I won’t be drawn into that one! My argument is why do customers have to pay their wages? Why is it customary for their employer, who benefits from their good service by retaining customers, to not pay them?
To use your example, though, if someone is waiting tables at a restaurant where the bill might be $189 for two people, how long would the line of prospective waitstaff be to work at that restaurant?
I'll answer it...I will bet dollars-to-donughts that it is going to be long indeed, even if the guaranteed wage is very, very low.
I will also bet that the establishment in question is going to be EXTREMELY picky about who they hire, and that the person who is hired is ecstatic that they got the job, regardless of the base wage. It isn't too hard to figure out why.
If you work at Applebees, you might wait a lot more tables, but your customers are going to spend $30-$50 on average, and are likely going to be somewhat satisfied with service, even if the waitstaff cannot explain in detail how the chef is going to prepare the food, exactly what ingredients are in it, and what wine goes best with it. And even that from a waiter who has all the people skills of a cast iron stanchion.
At a restaurant where the bill is going to be $189 for two people, the customers fully expect all the above, and more. They demand a knowledgeable waitstaff, food prepared just so, and a host of details attended to and delivered by professional waitstaff who shouldn't have an attitude, because they expect demanding customers who have a right to be demanding and expect excellence. And they also understand they must sell not only themselves, but the atmosphere AND the restaurant.
And they fully understand that as a valuable waitstaff, they can bring clientele to their restaurant who may even request them by name, and will amply reward them.
The point I make is, there are people who would club each other over the head to get those jobs, while the Applebee jobs...well, not so much. But if someone is supporting a family, THEY are going to fight for that Applebees job, and when they get it, are going to work hard to make money on tips, and generate compliments from satisfied customers to the management, who is certain to know who is fulfilling the expectations of the customers, and who isn't.
Let's face it, EVERY employee is going to have a customer who is going to dump on them and even complain to the management, even the BEST waitstaff. And management usually knows that and takes it into account, if they are any good.
Bottom line, those jobs are made for people who want to get ahead in the field and make it a profession (yes, they do exist)and they have to not only have the technical and organizational skills to do so, but they MUST possess the people skills to carry it off and sell themselves as well.