As far as I can tell, this is a fairly new category here at Ol’ Epinions. I’ve read several opinions thus far on the matter, and I’m heartened to know that it is generally agreed that servers who do what they are supposed to do should indeed get tipped. Any variance on the subject appears to be on HOW MUCH and/or FOR WHAT.

Last summer I waited tables on the weekends at a local coffee shop to earn extra money. One day, after running (yes, running, without spilling or dropping) for eight hours in an ugly dress and panty hose, I had a telephone conversation with one of my sisters-in-law. After letting it slip that I brought home about $130.00, said sister-in-law surprised me. “MAN,” said she, “I’m never going to tip another waitress again!”

Hmmm.

And Hmmm again.

Before I get into the HOW MUCH and WHAT FOR, let me tell you whence this opinion comes. I’ve waited tables off and on since I was a teenager. Sometimes it was my only means of income, sometimes it was just a supplement, but every time it was something I needed to do. I’ve waited tables in all restaurant arenas from coffee shops to steak houses, from country clubs to country folk. I’ve managed in 3 and owned 1 of the 10 restaurants I’ve worked in. I’ve met all different types of people with all different types of expectations and all different types of attachments to their money, and I’ve served them all, most of them with a smile on my face. I’ve been a server, I’ve trained servers, and I’ve hired and fired servers. I have what’s known as “STREET CRED”, so sit back and let me tell you what it’s all about, because, folks, I know what I’m talking about.

THE HISTORY OF TIPPING – IT’S NOT JUST A CITY IN CHINA
The word “TIP” used to be an acronym – “TIPS”, short for To Insure Prompt Service. Patrons, upon being greeted by their server, would give them money, and the server would grant them the service they thought appropriate based on what was given. Through the ages of capitalism and free enterprise, this has changed. It is no longer the trip charge for just showing up, it is now the labor charge for services rendered. The risk of getting “stiffed” is no longer the patron’s, but the server’s. In short, it’s no longer “YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR”, but “YOU PAY WHAT YOU GET FOR”.

THE SERVER’S INVESTMENT
The national minimum wage is, if I’m up on the subject, $5.35 per hour. In many states servers make this as well as their tips. In many states, though, the servers make $2.13 per hour. When the minimum wage was $4.25 per hour, I thought that the servers’ wage was half of minimum wage. As the servers’ wage has not risen in at least eight years, I know that this is not the case. Servers in these states MUST CLAIM that they have made at least the national minimum wage at the end of their shift whether they have or not. Granted, if they have not made enough to fulfill that requirement at the end of their shift, they are probably at least in the wrong restaurant, if not the wrong business entirely. My point is, the feds are going to tax the server for minimum wage earned regardless. On top of that, the server MUST CLAIM 8% of their total sales as income earned. The restaurant reports this, even if the server doesn’t and the feds will tax the server, regardless.

Then there is the “tip out”. The server tips those that have made the server’s job a little easier – e.i., the busser, bartenders, expediters, and maitre de or host. The amount tipped out could be based on what these people actually did, or it could be based on sales percentage. It’s entirely typical to tip a bartender 15% of assumed tips, a busser 10% of assumed tips, and the expediter and host 5% each of assumed tips. This, in most cases, is mandatory – get this – regardless of services rendered.

SO WHAT ARE YOU PAYING FOR?
Well, you’re paying the labor charge at the bottom of the invoice. If you hire a plumber to do what you are unwilling or unable to do for yourself, you get charged a labor fee. If the services were not rendered, you call the company supervisor and tell him/her that you aren’t satisfied and why, and you work out an alternate solution – maybe somebody else comes out, maybe you get the job done over at no charge, maybe you educate the plumber about what he/she evidently doesn’t know, and give the person the opportunity to fix it. It depends entirely on what went wrong. But if the job was done right and you don’t pay the bill, you are stealing. Simply.

Sure, you the patron, have expectations. You should. You should expect the following from your server:
1. A prompt greeting in which the server tells you his/her name.
2. Drinks served and appetizer orders placed immediately.
3. Time to order and a server in tune enough to know when what that means.
4. An order taken and served correctly.
6. Food brought to you the way you ordered it.
6. Additional needs served immediately.

But here’s the thing. In most restaurants, you are not the only table the server has to serve. On any given night a server is a responsible for the needs of 5 or 6 or MORE tables at one time. That means that when you are not ready to give your order, the server is called to a table that has indicated that it is ready to order. This is the table that lied. They aren’t ready, but they want you to stand at their table for the next ten minutes anyway. Meanwhile, the server can feel your eyes boring into them from behind, because just as the server has had their feet nailed to the floor by the NOT ready table, you have decided what you want and you are ready for your prompt service.

A server’s job is difficult at best. The perception is that servers are servers because they are qualified for nothing else. The truth is, waiting tables is like playing timed chess while juggling and running a marathon while acting like you are having the time of you life. In addition to what the patron wants, the server must be attentive to what the management of the establishment demands. This means that even if the patron doesn’t want to feel rushed by the fact that you are picking up plates from the table when not all present are finished eating, the policy of the manager is to let no empty plate sit on a table. By the way, in most cases, temperature and music volume are also not within the servers’ control.

Waiting tables is not something that just anybody can do. Let’s face it. You’re only faced with whether or not or how much to pay a server because, for whatever reason, you didn’t feel like doing this stuff yourself. You wanted to sit down and have somebody else do it for you. So ask yourself – Were my needs met promptly, courteously, and completely? So tip, and tip appropriately.


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