tipping

You're reafirming everything I said in my post. Either go wait tables and learn for yourself or talk to the hand.

 

I'll take 'em. There's always room for good manners.

 

You are right, John. I always appreciated please and thank you. I needed the money, and appreciated it, but for people to be pleasant back to me was always something that made my work easier.

Good manners are important no matter who or where you are. I was raised that way and definitely appreciate the work my parents put into that! Just as a waiter or waitress can make people feel comfortable to be in that restaurant, the customers can make the waiters and waitresses have a more pleasant day, too.

It works both ways. There are a number of countries where tipping is considered bad form. There, manners are even more important! Might as well stay in practice!

 

A Christian should never stiff a Waiter/Waitress. We should pay AT LEAST what is fair, more if you like.

Worst Service = Worst Tip (or more)
Poor Service = Poor Tip (or more)
Good Service = Good Tip (or more)
Great Service = Great Tip (or more)

NEVER tip less than what the Waiter/Waitress earned. Be real and cut some slack

Personally, I can't stand mandatory tips (added to the bill) nor shared tips among the Waiters/Waitresses. I don't have the slightest interest in tipping a Waiter/Waitress from another table whom I may not have even seen. If the Waiter/Waitress shares with busing or cooks, fine, that is their option.

 

Tipping is an interesting subject; first of all, for why certain types of business developed this method of compensation. As someone stated, this makes the restaurant business "lucrative," and that is easy to see in that they pay waitstaff very low so they must depend largely on their tips. It's also interesting in where the numbers of 15% considered a 'standard' tip, and 20% for exceptional service came from. The more expensive the restaurant, the higher the tips tht way; so the 'ritzy' places are probably not short of job applicants.

Tipping other personal services persons-- cab drivers, hairdressers, et al-- does not seem to be as normative, but I don't know if that is because they have better comissions, base pay or not. But regardless, it is in the hands of the public they serve, and some tip well, some don't, some know nothing about what is expected. Evidently, the idea of tipping is that good service gets good tips, bad service gets bad tips; unlike factory or clerical workers who start at a standard wage and their advancement and compensation is based upon reviewed performance levels.

But I have heard more than enough of the experiences of waiters/waitresses who say Christians are the worst customers. I assume they mean those it is apparent in some way they are Christians, like a bunch of people all dressed up on Sunday afternoon, or a a contingent wearing "Jesus....." logo. I don't agree with this leaving a tract, whether or not an adequate tip is left. I don't like tracts anyway, but I don't think it is right leaving them in such a way as to 'have the last word' and then be gone-- especially where it is their business, not some friendly meeting. I have also heard that Christians make the most demands and the most complaints, as well as being the worst tippers. Perhaps some of this is a difference in perspectives. It's not a stretch to say some waitresses think customers are 'rude' if you don't flirt with them (guess who I'm talking about in this example).

As I am rather obviously not involved in food service myself, perhaps those who are, or have been, can answer a question I have... What about the issue of tipping when you go for an all-you-can-eat buffet? All you do is get your seat and the hostess brings your drink, then you go and get your own plate from the buffet. All the waiter(ess) does is refill your glass (maybe) and bring the ticket. I tip in that kind of setup, but not nearly as much where they actually take your order and bring the food.

 

At one restaurant I worked at an all you can eat buffet and can honestly say that you do more work than when they are ordering off the menu. You have to clean the table numerous times as opposed to only once or twice when they are going menu and you have less control over when they leave. They can keep going back and eating buffet instead of finishing the course of an entre andd then leaving. I always, however went the extra mile bringing hot towels and such to bring the level of service up to get better tips. I also agree that tips should not be mandatory except in certain situations one being that if you belong to a country club or other private organization. I worked at a country club restaurant and we got 18 percent added to the tab on every ticket. Often I got tipped above that because of my service. But thats a private organization and you sign the agreement when you join and besides most of the people who frequented or place were loaded(rich) and didn't care anyway. Secondly I support added gratuity on large tables. WHen you work a big table the level of service will never be as good as when you are working a smaller table - you can't be as personal. Large parties require more of you than the smaller tables and often they are the only table a server will have on a particular shift so if the guests are stingy, that server even after doing a great job can go home empty handed without the chance of making up for it. In any case if you feel you have gotten bad service you can always complain and most places I know will spike the auto gratuity on such tables.
And yes Christians are regaded almost service-wide as bad tippers. I know thats an overgeneralization but an enduring phenomenon nontheless. It was always difficult for me to listen to my peers talk about Christians in the manner that they did - myself being one, but most of what they would say is true. My whole point in my original post was to bring focus to the bigger picture of being character wittnesses in a world where they are already stereotyped by members of that industry in such light. The poster who was wining about wishing servers were paid a regular wage is just regurgetating the anthem of legions of the general public who just don't want to tip period. Most people fail to see that a customer who has been only a customer sees the situation from one side only - his or her perspective. A person who has been a server sees it from both sides becuase not only do they work in such capacity - they are customers themselves and are "served" when they go to a restaurant. They normally scrutinize the service moreso than their non server counterparts.
There are times when I am not in the mood for tipping - mostly when I'm running short on cash or something. In such cases I simply go somewhere where tips arent expected. There are many such establishments in my area where there are not waiters and you simply get up and do everything for yourself.
We as Christians are called to be a light of hope and an example unto unbelievers in a world of darkness. The bible also warns us not to cause someone to stumble. I remember one incident when a Server named Jessie had served a family of Christians (the kids were decked out in "Jesus Freak" t-shirts and they totally stiffed her. She was very upset and said something to the effect of "I hate (expletive) Christians! (Expletive) em all! (Expletive) their God, their (Expletive) Jesus! I hope they all go to (expletive) hell!"
The non-existent tip was not because of bad service as I was working next to her and can attest that she went out of her way, as she always did, to make their experience good. THese CHristians because of their stinginess brought about the situation where Jessie took the name of the Lord in vain (multiple times) and also Jaded her view of Christians and Christianity in general, making it highly unlikely that she would be open minded to any wittnessing that could come her way in the future.
As I've said I find it hard to reason why many Christians I know have tithed very generously to the Church (sometimes 25 - 30 perecent of their income) and then will totally screw a waiter/waitress when they've went out of their way to give great service - I've seen it happen. It seems that to many Christians what they do in the church house and what they do on the town are two different things. I remember in one Church I attended where there was a Deacon and his wife who owned a business. The church was trying to get a building project going and the Deacon and hid wife generously donated $30,000 to the building project. They were praised in the church for their generosity and commended during a service. In the meantime they felt their company, which employed 15 people, was not generating enough revenue in that quarter so they forced their employees to take a manditory day of leave each week without pay for 6 weeks. In the meatine the Deacon, his wife and kids took off for a two week holiday in Hawaii. Their employees had about as many good things to say about them as Jessie did of the people she waited on. Furthermore everyone in the church knew what happened and most of the congregation murmurred among themselves but the church admin wouldn't say anything for fear that they'd pull thier pledge. I mean come on people are we Christians or aren't we? And are we going to be a light unto the world and if so then we'd better start extending our virtues into all areas of our lives because the people who are lost who need our intercession don't see us when we're in church they see us only in public where we missbehave the most.

 

These incidents may raise a broader, but related, topic... when churches need (or want) money for new programs, to update current facilities, to get even on a current budget, or just because it's a time of year giving ('tithing') is emphasized, and there are sermons, literature, 'testimonies' and such about increased giving in attempts to put the pressure on members to give more-- what are some of the results of these programs when they work? The couple above who owned the business and pledged $30,000 for the building program, then cut their employees' hours ($) so they could still take an expensive vacation... if they were 'generous' to their church, and still rather generous to themselves, who is it that took a cut-- the ones who work for them.

If there is more money one place, there is less in another. 'Stiffing' a waiter(ess) may 'save' only a small amount of pocket change, but if we think nothing of doing that because we are so "generous" to our church or to Christian missions, we are dishonoring the name of Christ on the more direct personal level. Being thought of as a miserly employer who compensates as little as possible but gives so generously to a church could be worse, affecting more people.

But we can be sure churches will still plead and pressure for more money. with the line like "give up something to give more to the Lord," without caring, or maybe even knowing, that 'something given up' affects peoples' lives, as well as their perception of Christians.

 

Thats a very good summation Alcot.

 

Now wait a minute... I've never waited tables, but don't go so far as to say I have no respect for the work done. I am capable of seeing the efforts extended. I realize these folks have to juggle a lot of tables and orders. I understand a lot more than you're giving credit for.

I too have heard the bit about Christian's skimping on tips, and that infuriates me. What kind of testimony is that? You might as well steal from the server's pockets! I tend to leave a higher pecentage just because of this trend.

I also leave a much higher percentage when eating at lower priced restaurants - what good is 20% of a $7 meal? The amount of work between low priced and high priced restaurants is nearly the same - why don't the tips reflect that?

Actually, Wisdomseeker brought up a good point in that the whole concept of tipping is messed up. Why don't the restaurants pay better? Yeah, I know, they'd have to raise the prices on the menus. But if everyone did it...

Didn't people used to tip BEFORE a meal to help ensure good service? Tipping afterwards means you'll never know who's going to stiff you.

 

I didn't intend to lump everyone into that statement, just the ones who gripe about tipping and try to find reasons not to. If someone is looking for any reason not to tip they'll eventually find one. The problem that a server has is that they are more closely tied to their work than someone who works on a salary. By this I mean their performance at the end of the day is reflected in their tips as is also too often the case - their luck of the draw. This is a stressful situation that not very many people respect. A person on a salary can have a bad day where nothing goes right but at the end of the week/pay period its all the same as far as the amount of pay goes. Imagine that same person who had a bad day picking up his/her paycheck and finding out that for that one day of bad productivity, problems, malfunctions, etc.. that they've had $80.00 deducted. Thats the life of a server.

 

Bad service, 10% or lower depending how bad.
Standard service, my needs are met at dinner. 15%
Excellent service, 20%. I never tip more than 20%. IMO opinion they should get paid more hourly.
Also, it depends on what restaurant I am eating at. Some restaurants the server does little work and the runners/busboy does most of their work. At the end of the night they screw the busboy/runner with a bad tip themselves. I have much more respect for food servers who work in a Denney's/mom-pop restaurant then a fine dining restaurant food server.
As for food server being poor, some of them that work fine dining make 50,000 a year. Heck! I heard some of the food servers at the Outback make 40,000 a year. Pretty good wage if you ask me.

I worked in both enviroments so I have been on both sides if anyone is wondering.

 

Maybe the focus should be on giving the worker a realistic wage, rather than on the level of tipping.
the scriptural i context would be the one of the labourer is worthy of his hire. Surely this applys wether we talk of waiters, pastors, engineers, teachers, or whatever.

The idea of tips being part of a wage is simply a way of enabling employers to pay less than someone is worth, delude people into thinking that the prices are lower than they realy are, and get you to pay twice for the product you buy.

In no way is this a criticism of those who work hard in the restarant and allied industries, just a comment on the way they are mistreated when compared with those in other industries

Regards
Bob

 

A realistic wage? Before I decided to go back to school years ago I worked as an industrial machinist - patternmaker. I made $12.50 an hour for a 40 hour week and I lived ok, but had NO money left over after paying my bills and buying groceries. Most average wages for jobs in the service industry pay $6.00 - $7.00 hr which is "realistic" in that there are tons of other jobs out there that pay the same, but it is in no way "realistic" to live on. Besides you will never convince the restaurant industry to give up its lucrative schema of paying peanuts for its labor - not now, not in 20 years. If your so concerned about leaving that extra couple dollars for your server on you bi-monthly jaunts to your favorite restaurant, I suggest that maybe you should start a grass-roots movement to unionize restaurant wait staff. THen the restaurants would have to pay them $14.00 - $16.00 an hour and you would be absolved from tipping for ever. However, after your fruitful efforts, don't be dismayed if you return to your favorite restaurant and find that that they've given up and closed the doors.

 

I have worked both fine dining and at the lower end of the rung to which you refer to. As for wait staff screwing the bussers/food runners - tipshares are the norm nowadays. Most restaurants take it out or require it of you automatically. If doesn't take very many incidents of support staff griping to management about servers holding out to prompt action. Yes some of the career wait staff that work fine dining make up to $50,000 a yaer. And as for the Outback server making $40,000 a year, I have worked at two different Outback steakhouses and the only one who was drawing that kind of dough was the general manager. Every person I've known that has been a waiter and that I have worked with was by no means wealthy. In fact based upon my experience the segment that you refer to making over, and I'll go as far to say $30,000 a year, represents about 1% of the workforce whole. Fine dining restaurants represent only a small percentage of the industry and how often does your average working class person frequent these establishments? I believe the people we are discussing here are the Applebees/Outback/Steak&Ale servers who I can say by reson of experience, financially strugling most of the time.

 

Getting the restaurant industry to change it's pay scale is harder than getting the gasoline companies to drop the 9/10 of a cent they still charge for gas.

Besides, with the current tipping system, the cheapskates can still eat cheaper! That money goes to the restaurant... there is no incentive for them to change!