Ah, the good ole days when you could under-report tips and avoid supporting the welfare state with your hard earned (and still low) earnings. Out of that minimum wage you were paid, all the SoSecurity taxes and such were withdrawn, so you were paying your required minimums. But cash tips? What tips, Mr IRS Agent?
And you know what? You couldn’t buy a car on credit, couldn’t rent a decent apartment, not because you avoided taxes, but because your job was viewed with such contempt. And still is!
An unrelated story, but sweet.
Near the end of the night, a party of 14 deaf people came in. Of course, I wanted the money, so I took them. The server at that section just got off so, sure I’ll take them. I’d work as much as possible.
They were so fun, one of them could read lips, which was extremely helpful. I wrote down all their choices, potato, veggie, salad dressing, etc. When they pointed to their entree, I had my list for all the extras. It worked out nicely.
I had fun with them, I even joked that they were being ‘too noisy’ and to had to settle down, they all rolled over laughing at that.
The head of that party sent a letter to the president saying what a great experience they had and they loved the service. I didn’t treat them as different, but realized they had different needs. I’ll never forget those people and how fun they were.
Speaking of apartments, I had to lie. Moving back to Wisconsin, I told my prospective landlord, my husband was coming, I was just getting an apartment for us to relocate and wanted to get the kids in school before September. I had my sister in law in tow, and had the relocation lie down pat since we’ve done that 3 time previously. They’d never taken a divorced mom with 3 kids under 8 who waitressed and was going to engineering school. I did what I did to survive. I never missed a payment.