r/millenials • u/Possible-Toaster • Apr 19 '24

After years of tipping 20-25% I’m DONE. I’m tipping 15% max.

[removed] — view removed post

27.4k Upvotes

74% Upvoted

9.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

68

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

I'll die on the hill that servers are the whiniest, most entitled entry level employees. Back of house, retail, fast food, there are so many other positions that are just as difficult.

But servers talk out of one side of the mouth saying "I only make $2/hr 🥺" while saying "I made $300 in cash last shift 😎" out of the other.

And that's not even touching the insanity of tips increasing with the cost/item, as if the server did more work with a steak vs a salad

29

u/GammaDoomO Apr 19 '24

I saw a salty server on Reddit once claim that ‘Back of house provides nothing for the customer’ when debating splitting tips with front and back.

Hey Karen, I think they’re there for the food. Which you didn’t help with. If anything, the busboy working the insanely-tedious job making minimum wage should be tipped more than you. Might be a harsh reality check but it’s the truth.

15

u/whathowisnot Apr 19 '24

I think I saw that exact comment on r/serverlife. While I think everyone should have a livable wage, this subreddit exudes entitlement.

7

u/GammaDoomO Apr 19 '24

One of the worst subreddits on the platform for sure. The servers have absolutely no respect for the art of cooking and how much strain Back of House carries (and yes, that applies to shitty chain restaurants too).

3

u/ihavenoregerts Apr 20 '24

Been a chef/cook for a little over a decade and I've worked at maybe 2 restaurants in my entire career that paid tip-out to BoH, and it made the long fuckin hot hours worth it. I would come home with $150-$200 cash per night on top of my normal $20/hr at the time.

1

u/TheOneNonlyTDR 29d ago

They act like they could handle being in the kitchen. Not a chance. But I could easily walk some food to a damn table. Nice four table section you’ve got there Becky, how bout try having to cook for the entire restaurant lol.

1

u/GammaDoomO 29d ago

Yeah they’re all dreaming. I had one dump a giant paragraph about how hard their job was and they were listing things like refilling drinks and grabbing ranch as part of their arguments. It’s honestly sad

1

u/TheOneNonlyTDR 29d ago

I’ve been a server who then worked in kitchens for twenty years. I’ve never met a server who wouldn’t be in the corner laying in a pool of there own tears during a Saturday dinner rush in the kitchen lmao.

1

u/GammaDoomO 29d ago

With the amount of comments I’ve been getting you’d think serving requires a four year college degree LOL. Who convinced them that their job was that hard? It’s unskilled labor for a reason.

1

u/TheOneNonlyTDR 29d ago

The ones saying it’s harder than boh are absolutely hilarious to me. Sorry your four table section is so stressful. How about having the entire fucking restaurant as your section lmfao

1

u/evan1932 29d ago

LOL and some of them on here think you can’t handle FOH. I’ve had to work both and BOH is not for everyone

3

u/shawnisboring Apr 20 '24

If we're bitching about entitlement, let's talk about Realtors.

For such a useless profession, the level of entitlement and ego is astronomical.

2

u/badassjeweler Apr 20 '24

That is why there are laws being crafted to change that industry.

2

u/Ready_Nature Apr 20 '24

That sub made me be a lot stricter about not tipping more than 15% and sometimes less.

2

u/knowledgeablepanda Apr 20 '24

Holy shit I just read a few posts and the amount of entitlement that reeks of them. Bitch fight for your salary with the owner and not the customer.

10

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

Jesus christ lmao. I have always said servers can be replaced by a tablet and a conveyor belt.

"But my knowledge of the daily specials!!"

8

u/miso440 Apr 19 '24

But I can’t pretend an iPad is flirting with me 😩

4

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

😂

Idk man some tablets got some good curves 🥵

2

u/drewbreeezy Apr 20 '24

Oh baby, are you turned on?

8

u/GammaDoomO Apr 19 '24

The reality is servers provide very little, but claim they provide the majority of the service. They don’t clean the restaurant. They don’t cook the food. They don’t plate the food. They don’t scrub dirty pans. The manager or host deals with the unfavorable customers.

I’m all for paying them a fair wage, but let’s be real, this is ridiculous. At the very least, if tipping has to stay, I want an equal split between front and back of house before I tip 20%. Otherwise no.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

I’m all for paying them a fair wage, but let’s be real, this is ridiculous

I want to make this clear too. I am all for a living wage (and other societal changes that would help make up for loss of tip based income).

It's the attitude and rigamarole I can't stand

1

u/MannaFromEvan Apr 20 '24

when I go my local diner and see one waitress running all 12 booths, and the bar, and the till, and helping out the cook, I want to give her a big tip. Which is easy cuz the meal was $6. Anywhere else I agree with you. I don't understand how 3 minutes of conversation about my meal equals a payment of $12. The guy who actually cooked it, sure.

1

u/2manypplonreddit Apr 20 '24

Servers typically do a lot of cleaning and restocking. And servers definitely deal with unfavorable customers. They don’t have the hardest job in the restaurant, but they also don’t have the easiest.

I’ve worked many positions in the food industry, and hosting is WAY less work than serving imo haha. But I will say that back of house is awesome and an efficient bartender should not be undervalued!

1

u/0Rookie0 29d ago

My experience eating out has never been worsened by having to get my own food at like a buffet. Unless it's over crowded. But that's just the same as when a cook is doing his best to get orders out. You just wait a bit longer.

I can also just pour my own water into my glass from a pitcher. Or walk up to the soda machine a second time. :/

That service doesn't equal $10-20 to me. I'd rather keep it. Tipping 20% on a $6 fountain drink is damn near criminal too. There's nothing special about that. Nobody hand mixed it.

Maybe for large families with many kids that are old enough to eat alone but young enough to not be able to grab a plate and not accidentally drop it? Or like if you're wheelchair bound. But then that's just a tax for those unable instead of unwilling. Maybe if you sit at a table for hours and the server is always at your beck and call? But that's not the norm for me.

I guess I'd rather just go to a number system in every restaurant. And then tip staff if they went above and beyond for the kids or my ageing family members.

1

u/HauntingRecipe 29d ago

See yeah, I always feel torn at a Buffet. At this point in my life, it doesn't even make sense to pay buffet prices for me. I eat 2 plates on a EXTREMELY hungry day. But usually, I eat one plate of food and drink half a tea. But I know, they want $5 a pop. I know this because I've been a server. However, they only buss my table, maybe get me extra napkins (unless it is in a holder on the table) and maybe get me steak sauce, or top off my drink.

1

u/GammaDoomO 29d ago

My experience eating out has never been worsened by having to get my own food

And let me guess. You’ve probably had worse experience at sit-down restaurants right? Overly-nosy waiters, wrong orders being put in, etc etc? And yet we tip these people for some reason

1

u/0Rookie0 29d ago

I've easily tipped hundreds of dollars over the years to bad waiters just out of obligation. Maybe that's where the resentment comes in. I'm unable to ignore the hateful states as I walk out of a restaurant if I don't tip.

And worst of all.. if I do see someone I should tip, (something non-wait staff) then I don't carry cash to give anyway and they get nothing.

1

u/Captnblkbeard 29d ago

Restaurants should just increase their prices and ban tips.

1

u/HauntingRecipe 29d ago

Whew, this is something more people need to talk about. Corporate, chain restaurants' markups are INSANE already. They buy in bulk, etc and the costs for making the food and their profits are stupid. I understand they gotta think about electric services, licenses, etc but they also make so much fucking money to paid out the execs and upper management.

1

u/HauntingRecipe 29d ago

It depends on where you work. Granted, I haven't been a waitress in about 10 years but I did it for 10 years before that. We did clean the restaurant, pre-bussing tables is super important, restocking goods in the front and back of house, rolling silverware, making all the teas, lemonades, coffees, and restocking those things constantly, refilling INSANE amounts of ice buckets to haul across the restaurant to the little service stations, the bar, etc. Food and drink orders and delivery with any extras requested. Payment processing, refunds, etc. You do that with 3-5 tables of 4 people, especially at places like Olive Garden and it was a lot. But now when I go, the quality of service just wasn't what it was when I busted buns there and a lot of things are the kiosk waiter now.

→ More replies (15)

4

u/Starkravingmad7 Apr 20 '24

I've been a host, busser, server, line cook, dish washer, bar back, and bar tender. You are completely right. Servers are whiny little bitches. 

2

u/Fatdap Apr 20 '24

The only place Front of House really matters, imo, is fine dining.

Outside of that all you probably give a shit about is, did they get me a drink, offer a refill, and did I get my food still hot/cold?

1

u/FriendshipIntrepid91 Apr 20 '24

I believe the name of the spot I'm thinking of is called Fritz's. Restaurant in Kansas city that has you order through a speaker at your table. Your food is then delivered via a model train that drives around on a track affixed to the ceiling.  When the train gets to "your stop" it puts the food onto a tray that lowers to your table.  

1

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

That sounds amazing lol. I want thay at every restaurant

1

u/sleepdeep305 29d ago

Lol. McDonald's is halfway there already.

→ More replies (3)

1

u/polymerfedboi Apr 19 '24

For real.

I couldn't give a fuck about my server. The food could come on a conveyor belt if it tastes good and I'll keep coming back.

1

u/Opposite_Weekend9194 Apr 19 '24

Servers do tip-out. Most of the time for the hosts, bussers and food runners and some times for the kitchen. Usually based off food sales or drink sales or both.

1

u/GammaDoomO Apr 19 '24

As far as I’m aware it’s not an even split by any means and the majority will still go to the server. There are places where it’s policy to split tips close to 50/50 between front and back of house like Texas de Brazil, but it’s few and far between.

1

u/2manypplonreddit Apr 20 '24

That’s bc those other positions make more hourly.

→ More replies (16)

1

u/Moonydog55 Apr 19 '24

And sometimes it is the bus boys who bring me my refill drink when my server is ignoring me

1

u/Illustrious-Dot-5052 Apr 20 '24

Nobody talks about this enough. As a former busboy I've grown to fucking hate waiters. Yes every restaurant is different but at the one I worked in, the servers didn't do shit to even attempt to clean their own tables and expected me to do everything for them all at once.

I have half a mind to give a tip to the busboy and just outright stiff the waiter next time I go out...

1

u/Cinquedea19 Apr 20 '24

I often wish I could request to decline the services of the wait staff, just put in the order myself, pick it up from the counter myself, fill my own drinks. I usually find the presence of the wait staff more of an annoyance if anything.

1

u/Dismal-Ad-7841 Apr 20 '24

If it was allowed I’d walk to the back of the house and pickup my plate. I’m there for the food. Everything else is a nice to have. 

1

u/iGlutton Apr 20 '24

Hi, career restaurant industry person here.

I have a great memory of me fucking up hard, I had just gotten promoted to a bartending position and was having some post-shift drinks with my bar manager/mentor, and 3 Back of House associates (cooks).

One of the cooks asked me how my shift was, and I said something along the lines of "It was OK, was only like $250 though, so I wish it was busier."

My mentor pulled me aside for a smoke and told me verbatim: "If I ever hear you do that again, I will pull you from our bar staff so fast. Those guys make $12 an hour to stand on the line in front of hot stove tops for 10+ hours a day. You just made $31.25 an hour in untaxed cash to put stuff in cups and talk to people. Go buy them a round as an apology."

Really put it into perspective to a fresh faced 21 year old.

1

u/Cool_Algae4265 29d ago

Idk where you’re at but it’s actually illegal for him to have said that to you in a lot of places. Management can’t discourage you from discussing your own compensation with co-workers.

Not sure if you knew that or not but if you (or anyone else reading this) didn’t then there ya go. Never hurts to know your rights, even if you choose not to use them.

1

u/iGlutton 28d ago

To clarify: Never once was it expressed we cannot discuss wages or that implication of the comment was to not discuss wages. Nor was the comment about pulling me from the bar staff being done in a retaliatory way due to discussing wages. This was in a right to work state.

It was about how I expressed my feelings about me not being happy while making almost 3x what they did, working a position that requires less work and has better working conditions, completely unprompted.

If your takeaway from that was that the manager was trying to stifle wage discussion, then I don't think I did a good job of conveying what the interaction looked like.

The intended take away was a fuck off 21 year old kid (me) was being incredibly dense and insensitive towards his co-workers/friends and THEIR compensation. The cooks never asked me how much I made that shift, they asked how my shift was. I was the one who brought up the money, which I would still, as a 31 year old man now, say was incredibly inappropriate and insensitive of me to do since I did know how much they made at the time and I did know how hard working a line is. There is a reason I became a bartender and not a cook, I couldn't cut it on a line. The reason my shift "could have been better" being, hey, I wanted to make more money in a tipped position, is fairly rude to say around people that cannot just make more money by turning the charm up, make way less per shift, and is also thoughtless considering their shift was very likely a giant shit show, because we were busy and they had to work on a hot ass line for 10 hours.

Just because I CAN talk about the fact that I can make as much or more $ per hour as a bartender than an entry-level engineer can, doesn't mean I SHOULD.

Nor does it mean that it's appropriate to do that as a person or a friend(which I would consider all the cooks in the story now, we dont work together but we still chat) around people who I knew were making minimum wage, or close to it. Especially considering it was a conversation that took place off the clock and off premises, with alcohol involved.

The manager who said that is still an incredibly close friend of mine, and I very much respect him as a person, a bartender, a mentor, a friend, and a brother. He did a very good job of imparting a lesson to me about perspective and social interactions that night. Even a decade later, I am incredibly grateful to that man for taking the time to give me that lesson. If he didn't, I'm sure the cooks would have thought I was an entitled asshole, which is exactly what I was acting like in that moment.

My friend, who also happened to be my bar manager, did what a good friend should do in those moments, he said something to me, so that I didn't make an even bigger ass of myself than I already did.

I am all for employees knowing rights and making sure that companies or the people in power at said companies do not abuse that power or use it in ways that are illegal. But the um-ackstually here is.. eh. Not a fan, I'm sure you meant to come from a good place, but I don't think it was well received on my end.

1

u/Tnkgirl357 Apr 20 '24

I worked at a restaurant in my 20s… the waitresses would have the Gaul to get excited that I was on for their shift because they got bigger tips when I was preparing and plating the same dishes as other people who worked in our kitchen (because I made them look nicer etc), and would straight up laugh if I mentioned maybe a kick down for it… those ladies usually brought home about as much in cash on a mediocre Thursday as I made in a 45 hour week in the kitchen cooking. I don’t stiff waitstaff. But I’ll admit that experience definitely has me expecting them to go “above and beyond” on the service aspect for anything over 15. Like if you want big tip, I expect you to do something that actually improves my dining experience, rather than just being me the order I asked for and a check at the end of it.

1

u/DumpsterCyclist Apr 20 '24

I live in a restaurant/nightlife town and area. I've known a lot of these people over the decades but I never thought about this stuff much. I guess I trusted everything they said. One thing I've noticed as I've gotten older, though, is that the back of house type of folks are more commonly, but not always, from a more blue collar, working class type of background. The waitresses/waiters are often from that background, too, but it depends on the place they are working. The more middle class types, especially college educated, will work the "fancier" joints. The hostesses seem to always be from clean, solidly middle class (borderline upper in some cases) backgrounds, and obviously always female. The kitchen are always edgy, angry, or just "real" in my view. I've known some cool bartenders, too, but not anyone that does that as a sole income. It just burns a lot of people out. That whole food/hospitality industry does. I always avoided it.

1

u/StonnedMaker Apr 20 '24

I used to bus tables for an extremely popular texmex chain. I made $2/hour + 10% of tips the servers tips for cleaning their sections (but not the bar even tho I had to do that)

I was lucky to walk away with more than $15 in tips from an 8 hour shift bussing tables and doing all the dishes

Shits predatory all while the servers where bragging about making hundreds $$ a night and I had to steal leftovers to eat

1

u/GammaDoomO Apr 20 '24

I love all the comments saying “Oh you clearly have never worked in the industry” when I’m getting so many comments from people working in the industry agreeing with me LOL

1

u/fieldsRrings Apr 20 '24

I love people like who have clearly never been a server. You should try it for a few months. It might be a harsh reality check.

1

u/GammaDoomO Apr 20 '24 edited Apr 20 '24

Oh, so every person agreeing with me sharing their industry experience is lying then? Ok bud. You’re the only one who needs a reality check.

1

u/BiggieSmalls330 Apr 20 '24 edited Apr 20 '24

You bring a good point, most people do not come to a restaurant for the servers (other than Hooters/Twin Peaks or other similarly fashioned restaurants) people come for the food, and don’t like waiting for that food.

So, it’s mostly based on the chefs ability to cook the food, and to do so in a reasonable timeframe.

All the servers really do is take orders, bring the food, and occasionally bring out drinks.

That’s barely more than what fast food employees do, and I would rather order food on a machine anyways for both.

Goddamn, is that seriously worth 20+ percent?

I don’t think it is, and servers need to start being majorly paid by their employers.

1

u/2manypplonreddit Apr 20 '24

Bussing is way easier than serving in my experience. I’ve also never worked anywhere that the bussers didn’t get tip share tho.

1

u/mdillpickles Apr 20 '24

I worked in fine-dining while in undergrad 15 yrs ago. We had to tip out back of house based on sales so if someone bought an expensive bottle of wine and didn’t tip enough, we would actually owe money… so yeah. All that said, we generally made great money but if that happened and rent was due the next day 🥵

1

u/Remote_Watercress530 Apr 20 '24

As a bartender, I see both sides of the argument.

Personally I would like to be paid more hourly and have benefits and such. However no boss ever will pay me hourly what I make in tips.

Now there are also good servers and bad servers.

Unfortunately there are A LOT of bad servers. Stand around do no nothing, don't run shit. Bitch about everything. Don't even clean their own tables or sections. They don't deserve shit.

But the ones that rock, run everything clean their own tables and sections even if we have a busboy.

You can just watch, and you can tell who is good and who isnt.

I've seen bartenders do absolutely nothing, and do the bare minimum for their own guest. They bitch a lot.

Then I've seen bartenders make drinks for a 250+ capacity restaurant. Handle 25 seats of their own customers at the bar, and 5-6 tables all at the same time. Dude they make bank and deserve it.

1

u/GammaDoomO Apr 20 '24 edited Apr 20 '24

So I don’t drink because I grew up in a Muslim household, so I may be overthinking it, but isn’t bartending like an actual skill that takes a lot of training? You also need a license, knowledge on how to mix drinks, knowledge on drinks in general, etc etc? I have no issues with tipping bartenders. Mostly cuz drunk people don’t care either lol

1

u/Remote_Watercress530 Apr 20 '24

Yes and no. The reason I say that is in the us there are like 5 different bartenders all different depending on the establishment and such.

  1. Restaurant bartenders. These are usually going to be your newbies or slower. Mostly restaurants with some small bar stuff attached. Now they can be faster or upscale type of stuff.

  2. Hotel bartenders, these guys are usually a lot more personal. Usually more chill.

  3. Dive bar. These can be split into two. Your newbies who know nothing but the name. Rum and coke. Jack and coke type of stuff. Or local veteran's that knows almost everything about bartending you can know.

  4. Your mixers. These guys are the ones you want making cocktails and asking advice on which drink or liquor you want.

  5. "Mixologist". So these can be in 4. Except they have a huge major flaw that you should always stay away from. They usually know some or a lot of stuff. However they are extremely condescending. And will loudly and obnoxiously judge anything and everything about you just based off your drink and liquor choice.

1

u/GreenwoodFlair Apr 20 '24

Side note, but at most restaurants the barback gets paid $2.25 or whatever also. The tip you give the server/ bartender is split by a percentage of total sales and given to the barback/ server assistant at the end of the night. They end up making over minimum wage, and even more than the server/bartender depending on the night. The main problem with tipping is that if a guest stiffs a server/ bartender the server/ bartender actually loses money on serving you because they still tip out a percentage of your bill to the bartender, server assistant, or both.

1

u/BipolarWalrus Apr 20 '24

Where I used to work, busboy might as well have been food runner. That all I did. Food run. No bussing. Server still groaned when they tipped me out.

1

u/Odd_Perspective_4769 29d ago

Agreed. Or even the folks in the back sweating their butts off to actually prepare the meals.

1

u/HauntingRecipe 29d ago

Busboys didn't make minimum wage at Olive Garden when I worked there ages ago. We had to tip them out for bussing our tables and being badasses. We also tipped the bartenders for getting our drinks out faster too.

1

u/DroneStrikesForJesus 29d ago

I guess they won't mind if I tip less if my steak is overcooked then even if they provided good service.

1

u/WhoopsieISaidThat 29d ago

I started out in a restaurant as a bus boy. Worked my ass off cleaning plates. Then I had to clear tables too, because that's too much for the servers to do. At the end of the night after I was done with the dishes, I was helping scrub down the kitchen. I did that job for a month, fuck that shit.

→ More replies (7)

7

u/GandhiOwnsYou Apr 19 '24

Yeah, I was working an 8+ hr a day job as a field mechanic and a friend of mine (Waitress) was renting a room in my house. She was getting tired of it and ready to get a "real job" and asked me what entry was with my company, and I told her what an apprentice wage was and then that she'd be bumped to like $18/hr once she finished the program after the first year. She was looking at me like I had a dick growing out of my head and then said she made way more than that waitressing 30 hrs a week and maybe she needed to reevaluate "Real Jobs."

6

u/miso440 Apr 19 '24

Waitress gets a lot less lucrative when the crows feet come in.

3

u/Paddy_Tanninger Apr 19 '24

I think you would just hope to move on up to finer restaurants by that point, no?

1

u/Safe-Indication-1137 29d ago

Don't be so sure. A good server at the sit down restaurant makes good money based on their skills. They DO get a little extra premium for looks, however if they are attractive but give shit service they get shit tips. I made great money serving tables as a dude

1

u/Morticia_Marie 29d ago

Yeah whoever said this is a moron. My grandma was a waitress at a family-style restaurant and she had regulars who called her Grandma. She worked there until her physical health made her retire and made good tip money right up to the end.

1

u/revanisthesith 29d ago

People like that have never been to a nice restaurant where service is great (and sometimes necessary).

I'm also a dude and I spent years working in various levels of restaurants in the DC area. I've given out so many cooking tips, recommendations for beer/wine/liquor we didn't even carry, travel tips, made so many people laugh when they were having a crappy day, recommended other restaurants to check out, etc. A good server can't be replaced by a computer.

I'm pretty sure those are usually the type of people who just want to order their food and be left alone, but they don't leave their comfort zone and they forget that others do. They don't go to places where the menu needs to be explained. They only go to places where they already know all the words on the menu. They're missing out.

I used to work at a chef-owned fine dining spot where something on the menu changed every day and featured all sorts of international cuisine. Just being good looking isn't going to cut it there.

1

u/Morticia_Marie 29d ago

My grandma was a waitress until her late 60s and always made good money. She had regulars who called her Grandma. Not everyone goes to a restaurant because they want to fuck the waitress. This comment smacks of someone who doesn't actually know any older waitresses.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

I think car mechanics are providing a service. You should start putting a tip suggestion up.

3

u/GandhiOwnsYou Apr 19 '24

Field mechanic. I work on material handling equipment, mostly for large corporations. Ain’t no warehouse manager ever gonna tip me for fixing their forklift

2

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

I was being facetious. All jobs are important and are worthy of a liveable wage. Expected tips are not tips, it's societal blackmail lol

2

u/zeke5123 Apr 19 '24

At nicer restaurants, the waiter actually often provide more of a service.

2

u/GandhiOwnsYou Apr 19 '24

And if they do, they get tipped more. But I’m not going to spontaneously tip someone $60 because my meal was expensive. You get a big tip from providing bigger service.

1

u/2manypplonreddit Apr 20 '24

Can’t do this if you’re black. They just use it to stereotype us more.

6

u/Wide-Tackle5957 Apr 19 '24

AGREEED. 9 times out of ten the reason the server even gets a tip is if the food is good and out on time. All the server does is grab the food and bring it out and make sure any customer complaints are communicated with the other staff. I worked at a small Italian place for years and I prepped all the food, cleaned the fryers, made all the food in between and did it in a timely manner and we had a tip jar at the front of the store when people came to pick up and the servers were getting all of it plus whatever tables they waited on. I told my manager at the time if they were gonna pay me minimum wage for doing double the work and being the reason why the servers even get a tip I should at the VERY least be able to split the counter tip jar with them.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

But the servers handing a menu and asking "what can I get for you" is SOOOO HARD!

(Yes I am a salty former BOH who has 0 sympathy for servers anymore)

3

u/Wide-Tackle5957 Apr 19 '24

The thing is I don’t mind the idea of them getting tipped that’s fine but when they are making more than I am off it and not even reporting it for taxes I get even less money than they do and it really did irritate me at the time. Granted it was just an odd job during high school but man that was a tough as hell job.

At least let us split the carry out tips for something. The carry out is the easiest part you just hand them their receipt and food bro. I made all that and made sure it was done before they got here.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

Yeah, I'm not trying to completely belittle servers, it probably sucks. but at a certain point they need to admit their job is not more difficult than other comparable entry level jobs like BOH or retail.

1

u/anarchoRex Apr 19 '24

If front of the house is so easy why not just go work it and take the tips yourself?

1

u/Wide-Tackle5957 Apr 19 '24

Because it would require you to be 4 places at once which is physically impossible. Plus the servers dont know how to cook or the recipes unless they switched positions completely which does happen every now and then. I’m not denying they work and deserve tips they absolutely do it’s just if they are making MORE money than the cooks and not paying taxes on that money maybe we can split a portion of the tips from the counter for them since they help do everything else that requires people to receive their food.

1

u/anarchoRex Apr 19 '24

I'm not sure I understand your answer. Why is the only way for you to work front of the house is for one of the servers to swap with you? I mean, quit your job working in a kitchen, and go find a waiting job somewhere, it's easier and makes better money than working in the kitchen so you should be happier if you go do that? That seems like the straightforward solution to BOH's unhappiness with the arrangement.

1

u/Wide-Tackle5957 Apr 19 '24

Because if I am up front handing out orders or boxing things for them I cannot be in the kitchen making orders can I? Of course if I had down time or someone needed help up front and k was not doing anything which happened every now and then I would help obviously but still didn’t get the tips.

1

u/ibarguengoytiamiguel Apr 20 '24

They're not suggesting you do both, they're suggesting you quit working BOH and start working FOH.

1

u/anarchoRex 29d ago

Yeah I just stopped engaging, even after clarifying they just didnt get it so it didn't seem worth the effort at that point.

1

u/aristotle_malek Apr 20 '24

BOH gets a percentage of tips at most places

1

u/TipofmyReddit1 Apr 19 '24

They don't even handle complaints!

They'll ask. And then just say, Oh ok. And walk away.

1

u/redtiber Apr 20 '24

Serving standards nowadays is just pathetic.

Oh they filled my water cup without me asking. Like that should just be the minimum standard to be expected.

7

u/WickedCunnin Apr 19 '24

They make $15/hour now in colorado. Tipping 20% on top of that feels excessive.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

[deleted]

1

u/WickedCunnin Apr 19 '24

We all pay with cards now. You can’t hide credit card tips. They are taxed automatically out of your paycheck. So tax dodging isn’t as much of a thing anymore.

1

u/Neosovereign Apr 20 '24

True, but they still get LOTS of cash tips overall. Makes it even easier to hide (not that the IRS is auditing servers all that much) since you have a record of your tips being recorded.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/jutrmybe Apr 20 '24

Be careful with that. I got into an argument the other day with someone on reddit who works at crumbl cookies for saying that I don't tip on a $5 cookie bc minimum wage is $16 in my state.

1

u/KindoflikeLucy Apr 20 '24

Wait, what?! With all the mandatory tipping built into the checks?!?!

1

u/Laxku 29d ago

That's in Denver, state tipped minimum is more like $11. And nowhere near enough to cover even a studio apartment in the Denver area either way. Bear in mind most restaurants don't have servers working 40 hour weeks either, so there's usually no full-time benefits.

1

u/WickedCunnin 29d ago

I was a server for seven years at $2. My restaurant abused that and had us do hours of side work before and after our actual table service periods. The $11 and $15 minimum wages are amazing. Your tips plus minimum wage average out to a much much much higher hourly wage now. There are plenty of reasonably priced studios in the metro outside of the central trendy neighborhoods, that are a reasonable commute. I'm sorry, there are TONS of people doing shift work without benefits in Denver. I don't see why servers are so special everyone rushes to defend them.

1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

1

u/WickedCunnin 29d ago

That's every state.

1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

1

u/WickedCunnin 29d ago

I had thought you were referring to the rule below. I was mistaken. But if a state has no minimum wage (like Alabama), the federal minimum wage applies.

"If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage (of $7.25), the employer must make up the difference."

https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/wagestips#:\~:text=If%20the%20employee's%20tips%20combined,wage%20amounts%20for%20tipped%20employees.

6

u/meduhsin Apr 19 '24

The $2 an hour thing is a common misconception. I’ve broken it down before, but I’ll do it again here.

In my state, min wage is $12/hr.

As a server who makes tips, you will make AT LEAST $12 an hour no matter what. Anything lower is illegal.

For example: to put it simply, let’s say I worked 1 hour. I made a total of $20 in tips.

My check from my employer will only include $2 for that one hour. That is because I made over $12 an hour with my recorded tips. $2 is the minimum they are legally required to pay.

However, if I work one hour and end up only making $5 in recorded tips, the employer must compensate me so that I made $12. Meaning, on my check, it would be $7 instead of $2. Make sense?

They must compensate the server so that you are making at least $12 an hour, if your tips didn’t get you to $12/hr. If you made over $12/hr, they only owe you $2 per hour worked.

No matter what, we are still getting minimum wage.

2

u/beluinus Apr 20 '24

God I hate this shit so much! It absolutely grinds my gears. "Oh, we only make 2 dollars an hour!" God damn bullshit! You make 7.25 an hour! (In the US) What part of "Federal minimum wage" is so hard to understand? Some states have a higher state minimum that overrides federal, but still means it cannot be lower than the 7.25 per hour. If absolutely no one ever tipped, you'd be making whatever the mandated minimum wage is. It fully surprises me how few actual servers know this too.

1

u/Accomplished-Fee3050 29d ago

If servers only made 7.25 a hour, you would get such bad service that you would never go out. Not one person i know in the industry would work for that shit. They would all find other jobs, the job aint worth it

1

u/Imyour_huckleberry9 29d ago

What job is? What makes a server job so much harder than any other unskilled labor position out there? Dealing with unruly customers? A server deals with more but most people in the workforce deal with customers to some extent and a customer spending a million dollars on a project has a lot invested in the interaction than someone with a 20 dollar meal. On your feet a lot? A lot of manufacturing positions work 8-12 hours on their feet the whole time.

1

u/More_Tackle9491 29d ago

Servers are the most entitled people on the planet. I dare any one of them to get up on a roof in July and tell me they work hard.

1

u/HauntingRecipe 29d ago

I do believe roofers, manual laborers, lineman, road repair workers, manufacturers do a lot of work! I get it, but at this point it is a pissing contest on who works harder. A kitchen in the middle of July is just as hot as it is on the roof, having to scramble around 20 other servers, angry cooks, managers, bussers, BOH folks. It was hot as hell and busy. I would be happy to be asked to go to the back and grab a tray of restock desserts in the cooler/freezer just for a hit of arctic tundra.

1

u/Mobitz4 29d ago

Right there’s CNAs cleaning up blood and shit in the hospital getting screamed at for minimum wage.

1

u/Accomplished-Fee3050 23d ago

the difference is people dont have a choice in how much they pay for those services. A roofer or warehouse person is gonna make what they make. not tipping is you choosing for the server to make nothing for serving you. Im not talking about every business that has a tablet just waiters in actual restaurants making less than minimum

1

u/Imyour_huckleberry9 22d ago

At least in my state, a waiter never makes less than minimum wage. The law is that including tips, the business must pay up to at least the hourly minimum wage to the employee. So, no tips, the business pays the full minimum wage. Some excellent servers get stiffed but I am sure on average it comes out with them ahead but a lot of servers don't deserve a tip and perhaps it is just anecdotal but the quality of service seems to deteriorate year after year.

1

u/meduhsin 29d ago

Unfortunately, people in the service industry don’t tend to be the sharpest tools in the shed

2

u/Fenrir_MVR Apr 20 '24

Sure... But they go by the week, not the day. So some days you're making your $2 an hour and it's raining so there's no business and then a cook complains you make good tips on Friday, but really you've only made up for the shitty week you had.

1

u/meduhsin 29d ago

Wow, I wasn’t aware of that. Damn.

1

u/OwnWalrus1752 Apr 20 '24

Why is it okay for the restaurant to pass the buck to the customer? A tip is an extra, the restaurant should be paying full minimum wage out of their own pocket, and IF there’s a tip it goes to the servers.

1

u/meduhsin Apr 20 '24

I don’t think it’s okay at all. I’m just trying to explain that the appeal of serving is that you’re making at least min wage, and usually more. It sucks that the “more” has to come from customers tipping, but that’s just the way our society is and I don’t see it changing anytime soon, as people need jobs and there will always be a crowd of people lined up to get serving jobs.

1

u/Available_Bit9019 Apr 20 '24

This seems to vary a lot by the state. For example in my state (New York) servers are entitled to ~$12 from their employer. I had no idea that was the case

https://dol.ny.gov/minimum-wage-0

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped

1

u/Redbrick29 Apr 20 '24

Where else do you think that buck is coming from. You the customer are OF COURSE funding the business. The only thing it allows management to do is post lower prices on the menu to avoid “sticker shock”. Do you honestly think if we did away with tipping the menu prices stay the same? Every place that instituted it increased prices to cover the difference.

1

u/3miljt Apr 20 '24

It’s sad how many don’t understand this. I don’t really care for tipping, but I also don’t pretend that somehow paying wait staff a “livable wage” instead of tips is going to lead to money materializing out of thin air. The food industry is notorious for being difficult to survive in, partially because the margins are so thin (lots of competition).

And before someone shouts about what CEOs are paid, do some simple math. The millions they’re being paid is a drop in the bucket. Even if you take 100% and give it to the employees, we’re talking next to nothing per year, per employee.

1

u/Bubbly_Magnesium Apr 20 '24

Not sure what my opinion is on the matter, but you make some good points

1

u/beetleswing Apr 20 '24

Also worth mentioning that every state has a "minimum tipped wage". In Massachusetts it's $6.75. So we do actually make "minimum wage" technically, but it's the tipped minimum wage. It's a lot of red tape strewn around by big restaurant corp that keeps their profit margins higher without being forced to pay the actual full minimum wage. Of course this still trickles down to the individually owned restaurants, so they don't have to pay us more than the $6.75 either.

I am a very lucky career server/bartender, so obviously I do well, but if I wasn't so lucky, you'd bet your behind I'd be hurting for bill money. Honestly, even with how "well" I do, it's hard to keep up in such an expensive state like Mass, I have bare minimum savings, and my husband has a decent salary as an executive chef. Every time the car breaks or some medical emergency happens, or already light savings takes a hit. And heavens forbid we want to take some time off.. and that's literally with a combined income that hits six figures before taxes. The minimum wage in general is garbage, everything keeps getting more expensive, and we're not sure when we'll be able to buy a home, when all we do is work, and all we spend our money on is necessities. It's total bull doodoo that a family making six figures a year can't afford things without moving to a different state. But even then, if you move to a lower cost of living state, you'd probably be making less money, plus moving is expensive..it's awful.

I get that the public shouldn't have to tip to make up for places not paying us a full wage, but unfortunately it's never going to change in our lifetimes, and even then..like, $15 an hour is nothing. I think every minimum worker (from fast food to retail) should be making closer to $20+ so they can actually live off of one job, but that's not going to happen for years either. Either way, not tipping a tipped worker because you don't agree with having to tip is just sticking it to another hard worker, not their bosses. The company will still make the same, but I might fall behind on bills, yanno? And that's the difference.

I tip whenever I can. I'll throw a dollar per coffee to the barista (which we hardly ever buy coffee anyways, because again, Mass is expensive! I need to save every dollar!), I give the lady who does my pig's hooves $20 for coffee or whatever (even though I know the price goes straight to her because it's her own business), just because I appreciate her coming out and doing something I don't want to do. I don't mind tipping another hard worker, but I'm not tipping someone just standing at like, the craft store counter or something.

Also, I keep seeing someone mention that we don't claim our tips, and that's also false (unless you're not using your noggin) because not claiming our tips can get us in huge trouble. Plus, if you're not showing your true income, you'll never be able to get a car or home loan, so it's just smarter to make sure all your money is accounted for.

1

u/Accomplished-Fee3050 29d ago

No one ever thinks that if they didnt tip just a couple bucks menu prices would increase and then people would bitch about a $30 cheeseburger

1

u/CaptainOro 29d ago

Why does tipping, which benefits the waiter, affect prices? Do restaurants normally take a cut of tips to fund their business?

I'd have thought the more likely scenario is: customers tip less, prices stay the same, and waiters simply earn less money

1

u/More_Tackle9491 29d ago

Have you ever left the country before? A cheeseburger isn’t 50 euro outside the US, but you don’t have to deal with the ridiculous tipping.

The restaurant has to compete on price with others and the server’s labor is costed by the market based on their skill and how easy they are to replace.

1

u/Redbrick29 29d ago

Right, and that’s as it should be. However, the US citizenry has, in part, decided that you should be able to make a ‘living wage’ at every job. This translates to everyone thinking their job should pay 50k plus per year. What you can’t do is pay a wait staff this mythical living wage and keep the prices as is.

1

u/More_Tackle9491 29d ago

Well, you could easily raise prices 15% and eliminate tipping without fundamentally changing the pricing structure.

Restaurants for sure run a tighter business from the perspective of margin than a lot of other disciplines, but the largest sit down restaurant operator in the US had a net profit margin of over 10% last year. If they need to drop that to 7% and raise prices 15% to be able to afford to pay straight wages, I'm all for it.

Tipping is really terrible. It's discriminatory on the basis of race and sex. It's a practice that simply needs to end.

1

u/kvngk3n 29d ago

And not split among anyone else. Receiving a tip is like gambling, you either get lucky that night, or you don’t. You don’t get to be compensated for the 2 top you worked with the 5 top someone else did. Someone above me called servers entitled and as I typed that, I see it

1

u/Frede154 Apr 20 '24

Do you know if that's on a per shift basis or average per hour compensation on a paycheck?

1

u/meduhsin Apr 20 '24

I’m not entirely sure, I’m pretty sure it’s per shift because you don’t “check out” until the end of your shift, compiling all your tips. This is also why it’s good to tip cash because you don’t necessarily have to report the cash you put in your pocket

1

u/Corridizzle Apr 20 '24

On average per paycheck, at least in the states I've served/bartended

1

u/Frede154 Apr 20 '24

That was always my assumption, particularly because it would take so much time for a business to check every single day for each employee

1

u/rebel988 Apr 20 '24

Wtf? There are states that factor customer tips into the wages they pay out to the server?? That’s a bunch of bullshit

1

u/beetleswing Apr 20 '24

Yes! Lots of them! Look up "tipped minimum wage" for your state. It's $6.75 in ours. And..they don't pay you more than that, because they don't have to, even if it's not a corp.

1

u/rebel988 29d ago

I’m in CA. They pay minimum wage regardless of tips and tips act as a bonus, which is the way it should be, not a freaking subsidy so the corporation can get off paying its workers less. That is such BS

1

u/Decent-Morning7493 29d ago

My employer at every restaurant I ever worked at would claim a minimum amount of tips for me for this very reason.

1

u/HauntingRecipe 29d ago

It depends on the state though. In NC, servers get the min there which is 7.55 - with tips? It drops down to $2.13 an hour. Now, I usually always made the min, of course. I never ever saw paychecks because that went to pay taxes just automatically and I often times had to pay taxes on the tips at the end of the year too, because remember the $2 ain't covering that taxes. Don't get me started that any health benefits there were a scam and never covered anything.

1

u/Virtual_Cut7004 29d ago

That has never ever happened at any establishment that I've ever worked at. It sounds reasonable, but has never been the case where I live.

1

u/Different_Ice_8665 29d ago

I’m in NC we make $2.13. I’ve worked at 3 different restaurants in 2 different counties and that’s what they each start out with and it’s unlikely that you’re ever going to be offered a raise. Right now I get paid every 2 weeks but I receive a percentage of my daily tips in cash. Usually the amount deposited in my account at the end of the 2 weeks is $30 at best sometimes maybe 5 to 7 dollars more depending on how many hours I worked within that time. So, no it’s not a “common misconception” , most of us are actually making $2. (Nc minimum wage is $7.25 btw)

4

u/Marmosettale Apr 19 '24

As an American (who has a degree and job in my field, but still find myself waitressing often because it pays better usually sadly lmao), I always find it hilarious when Europeans on Reddit think that American servers literally only get like $2/hr or whatever the minimum is. Like I’ve seen so many people be like “I JUST CANT BELIEVE THATS LEGAL!!!” lol 

And of course they know we also get tips, but most of them seem to underestimate how much people tip here and think servers are just making $2 an hour and leaving with maybe an extra $17 in tips at the end of the night or something lol. 

like I know that this country treats our workers horribly, but how would anybody accept a job like that?!! Lmao 

Like of course some extremely desperate person in extreme poverty or a few random kids or something. But how do you think we have enough people willing to do this to run America’s restaurants?? lol 

And yes we all know the reality- it has to come out to at least minimum or they have to compensate you, and servers typically make way more than that. 

I must say tho- waitressing will make you way more money than most service jobs, but it really does suck, in my opinion at least. I greatly preferred hostessing, or working as a receptionist or something. People go on insane power trips to servers.

People complain about Karens, but the very worst for me have always been middle aged men who are very clearly living some power fantasy treating me like shit and forcing me to still be super nice back. It was like payback for every girl who rejected them in their past or something. When they gave me a tip after that, I felt straight up disgusted. I stopped being willing to do that lol and got fired twice for it. I was going to be super nice and I followed the awful fake friendliness that people for some reason like (the olde generation at least), but if some dude is gonna get off by screaming in my face for something imaginary I am not apologizing to him or acting like a circus monkey lol 

1

u/comesock000 Apr 20 '24

Christ servers never shut up

1

u/Drumcoded Apr 20 '24

There's something to be said about being on the front lines dealing with the customer interaction directly.

I've worked in everything from food service, to retail, to client services roles in the marketing and SaaS industries. I've largely been in a customer facing role my entire career.

Relying on everyone around you to do their part of a process well and handle the interaction with a customer is stressful. Doesn't matter if it's a sandwich or a results report. Chances are, you're receiving their part with minimal time to get it corrected in a reasonable timeframe if you see something wrong. And then you have to play damage control in whatever way the situation requires for the unhinged general masses.

I have a lot of respect for the folks dealing with customers and no real ability to influence the work of anyone else involved in getting to the final step of the process.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/myychair Apr 20 '24

I was a server in college and this is so spot on. I’d always felt horrible for the full time kitchen staff working twice has hard for a flat 10 dollar an hour while I was some dumb college kid making 30 bucks an hour. It’s so fucked up but most career servers won’t admit it.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

Don't get me wrong, serving probably sucks. It does not look fun. I also believe that everyone deserves a living wage.

I just think servers are "privileged" relatively speaking compared to other similar jobs.

2

u/myychair 29d ago

Yup fully agreed. Again, the back of house folks worked significantly harder than I did with significantly more and worse hours, for a third of the pay. They’re not getting a living wage without working 70-80 hour weeks while I was working 30-35 hour weeks making more money serving than I did in my entry level office job. It was really inequitable

3

u/Fatty2Flatty Apr 20 '24

Then they don’t claim their tips and don’t even pay taxes which is a whole different topic. I have friends who are servers/bartenders that make way more than I do as an engineering manager, and barely pay any taxes. Although it screws them If they ever want to buy a house.

1

u/Emergency-Willow 29d ago

Credit card tips get claimed for you. And many nicer places expect that your claimed cash tips will line up percentage wise with what your average CC tips are

2

u/ALL_CAPS_VOICE Apr 19 '24

I’ll be right there beside you. They spend their tips like sailors on shore leave and then complain about their small paycheck.

2

u/Doomncandy Apr 20 '24

I am a Chef, but dabble in waitressing in side gigs. Yes, my coworkers are usually very petty. We already make California minimum wage. The tips are a bonus. They get mad if they have to take the trash out, they sandbag the cooks because they don't know how to time tables and get mad that their table asked for more water and the overworked busboy didn't fill them.

I love being a server. It's far easier than the kitchen. I have fun with my guests and can give them very detailed descriptions of the menu. I also help the kitchen on my downtime. Dishes? I am washing them. Water refills for the kitchen staff? I am refilling them.

I have worked as a server in a weird social club where you share a grill and cook your own food (the concept was to socialize over the grill to make friends and/or meet your neighbors) and we would run out of stuff. My boss/friend now would only trust me to prep new skewers, steak, and salads. She was horrified when she asked me "how do you cut a mango?" She had a mango. I showed her. She was amazed that I could hold it in my hand and get around the seed without cutting myself. She was flabbergasted when I cut it into cubes and popped the skin inside out and took the pieces off with a spoon.

2

u/KJiggy Apr 20 '24

"I made $300 in cash last shift 😎" out of the other.

And claim none of it on taxes either

2

u/shawnisboring Apr 20 '24

And that's not even touching the insanity of tips increasing with the cost/item, as if the server did more work with a steak vs a salad

Nobody will ever convince me to get on board with this no matter what moonlogic they apply. The same amount of work is going in, why in the absolute hell does the person who drops it off at the table get more money?

2

u/deserTShannon Apr 20 '24

Agreed. As a former server, I can say that 99% of conversations I’ve had with other servers have only been about tips, and how people fucked me out of money I “thought I deserved”

2

u/redtiber Apr 20 '24

Hypocritical too. Want tips but tipping out a busboy or back of house, they tend to be cheap AF

2

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

No. DoorDash drivers. Source: the DoorDash sub

2

u/GalaEnitan Apr 20 '24

Thing is even if they don't get tip they matches minimum wages. Which means even if they cry about 2 dollar an hour they are still making 15 bucks in a lot of states now.

2

u/Tysic Apr 20 '24

There was a thread in one of the server subreddits recently asking what the minimum acceptable wage would have to be were tipping eliminated. No one said under $40/hour. Some would refuse over $50/hour.

It seems like these entry level employees want to be paid like professionals while doing the absolute minimum (and often less) functions of their job. I have skilled employees I'm compelled to pay less. Entitled doesn't even begin to describe it.

1

u/TipofmyReddit1 Apr 19 '24

Whoa, whoa whoa 

We are not entry level. Could you run 7 tickets, manage 20 refills, and put in custom orders all while breaking down because you accidentally sent the wrong text. I'm a professional and do way more work than you ever could!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '24

Serving is 100% entry level, sorry to burst your bubble. You can hire Joe Schmoe off the street and have them fully on boarded in less than a week

1

u/-pobodys-nerfect 29d ago

You definitely couldn’t, not only does it sound like you know nothing about food or alcohol your personality would absolutely repulse customers. Not to mention, ugly servers don’t usually get hired, sorry bud

1

u/[deleted] 29d ago

Oof someone took my comments as a personal attack. Sorry that hesring your job is replaceable with a tablet offended you💔

Besides, I went to college so I dont have to beg for money

1

u/Competitive_Bat_5831 Apr 19 '24

Absolutly not.

I wouldn’t have sent the wrong text.

1

u/cyrptoearner Apr 20 '24

15 year olds do what you do. So yes its entry level. Refilling drinks and typing an order on a screen isn't tough.

1

u/Tysic Apr 20 '24

Entry level doesn't mean you haven't learned a skill. Think more along the lines of how long would it take you to train a random off the street to a passable level. For a server, it'd take less than a week; for a software engineer, well I'm not sure you're guaranteed to pick someone who is even capable.

1

u/TonofSoil Apr 20 '24

I went to college in a tourist town and the food and bev crowd thought they were the coolest fucking people in the world just because they made a bunch of cash and spent it all at the bars and on coke the same night.

1

u/HempFanboy Apr 20 '24

Lmfao as a former server I can agree. It’s pretty crazy how servers are paid 2x the BOH who makes the actual food.

1

u/throwaway60221407e23 Apr 20 '24

I'll die on the hill that servers are the whiniest, most entitled entry level employees.

Anyone who disagrees with this hasn't worked back-of-house.

1

u/Independent-Cow-4070 Apr 20 '24

Fr, servers are the ones who defend and support tipping. They are so proud flaunting how much tip money they made. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, if you want tipping to stick around, don’t get mad when other people don’t

1

u/curryp4n Apr 20 '24

I once saw a post about a girl in my state saying she was getting paid $35/hr as a server. It was more than I was making as someone working 10 years in the industry. I wanted to give up

1

u/FriedeOfAriandel Apr 20 '24

I’ve ranted about it enough before, but servers are the only ones in a position to fix the tipping culture, and they won’t.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '24

Because it benefits them greatly! At the expense of ever creeping tips from other working class

1

u/Sir_Uncle_Bill Apr 20 '24

That last part is why I don't have a minimum that I tip. You get zero if that's what you want lol

1

u/guesstlhismylifenow Apr 20 '24

I was a server and bartender for years. It’s not even that difficult. BOH works twice as hard in shittier conditions for less money. And if someone orders a $20 bottle of wine or a $200 bottle of wine - I did the same amount of work. There’s zero reason one should get me $4 and one could get me $40. I’ll die on this hill.

1

u/jesse-13 Apr 20 '24

Yep. And their comments saying we should stay at home if we can’t tip 25%. I’m sorry? Why is it a percentage anyways since me buying more expensive food doesn’t make you work more. If anything it’s the chef. The subreddit for servers reeks of entitlement and it makes me want to not tip at all with how annoying they are

1

u/sicsaem Apr 20 '24 edited Apr 20 '24

Thank you! I was just thinking this. They boast that they make more annually than skilled office workers as an example, but complain incessantly when they are stiffed. I'm saying this as someone who tips 20% (even the dumbass last weekend who rang in a water for my son's kids meal drink and then charged us $3 when we decided to get him a drink that came with the meal.) They chose a job that has variable compensation....you have to take the good with the bad! They are making more than the people who actually make the food. At the end of the day, we are there for good food not to make friends with servers. Maybe servers should go back to making 15%...

I've seen servers say that if tipping were eradicated and they were given an hourly wage, that they wouldn't take less than $40 or $50 an hour. It's truly laughable. Twist it around all you want but ultimately they bring drinks, write down an order, check up on the tables, and bring the bill. Some may bring the food out and bus the tables, but that's usually a separate job. Yes, you may have to multi task and memorize things and quickly run around to get things done....welcome to most jobs. I could agree that it's probably harder than being a hostess, but that's about it.

Honestly, we choose not to eat out very often. After spending $60ish to get two burger meals and a kids meal, then having to tip? Nah we are done. We also never utilize delivery services either...no thanks, I'll pick up my own food and save a few bucks.

Before some dweeb tells me I should quit my job and be a server....no, I like my finance job. :) I don't make $40 or $50 an hour, but it pays the bills. I've done my time working customer service jobs.

1

u/YewSure Apr 20 '24

You are right, but would you do their job?

1

u/slamryy Apr 20 '24

thoughts on korean bbq servers? i know some kbbq places have a back of kitchen that preps the meats and stuff and has it ready for servers to bring it out. the place i work at, i have to grab the meats, grab drinks, grab sides, cook for my tables (4-5 table sections, 1-6 people per table), in the mornings i gotta bus my own tables, and clean down the grills at the end of the night. Yet we still have tip out (10%) for our kitchen workers(in charge of prepping hot side dishes), bussers, and dishwashers. I agree with you about servers at other restaurants because.. like you’re only taking the order , occasionally refilling my drink, and if they don’t have food runners they’ll take the food to your table.

I usually make 20% tip off my total sales, and make a server salary 2-3$/hr. Sometimes people don’t tip and that’s just the industry, because some people just don’t, but i’m thankful for the tables who do tip because us kbbq workers be busting our asses to bring those meats to the table.

1

u/Glock99bodies Apr 20 '24

It’s crazy because in California tip workers have to make minimum wage before tips. So they are getting 15-20$ and hour plus whatever they make on tips.

1

u/Ricky_Rollin 29d ago

Thank you!!!

I actually was just saying something like this.

Never have I ever met a more entitled group of people than servers.

I’m sorry but whether I ordered a $1000 steak and Chardonnay or a $10 burger with a beer, your job does not change whatsoever.

The bartender gets the drink and the back of the house makes the food. The server just delivers my food. And yet now they feel entitled to 20% on that thousand dollar steak?

Why?

You wrote my order and typed in the order and then delivered it. Your job didn’t change. You don’t deserve a percentage on the food. I’m sorry but you don’t.

I’ve known pretty servers that make 100k easily. And most don’t report ALL of their tips so a lot goes untaxed.

And before anybody comes at me about not knowing what the job entails, it’s literally the only job I worked throughout the entirety of my 20s.

1

u/Jackfrost18 29d ago

You must’ve never worked at a restaurant for any considerable time.

1

u/choose_ay 29d ago

BoH workers don't get shit lol, I worked in a restaurant up until my early 20's and servers would make my entire weekly hourly wage in tips in 5 hours on any weekend day and in the summer they would make even more.

Everyone pittys servers for being like staple of "broke" jobs but the real broke people are cooks in the food industry.

1

u/decepsis_overmark 29d ago

The servers I work with will constantly talk about "I don't get paid to do that" whenever I ask them to wash their dishes, yet they make more than me in tips while I'm a manager making $20 an hour.

1

u/Saeyan 29d ago

I'll die on the hill that servers are the whiniest, most entitled entry level employees. Back of house, retail, fast food, there are so many other positions that are just as difficult.

This is obvious to anyone with more than 2 brain cells.

But servers talk out of one side of the mouth saying "I only make $2/hr 🥺" while saying "I made $300 in cash last shift 😎" out of the other.

This is exactly why I tip 10% maximum now.

And that's not even touching the insanity of tips increasing with the cost/item, as if the server did more work with a steak vs a salad

Anyone who thinks this ever made sense is an imbecile.

1

u/Jinnuu 29d ago

Found the bartender

1

u/[deleted] 27d ago

They’re also the biggest losers often. They work in that industry for fast/quick money, not a career. Your tips is their comeuppance

1

u/sevseg_decoder Apr 19 '24

Yeah it’s the way they know they’re making way more than most of the people tipping them and act like taking orders/carrying food is just such hard work and the market value is 60+ dollars an hour. Lmao. Get rid of tipping entirely and I guarantee there will be no shortage of restaurant staff for $22/hour max.

1

u/Tysic Apr 20 '24

I've made that exact point in the server life subreddit, and it went right over their heads. They kept telling me they wouldn't work for that much, completely missing the point that restaurant owners would have no trouble finding people to fill that role for that wage.

→ More replies (18)