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Tips are not optional, they are how waiters get paid in America
The Manchester Guardian ^ | February 1, 2013 | Chelsea Welch, former waitress

Posted on 02/02/2013 6:16:20 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Last time I was in a cab, I was in a REAL good mood, and I gave the driver a $20 for a $7 cab ride and told him to keep the change. He couldn’t believe it and I had to tell him several times. He thought I was nuts.


121 posted on 02/02/2013 8:04:31 PM PST by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: forbushalltheway
I don't understand people like you.Why would you waste your money for overpriced food in the first place?

If you don't want to tip a server, don't go to places that have servers. Get your overpriced food to go, or cook it yourself at home.

It's not a hard concept.
I taught my child to consider tax and tips before she decided to purchase meals at any “sit-down” restaurants.

As a former waitress, I tend to overtip, to make up for people like you.
If I can't afford a decent tip, I don't go to restaurants.

It is always cheaper to cook at home, or buy prepared foods at grocery stores, so why even bring up “overpriced meals” as your reason not to tip your sever?

You (and your ilk) are the ones who need to get smart, and stay out of restaurants.
It certainly would make you, other customers, servers, cooks and restaurant owners much happier.

Problem solved!

122 posted on 02/02/2013 8:05:18 PM PST by sarasmom (The obvious takes longer to discover for the obtuse.)
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To: boop

Thanks, I didn’t know that, as I don’t watch TV or go to movies (except atlas shrugged), and don’t support the left. I’ll watch netfliks when something interesting emerges. My news is from the internet and talk radio. I don’t care about the leftist media in any form.


123 posted on 02/02/2013 8:07:14 PM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: dangus; re_nortex

I understand.

The point that re-nortex and I were referencing (if I am putting words in your mouth r-n, I apologize in advance) is that it is completely irrelevant how little their guaranteed wage is. The person must be a professional, and good at it, to make a living. To succeed, they MUST do their job, it is up to them.

If not, human nature dictates you will get Eastern Bloc quality service.


124 posted on 02/02/2013 8:07:56 PM PST by rlmorel (1793 French Jacobins and 2012 American Liberals have a lot in common.)
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To: Indy Pendance

Thing that gets me is some well to do restaurant like The Metropolitan in Seattle ... dinner for two is like $150 plus. You tip $20. My peeve is the owner(s) don’t have to pay their waitstaff much because they feel the customers will make up their salaries. I remember once when I was in Tokyo, went to a great eatery, and without thinking left a tip. The waiter chased me down the street to return the money I left.


125 posted on 02/02/2013 8:10:05 PM PST by SkyDancer (Live your life in such a way that the Westboro church will want to picket your funeral.)
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To: sarasmom

Eating out is indeed a luxury, and any one who makes a living serving should keep that in mind.

But people who eat out should remember that as well. I love to eat out. Sure, I think I can cook a tasty and enjoyable meal that will rival or be better than a restaurant meal.

But I enjoy the variety. I enjoy getting new ideas, or measuring up my culinary endeavors against those I am being served. And I enjoy interacting with the people who work at it for a living.

My wife recently went to a diner in Quincy, MA, a small diner with probably 5-10 booths and equivalent counter space. The room between the counter and the cooking gear was so narrow two people had to contort to work around each other.

We got seats immediately at the counter (we just lucked out, the place had a huge line but everyone wanted booths...) and we watched in amazement as a man and woman worked around each other at a blistering pace to create and serve food. The man cooking would crouch and duck his head, the woman with a plat of food would shove it right through where his head had been to place it on a shelf to be served.

The did this non-stop and smoothly while seamlessly keeping up a banter with each other and customers. I had to pull my phone out and record what they were doing. It was phenomenal to watch, the food was good and the atmosphere was great.

I just couldn’t reproduce that environment at home! And that is one example.

It is also true there are people who should not patronize restaurants. I will say, as much as I loved my mother, when she got older, she turned into a restaurant terrorist. I had two aunts who were the same way. It was often embarrassing to be with them.


126 posted on 02/02/2013 8:24:06 PM PST by rlmorel (1793 French Jacobins and 2012 American Liberals have a lot in common.)
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To: rlmorel; dangus
The point that re-nortex and I were referencing (if I am putting words in your mouth r-n, I apologize in advance) is that it is completely irrelevant how little their guaranteed wage is. The person must be a professional, and good at it, to make a living. To succeed, they MUST do their job, it is up to them.

You nailed...and quite succinctly, I'll add. The only point that I can append, and was alluded to elsewhere in this thread, is that the restaurant business is especially risky with a high failure rate. Those who enter as owners and franchisees, the job creators, know that going in and it's up to them to make a go of it or to flounder.

With the margins being so thin in that business and the competition being what it is, saving pennies here and there often makes the difference between survival and perishing. Modulo government meddling, I am convinced that every employer pays the employee the correct wage. Note that I was careful to use the term "correct" as opposed to "fair" since there is a difference. And, obviously, if that employee is dissatisfied with the wage, other opportunities ought to be pursued.

Nothing ought to come between an employee and his workers, whether it be the government or union thugs. The only law applicable are the realities of economics.

127 posted on 02/02/2013 8:24:39 PM PST by re_nortex (DP...that's what I like about Texas.)
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To: rlmorel

LOL! That’s exactly the experience I felt with those folks. They were having so much fun, that’s when I told them they were out of control, in a fun sort of way. They so appreciated to be accepted as normal in a normal environment, it’s in my top 3 waitress experiences. They wrote the president of the company to let him know how much fun then had and how their server made their experience memorable.


128 posted on 02/02/2013 8:24:48 PM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: A CA Guy

Don’t leave notes in public you don’t want viewed in public.

IMO the waitress can possibly sue.

The so called pastor is a creep IMO.
-——————————————————————————————Exactly. The Pastor’s attempt at trying to be witty backfired
She made herself look the fool, got the girl fired because she wouldn’t ignore it, and gives Christianity another black eye. What a representative of Christ she is


129 posted on 02/02/2013 8:27:01 PM PST by Joshua
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To: re_nortex

Wow. Well said. One of the reasons industry in these United States is withering is the interference of government. I am not one to say government should have no place in regulating the restaurant (or any other) industry, but I know too much regulation of all kind when I see it, and we are there.


130 posted on 02/02/2013 8:29:47 PM PST by rlmorel (1793 French Jacobins and 2012 American Liberals have a lot in common.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If they want a tip from me they have to earn it!


131 posted on 02/02/2013 8:33:32 PM PST by dalereed
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To: Bulwyf

I went to the cashier when they paid their bill and gave them their change they left on the table, “oops, you left this”. They didn’t care.


132 posted on 02/02/2013 8:33:45 PM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
There was once and only once I did not tip......well, that I didn't tip well.

It was at an Applebees and the waitress was one of the worst I've ever had. Took forever to even ask what we wanted to drink (there were two of us). Screwed up the order. Screwed up when she tried to fix it. Never came around for refills (I finally got up and got my own at the wait station), and generally spent most of her time BS'n with her other waitress friend and standing around with her face buried in her phone. Worse, she acted like it was an inconvenience to work there.

I had to flag another waitress to ask if she would flag mine down my actual waitress for the check.

I left two pennies on the table and wrote on the receipt - "My two cents - find a different job because you suck at this one."

Every other time it is 20%.......25% for good service; once while eating on the road, I left 40% at a Dennys because the waitress was awesome (friendly 60 yr old woman that was very courteous)

133 posted on 02/02/2013 8:42:28 PM PST by Repeat Offender (What good are conservative principles if we don't stand by them?)
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To: Repeat Offender

Forgot to add that was the last time I ate at an Applebees..........11 years ago.


134 posted on 02/02/2013 8:43:45 PM PST by Repeat Offender (What good are conservative principles if we don't stand by them?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

No one is under paid or under tipped. This is a free market. If anyone doesn’t like their remunerations, they can quit and get another job. Anyone who has not quit, is presumed to agree to their level of remuneration.


135 posted on 02/02/2013 8:57:07 PM PST by Born to Conserve
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To: Born to Conserve

Yes, thank you for speaking for us secure elites.


136 posted on 02/02/2013 8:59:48 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: dangus
lol - this is the first thing I think of when I read or hear about a woman preacher:


137 posted on 02/02/2013 9:00:08 PM PST by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: Born to Conserve

Servers are the epitome of free market, anyone can get a job, waitresses are a dime a dozen. People don’t want a job when obama will give them what they need. It’s so sad.


138 posted on 02/02/2013 9:05:17 PM PST by Indy Pendance
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Tips are optional. Otherwise, they’d be part of the price.


139 posted on 02/02/2013 9:07:26 PM PST by meyer (When people fear the government, you have Tyranny)
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To: SkyDancer

Your Japanese experience is a cultural difference. In Japan the $ for waiters/busboys, etc. is included in the cost of your meal. In Europe it’s also in the bill, tho a gratuity can be added. Tips are not included in the cost of American meals except for large parties. So, actually, in Japan and Europe you have no choice as you do in the U.S.

If The Metropolitan went the Japanese way your $150 dinner would be $180. Upscale restaurants expect a 20% tip, minimum. They do have the better, more experienced servers.

Restaurant profits are marginal. If we want our restaurants to stay open, we pay the fare. In the U.S. that includes leaving a tip that the waiter will then share with the staff.


140 posted on 02/02/2013 9:25:12 PM PST by EDINVA
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