Tipping

I worked in a restaurant for 6 years through high school and college. I wasn’t primarily a waiter, but I did do it on occasion. And I of course worked with many waiters/waitresses/servers (whatever you want to call them). Tips were their big source of income. But I personally find the whole concept of tipping terrible.

A tip should be a bonus. But it’s not. Restaurant servers make crap money ($2.15/hr 10yrs ago). Without tips, they are way below minimum wage. Supposedly, working for tips means they’ll work harder. While there’s some truth to it, it’s a cruel sentiment.

Tips are just a way for a restaurant to save money. Don’t pay the wait staff much, more profits. Sure, some servers can pull in a lot of money on tips. Half of that is the server themselves, and the other half is circumstances. Get the best waitress in the world but give them a small trickle of grumpy customers, and they don’t make much.

As a customer, I find it annoying that I have to pay extra for a tip. I feel compelled to pay 20-25%, because I know how much money these people don’t make. I wouldn’t mind if food were expensive and the servers got a livable wage. It should be more expensive.

But what really annoys me about tips, is pizza delivery. Pizza companies make a big point that the delivery charge is not a tip to the driver. So what is it? I get charged $2 for deliver charge, and if its not going to the driver, what is it for? I also need to pay $2 tip to the driver or he makes no money tonight?

This is just another one of those things wrong with our version of capitalism. The company takes as much as they can, don’t pay their employees jack, and the customer is made to feel bad if they don’t make up the difference. Why does the customer get to decide how much money they want to pay the server, but not how much they pay the company? Why does the company get guaranteed income, but their employees don’t?

My rant for the day. I’m done now.