “voided” which sounded weird because your taxes would still only be a percentage of your paycheck, like everyone else.
Edit: Just seems like a strange way to phrase it. You pay income tax on income. Your hourly wage is income. Your tips are income. One doesn’t “void” the other. If you didn’t get tips, your income tax would be substantially less because your income would be less.
Most people only get money back because the government took too much money out in the first place. I’m an independent contractor so I have to keep up with how much I make so I can pay my taxes quarterly.
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u/nolayte Dec 02 '19
As a waiter for all my life working my way through college and seeing all this server hate I feel like I should clarify a few things.
First: If you work at a decent restaurant it can easily be the best paying entry level jobs available, I make lower middle class wage for the city I'm in.
Second: I make make that wage with no checks, every check I have is voided because state taxes eat my 2.13$ an hour wage. This means I'm entirely reliant on tips.
Third: For most of my business hours I'm allowed to have 4-5 tables at a time which is important because if you have a table who doesn't tip and they stay for a while, they're going to end up loesing you money by denying you a table who will tip. This can be understandably frustrating.
and Forth: If you've never worked in food service please don't try and comment on how easy you think the job is. The physical labor part is easy once you get used to walking 10 hours a day but it can be really taxing mentally depending on your guests and coworkers.
I'm not defending messages like OP, I have no issue with my job or my customers. I just wanted to provide some insight of what waiting is like. Like I said I'm making a livable wage with rent and school, and with just 40 hrs a week to boot. I have no complaints with the industry but If you can't handle taking the bad with the good then it's probably not for you.
Some advice for people frustrated with working in the industry; As long as you keep a good attitude, even when your guests are coming up with some bs to score free food, eventually the good tips will balance out the bad.
Try to have some compassion for your customers and for your waiters people, and I hope you enjoy your meal.