I know how hard servers work. I know how long they have to stay once the doors close. I understand the aching feet and grumbling stomaches after a shift ends. I remember the shift drink that tasted better than any other drink in the world. I recall, with vivid clarity, the bitchy customers of whom you could never please, and the chaos of drunk assholes wanting to split the bill 10 ways.
Those men and women who serve you deserve every extra dollar you give... as a matter of fact, they deserve a lot, lot more. Anyone who thinks a server has it easy, has never been a server. It's hard, sometime humiliating and often times takes everything from you when the night is over.
To be a good server requires a lot of skills beyond simply taking and delivering orders. If you think that's the extent of a server's job, then go F yourself. If you think leaving 5 bucks on a 50 dollar tab is enough, then let me slap you in the face.
In most states, a server's wage is at or way below minimum wage. Why it is legal to pay servers below minimum wage is beyond me. I couldn't care less if the argument is that servers receive tips for which makes up the difference. F-you. No industry should be legally allowed to pay below minimum wage. Period. End of story. I move on...
As a server, I had 10+ tables going at once in a bar that could have easily been shut down by the Fire Marshall for over capacity on a nightly basis. No matter how good you are, no matter how many years of experience you may have, you will inevitably miss and forget about people. Think serving 50+ by yourself all screaming at you for shots, beers, mixed drinks and food. One will be missed... or two or three, and for the record, it's never entirely our fault either.
Servers have to work with the bartenders who, surprise-surprise, have a full bar themselves- sometime 5 deep. They have to work with the kitchen staff, who usually have more tickets than they know what to do with.... but the servers are always the ones to blame and the ones who bare the brunt of an angry (and usually drunk) patron of whom received the wrong drink or waited too long for their meal.
Nonetheless, I didn't complain when I received a shitty tip from someone who was given shitty service. I knew I gave them shitty service and I deserved it. Yet, it was the ones I didn't miss who left me 10 dollars on a Benjamin sized tab that made me fume...
1. Tipping is a gift- don't expect it.
2. I don't believe in tipping.
3. You already get paid from the restaurant, why do I have to give you more?
4. I only tip on the food and not the drinks or tax.
5. I ran out of money... sorry.
Listen up cheap fucks- don't be that person. Don't be the person who justifies excuses to do the wrong thing.
Let me shine some much needed light on this ever-so-touchy subject (pay attention- you might learn something):
Here is what you are tipping for:
1. To have someone bring you drinks and food while you sit on your ass and enjoy yourself. (We want you to enjoy yourself... believe it or not, servers really do love their job).
2. To have someone clean up after you and your friends or (our favorite) your kids. Leaving a huge mess of ground-up crackers on the floor, spilled drinks, 4000 napkins and disgusting drinks with little tiny bits of floating food in them- tip my friends, and tip well.
3. When you leave a tip, it's never entirely ours. Let me repeat that. When you leave a tip, it's never entirely ours. At the end of the night, we have to tip out our bartenders, kitchen staff, bus boys/girls, security etc. and WE have to claim all of it on our taxes, even though we don't pocket every dollar.
4. Most servers are college students or young people still trying to find their way. Living in a shitty apartment, driving a shitty car and trying to make ends meet. Support those people. Support the young trying to become something. Support the people who have jobs and are not mooching off the government or their parents or anyone else for that matter. Support the single mothers or fathers. Support them for not being thugs, drug dealers, robbers or any other scumbag asshole.
Here is what you forgive:
Servers have bad days like the rest of us. However, most people have the advantage to isolate themselves in their little cubicle to deal with it. Not those who serve you. We have to put on a happy face and put up with your shit.
I say this because you never know what a person is going through. My mom passed suddenly and after I took a week off of work, I had to go back. I cried in the back room at least twice a shift.... for a month.
If your server isn't as, "happy" as you want them to be- cut them some fucking slack. They may be going through some serious shit and you being an asshole isn't helping. I don't care about excuses... be nice. I don't care about, "leave your problems at home"... be nice.
Here is what you don't forgive (but still tip 10%):
1. We have all see the server who sits in the corner talking/texting on her/his phone while your drink is empty or you have been waiting to order- Don't forgive that.
2. The bitchy one who argues with you constantly (think Naomi from Waiting)- Don't forgive that.
3. Really, really shitty service. This includes but is not limited to (FYI- 2 or more of these things need to happen in order to even be considered shitty service):
- Never being checked on after food is dropped.
- Being completely forgotten about.
- Waiting forever to order and not having the server come by to tell you she/he will be right with you while apologizing for the wait.
- Not being offered a refill on your drink/sitting with an empty drink for extended periods of time.
- Pops attitude when you send food back because it's terrible. Personally, I only send food back when it's literally inedible... and don't you pop attitude either.
- When you request something more than once. Need another straw? Fine... but if she/he forgets because they are busy. Ask again. If the second time still does not produce what you need then there's a problem. Good servers will drop what they are doing if it's requested a second time and get what you require.
Moral of the story: If you plan to eat out, plan to tip. Don't make excuses, remember who these people are and for fuck sake be nice.
Please feel free to comment on this article. I want to hear your stories as a server, if you have a different opinion than I or if you would like to add your 2 cents about tipping.
No comments:
Post a Comment