BellaOnline Forums Education Math Calculating a Tip

And, I tip 20% or more as a rule. Bad service annoys me and I will tip accordingly, too, but I'm happy to tip well when someone does do their job well and helps me to have a nice, enjoyable meal.

I can cook very well, and I don't just go out to eat for the food. I really want to be waited on--I want my tea and water glasses to stay full. I want to ask questions about the food and get good answers. I want someone to talk me into splurging on the special or trying something new. I want someone who knows when I show them a well-done steak that "medium rare" it ain't. I'm happy to pay for that, and I consider it a cost of dining out.

Right I definitely would NEVER survive as a waitress. I would forget orders, write things down incorrectly, drop things on peoples' heads and get really bored with all the napkin folding and other tasks. I understand completely how this is a job I would fail at. I am quite happy to reward someone for doing it well and making my special night out a "wonderful experience" instead of a frustrating one.

Once I went out to dinner with an older gentleman who left such a tiny little tip I was embarrased and ashamed. I didn't have my wallet with me or I would have slipped some money under my plate, so I went back to the restaurant the next day and apologized to the waitress and gave her the tip she deserved.
And I never went out with him again!

Several of my DDs were waitresses early in their careers and I often heard about their troubles with patrons. One DD worked at an upscale place and got so tired of being pawed by men, even right in front of their wives, that she quit one night and moved over to a natural foods cafe in the same town. The tips were smaller but the clientele was much better behaved.
However, she got stiffed by the owner and I had to threaten a lawsuit before she got the money that was coming to her.

Wait staff deserve every penny we can give them!

"Unskilled labor? Hardly"

How long was the apprenticeship you served to become a journeyman? How long after that did you become a waiter able to collect full pay?

Or do you go to school to learn to be a waiter?

The above questions are really unnecessary. The only one that we need answer is whether or not untrained persons may be hired as servers. The answer to that is of course yes. Many high school girls and boys take jobs as waiters. That makes it unskilled labor.

Any hours spent setting up the restaurant before I arrive or indeed on days I do not enter - what does that have to do with me?

"Again, the taxes are on the waiter who rings the orders up."

Would you explain this statement?

Certainly. The waiter rings up orders or guest checks. At the end of the shift, the waiter declares tips so that he or she can pay taxes on their tips. The total food and beverage revenue they rang up, or sold, during the shift, along with the tips they claim is recorded and reported. And, failure to accurately record this info subjects a waiter to "allocated" tips--meaning the IRS will demand that more is withheld.

So, when someone stiffs or undertips, it actually costs the server to wait on them. Takes money out of his or her pocket.

There is, in most places, a formal training program and yes, new waiters do work with a journeyman before they are allowed to wait tables on their own.

What happens when you are not there doesn't concern you? Well, if you don't mind eating in filthy restaurants with dirty, unsanitized dishes and nothing prepared in advance (I mean, no ice frozen, no garnishes prepared, no steaks cut, no sauces made and so on), by all means, tip poorly.

Save your cash for the resulting ER bills--where you will find many other unskilled laborers assisting in your care and in the cleaning of said hospital. But don't worry, you don't have to tip there. It's all inclusive.

Me too!

I tip well for good service because, as several people have stated, food servers aren't paid very much per hour and it's a hard job. I couldn't do it....the moment someone got testy with me they'd end up with their plate dumped in their lap. A lot of people tend to treat those in the "service" industry poorly - I was at Dave & Buster's not too long ago and there was a table with a mom and 6 or 8 teen-aged girls. Their food server was very attentive, their food arrived in a timely matter - and yet they stiffed her on a tip. And they trashed the table.

Leaving a few extra dollars on the table isn't going to make any difference to me but if it makes someone else feel more appreciated for working hard then it's well worth it.

Plus I like to be nice to people who could spit in my food if the urge strikes...

They might hire high school kids at the local McDonalds, but in fine restaurants the waiters and waitresses often have decades of experience as well as specialized training at wine schools and more.