Doesn't matter, if you're in that line of work, just treat everyone like they're the Queen of England. Well, you know what I mean.
Posted on 07/11/2003 3:48:00 PM PDT by 07055
July 11, 2003 -- A new study finds many waiters and waitresses feel that black Americans generally tip less than restaurant diners who are white. The study, by a researcher at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, found that blacks tip on average 20 percent less than whites. In addition, restaurant workers of all races dislike waiting on black people because they assume the tips will be less no matter how good the service. NPR's Juan Williams reports.
The study found that 63 percent of blacks and 30 percent of whites didn't understand that the standard restaurant tip in the United States is 15 to 20 percent. The difference between how blacks and whites view tipping has serious ramifications for restaurants, including lawsuits and lost profits, Williams reports.
"The average tip from a black customer is about 13 percent of the bill. The average tip from a white customer is about 16.5 percent of the bill," says Dr. Michael Lynn, the study's author.
In some cases the difference in tipping may be the result of poor service, but blacks interviewed in one of Lynn's studies rated the service slightly higher yet still tipped less than whites, he says.
Jerry Fernandez, president of the Multicultural Food Alliance, which represents food servers and restaurateurs, says the expectations of a lower tip from blacks can often lead to poor service.
"If a [waiter] says, 'I don't want to wait on that table because they're black or they're Hispanic, then they tend to give less service and it's a self-fulfilling prophecy," Fernandez explains.
He says cultural elements -- blacks have avoided sit-down restaurants in favor of take out or self-service eateries -- institutionalized racism that exists in the restaurant industry and education about tipping are all behind the discrepancy. "How do people learn about tipping? If you don't go, you don't know."
Lynn suggests that the American restaurant industry begin a campaign to inform people about the basics of leaving a tip. He urges the use of advertisements, educational pamphlets, and even putting tipping information on menus. And Lynn suggests that restaurants could introduce a game in which dining parties would have to tip at least 15 percent in order to be eligible to win a contest.
Those stories make me want to go do something nice for someone!
You mean that those jars aren't take one leave one?
Oooops! ;^)
I happen to tip well at restaurants were the service is good, and tip poorly when the service is poor.
I was at Las Vegas and playing BJ at a $5 table. I won a crazy side bet (3 bucks and won $3000). Anyway, the jerk dealer kept telling me that it was standard to tip at least 20%!, just like a waiter. With that comment he cost himself any tip. Eventhough I had been tipping him on nice hands, etc. What gall to presume you are owed a tip from a patron.
Ummm....when you hear people who work in restaurants talk about Canadians, they are frequently not talking about people who are from Canada.
I'm flabbergasted. I had never heard of this custom of chuch-going folk. Certainly none that I know. I don't doubt it, judging from several posts on this thread alluding to it.
Our local Christian bookstore has little Bible verse cards that they sell so people can hand them out at Halloween... I always assumed that people gave the card AND candy to the kids. I hope that's the case, but now I'm not so sure.
I have no problem with stiffing bad service, but leaving a tract as a "reward" for good service is just tacky.
Forget tipping, just getting women to pay for their own meal when out with a few girlfriends and a couple guys they're not dating is a miracle. They just expect that since there are guys present, offering $5 for their $30 tab is just fine and dandy. When I rarely slip up and get stuck at a big table of people I don't know, I get a separate check and grin ear to ear watching...some guy always gets stuck with a $60-100 tab from people he doesn't know.
I don't know if you're ever going to be an economic success, but you're certainly a winner with your attitude. I suspect you're a very happy person.
Thanks for those stories.
That's just a really low-rent, white-trash kind of thing to do.
Doesn't matter, if you're in that line of work, just treat everyone like they're the Queen of England. Well, you know what I mean.
He states that the very act of pointing out one's observations is racist!
For instance: Yvonne, Why don't you get it through your head--YOUR OPINION IS WRONG, NARROW MINDED, IMMATURE, RACIST, and YOU'RE A COMPLETE FAKE--YOU IDIOT. ...If you don't notice the color of a person's skin when they sit at your table, at what point do you take notice--obviously you must, otherwise you wouldn't be able to take note of how much they leave you. If you weren't a racist when they sat down, you became one when you identified a party of blacks as leaving you less than a party of whites...
and here is another nutburger:
Black people, this is just a racist site to get us to tip more. Do not give them crackers ••••!!! They used free labor for 400 years, we should be able to use there white ignorant BLEEEP for 2 hours without a tip. Let the resturant owners pay them what they are worth. This reminds me of slavery. You have the poor white trash fighting the slaves while masta is getting rich. Then they say that my ancestors had nothing to do with slavery, why do u want reperations?Most of the posters are reasoned intelligent individuals but these few are just beating on them.
All Freepers are above average.
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