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This blog contains my thoughts and opinions on many subjects. You'll read about children, working, family, life in general, home care, marriage, divorce, the weather, my likes and dislikes about products, etc. Trust me, I have an opinion about everything!

These are MY opinions and no one else's. You don't have to agree. You don't have to continue reading if you don't like what you see. But keep in mind, there's a little bit of me in all of you!

So - on with Fits -n- Giggles...........

Copyright 2007 - Stacy Ahrendsen - All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Tipping at Restaurants

Hey There,

For those of you that don't know, I work 2 jobs. By day I am a senior technical writer at a manufacturing firm. By night I am a server at a swanky supper club.

At my day job, I am basically in an office by myself doing extremely boring work. Not much to talk about there.

At my night job, I come in contact with some fascinating people. While I am serving their cocktails and dinner, I have overhead some strange conversations, witnessed some very strange activity and on occasion been subjected to some people that really should never be let out alone!

Last Saturday one of my fellow servers was blessed with one of those people.

She had presented the final bill to one of her tables and the man complained about the price of the 2 drinks he ordered. The server explained that he had ordered a top shelf whiskey and that we charge extra for the best.

He wasn't satisfied with that explanation. He said he knew how much we paid for that bottle of booze, he had just bought a bottle in the grocery store last week and it didn't cost THAT much to make a drink.

Anyway - he was mad when they finally paid the bill and left, exclaiming to all within ear shot that he "was never going to come back - we were ripping him off and he was going to tell all his friends not to come to this place EVER"!

Ya know, ....okay.....you get the occasional complaint....you expect that whenever you work in the service industry. There are times when no amount of pleasing will do.

But the final insult was when he handed the server his half-full glass of top shelf whiskey and the money for his bill and said this -

"Fine! I'm paying my bill. Oh, and you can finish my drink! Consider that your tip!"

- FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS - FITS -

If you can't tell by now, this is one of those things that really gives me the FITS!!!!!!!

Since when is the server in a restaurant responsible for the pricing of the food and drink sold?

This girl was basically told by this customer that because she works in a place that charges too much for their liquor, he was not going to tip her for the serving job she completed.

AAAArrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!!!

So I will follow by making a few points here:

  • Your server does not control the pricing of anything in the restaurant. So therefore, ask to see the manager if you have a problem with pricing!
  • DO NOT ask your server to give you anything for free. She does not own the place and cannot give permission for anything like that.
  • Your server does not control the taste of the food that comes out of the kitchen. The only thing she controls is that your order is correct and delivered in a timely manner.
  • Your server is working for LESS than minimum wage because she earns tips. Not leaving a tip is actually taking away part of her paycheck.
  • Your server pays taxes on the tips that you leave. In most cases those taxes are actually taken out of her hourly wage before she even gets her paycheck. When you get paid $4 per hour at 20 hours per week that means your paycheck will be $80 gross. Take out the usual taxes and on top of that take out taxes on the tips earned that week. It has been my personal experience that most paychecks amount to $10 if you're lucky.
  • Your server does not get to keep all of the tip that you leave, but she still has to pay taxes on the entire tip. So when you leave a 15% tip, up to 3% of that tip must be given to other employees such as the hostess, the bus people and the bartenders.
  • Basically what I am trying to say is DON'T punish the server for something beyond her control.

People who do not tip or who leave substandard tips when eating at a sit down restaurant should stay home and eat. The standard tip in the MidWest is 15%.

The only time a server's tip should be penalized is when you actually receive substandard service.

So.......how do you tip? Are you a cheapskate? Do you find any excuse to scam your server out of her tip? Or are you a good tipper? Do you always leave above average if your service is good?

Let me know - I'd be interested in hearing.