Our first Tip20! Poll addresses something that is neglected in most tipping vs. no-tipping arguments. If you don’t like tipping, what do you think a fair hourly wage for servers should be?
Loading ... Loading ...Discuss below, also does your answer apply to bartenders as well? or would that change things?
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July 25th, 2010 | 
At first I was thinking that the venue shouldn’t matter, serving is serving. But I know some places are much busier than others and would warrant a higher wage.
I can’t imagine what those wages would do to the price of going out to eat.
There’s already a whole load of waiters that don’t get tips – macdonalds staff and they get minimum wage. I’ve got no idea why waiters can get 15% of a meal costing 100′s for walking through a room with some plates in their hands – it’s not skilled work, it’s not even hard work. A remedial child could do it all day without breaking a sweat. Loads of jobs out there that are much harder that pay minimum wage.
Drew,
Obviously you have never worked in the service industry or you would not make such an uneducated remark.
I have worked in this industry for 30+ years and I can tell you there is a LOT of difference between walking through the room with a some plates and preparing orders at Mickey’D's. Experienced servers can describe every detail, preparation method and ingredient to you. Timing of courses, preparing beverages to order, anticipating needs, clearing of dishes and empty glasses, are only a few of things a server does. And with three tables or more on a busy shift.Sometimes taking care of up to 20 people at a time. I would like to you try it for two days in a busy restaurant and tell me “A remedial child could do it all day without breaking a sweat.”
Drew. You sir are an idiot. Get a job as a waiter at a busy restaurant and then come back and tell us how it went for you. You obviously haven’t ever waited tables. I did it for 5 years and that was enough for me. I’d rather poke my eyes out with a wire hanger than EVER do it again. I just recently went back to college in my 40s and I was almost tempted to look into it again because of how much money one can make and work less shifts (work 3 nights a week, versus 5 to 6 and make more than minimum wage) because as a busy art/design student, we can’t afford to work 40 hours a week as it would put a dent in our studies. We need a lot of time for our projects. After careful consideration, I decided I would rather get paid 8.00 per hour and work 5 days a week part-time at the local library than wait on assholes with your attitude ever again. Most of our clientele where I worked were nice and personable, but there were/are too many assholes who come to restaurants who think they deserve special treatment and run us around like chickens with our heads cut off, for me to EVER do that line of work for minimum wage. No way, Drew. You try it and see how long you’d last. I bet you 200 dollars that you would not last long. Comparing McDonald’s staff to waiters is idiotic. I don’t see MCD staff refilling your drinks every 10 mins, taking care of 20 or more people at a time, etc. At least they get 15 min breaks… we don’t. We have to constantly be caring for our tables and we never get to sit down or even get a paid meal break. Try going to the bathroom to crap when you have 5 tables with 4 people each!! Sometimes you just have to hold it!! How dare you compare us to McDonald’s cashiers, who just stand there most of the time. That does not require any sweat or toil. Waiting tables is THE most exhausting job I have EVER had and I have worked in customer service jobs for over 20 years and of those 20, the 5 years I spent waiting tables, I made great money, despite the few assholes, like yourself, who think they shouldn’t tip… i still made good money. But, after having to put up with so much crap from people, being degraded and being treated like a slave for an hour, I’d rather jump off a bridge, than ever take care of people like you again. Drew, go to Applebee’s and apply for a job. Try it out before you run your stupid mouth. Just because you look at waiters and observe what you think is “easy” work, doesn’t mean it is. Observing is not the same as actually DOING. Every time I worked a server shift, I would have to go home and nap for a few hours. That’s how exhausting it is!! Case closed.
Tipping is much preferred to a standard wage. Any standard wage would force prices to rise dramatically which would then lead to many restaurants closing giving consumers very few options. Also, when people tip good servers poorly those good servers eventually leave the industry. If you like choices, if you like good service, if you enjoy being taken care of for a short period of time, tip appropriately. If you don’t like choices, good service, or being taken care of for a brief period of time, don’t go out. As for Drew’s comments I would like to know what he does for a living, clearly he has never served. Keep track of 20 different people all at different stages of their meals and with different personalities and preferences and tell me it is easy. The fact is servers and bartenders can read new people better than most. We interact with more people in an hour than most of you do in a day even a week. Currently I manage a restaurant and people like Drew are the number one reason I lose good servers. Wake up or stop going out, your choice.