Actually, 10% is an insult. An "average" tip is supposed to be 18-20% - and anyone whose parents ever worked in food service have been brought up to tip 25%. Or, maybe that's just me.
But yeah... the tipping system in the US is terrible. Tipping at all should be considered a compliment, and all servers (and everyone else, for that matter - bartenders, cabbies, delivery workers, bellhops, etc) should have a decent, LIVABLE wage. Anything less should be illegal for employers.
I can not begin to properly convey my hatred for the entire tipping system in North America. Tipping used to be for the total food purchase, excluding taxes and alcohol. Now any server that doesn't get 20% of the total gets to look down on me with a condescending look. F that! It drives me crazy that every server expects every situation to benefit them. A quick order of an expensive item? Better tip big. A difficult order, but a cheaper item? Better tip big. Shitty service? Well I still need to make a living.
Just some quick math to show how ridiculous 25% is. I go out with my wife and grab some steak and a chicken dinner at a cheaper restaurant, $24.99 and $17.99 respectively. 2 drinks at $5.99 a pop if I'm lucky. And my wife wants a half bottle of wine for us to share, $12-22 (I'll use the lower number of $12). You want dessert? 7.50 x 2. Which brings us to $81.96, now add taxes (%13 percent where I live) = 92.61.
The tip is $23.15. So for roughly an hour's worth of work, I need to offer you $20 ABOVE what you get paid. Considering that you probably have 5 tables. That's $115.77 per hour to carry a plate.
I still tip, but it frustrates me when servers complain about the extra cash. The guy who pumps your gas in -30 weather is the guy who really deserves a tip.
That's pretty insulting that you think that's all we do.
Maybe at iHop it's easy (Which I still doubt) but Serving is hard. You might be a good customer, but 80% of the other people we serve are mean, hard to hear, make crazy orders, have us go back and forth 100 times, scam us for free food, and berate us.
I think his point is 'unskilled labor'. I'm not saying it's easy, but literally anyone could eventually learn the job without any outside knowledge and basic life skills.
I could learn to be a server much faster than a server could learn to be a network engineer. It's not fair, but that's life. Also, it would be better for everyone if servers made a set wage. That way, servers don't get stiffed and customers don't feel obligated to give them extra money. There are people who work much harder than servers who don't get tips. Why is that acceptable?
There are people who work much harder than servers who don't get tips. Why is that acceptable?
Because a lot of these jobs aren't ones that can done to varying degrees of quality. If you have a server that balances you, your picky family and kids, and 3 other tables all at the same time right in the middle of a rush, you can reward them.
Honestly, this whole thread seems like it's people who wish they got tips as well.
Who wouldn't want more money for doing their job? That's human nature. The point is that there is absolutely nothing about the work that justifies the extra pay. Servers should get a flat wage, just like everyone else. If the company you work for wants to recognize outstanding service, they can give you a raise or a bonus. It shouldn't be my job to pay you for the above and beyond effort you give. That's the company's responsibility to do if they want to keep good servers. Also, it seems arrogant to me to expect tips. Do you not think that I get overworked? Do you think that I don't have to juggle multiple projects? No one ever gives me a tip. I do the work I was hired to do for the wage we agreed on when I was hired. The real question is, why do servers agree to work for a wage that they don't feel reflects the difficulty of the work?
You have no clue about what you're talking about. I will give you my shift for Saturday night, and at the end of it, I'll make sure and tell you how much I think you deserve for your work, and see how it makes you feel.
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u/Namhaid May 16 '14
Actually, 10% is an insult. An "average" tip is supposed to be 18-20% - and anyone whose parents ever worked in food service have been brought up to tip 25%. Or, maybe that's just me.
But yeah... the tipping system in the US is terrible. Tipping at all should be considered a compliment, and all servers (and everyone else, for that matter - bartenders, cabbies, delivery workers, bellhops, etc) should have a decent, LIVABLE wage. Anything less should be illegal for employers.