A Tip on Tipping.

So why is tipping important? Many people who don’t work in the restaurant industry assume that servers and bartenders make hourly wages. We don’t. Most of us get paid roughly around $2 an hour before taxes. In all actuality, our livelihoods depend on the generosity of the people we wait on and the amount of people who sit in our sections.

When you go out to a restaurant, bar, club, etc., the proper amount to tip is 20% of your bill. Also keep in mind that when you get discounts, coupons, hooked up, etc. the server isn’t seeing any of that. It is important that you tip your server 20% of what the bill had been before the discounts were applied.

Of course none of us are math geniuses (yours truly included). However, there is a very simple way to quickly calculate 20%. Take the first digit of your bill and multiply it by 2. The sum is the amount that you should tip. For example, if you have a $40 bill you would take the number 4 (your first digit) and multiply it by 2. The sum is 8. So you would tip your server $8 on a $40 check.

Oprah recently gave some “wonderful” recession advice to her viewers. She suggested that since it’s a recession you could still go out and eat! How, Oprah? By tipping your servers only 10%!

If you want to be a cheapskate, go to McDonald’s. You don’t have to tip there and you can still get a very filling meal. However, if you expect someone to bring you everything you wish, clean up after you, and smile and be polite when you’re making commands of them, then you should expect to pay them for having to do it. Many of us in the industry are from all walks of life. We have mouths to feed and bills today. Unfortunately, this line of work does not provide a paycheck or benefits.

Keep in mind that servers talk. If you go into your favorite establishment and leave a crappy tip, every employee there knows you and knows you aren’t worth the time to provide good service to. Plus, if you’ve ever seen the move Waiting than you know that you shouldn’t mess around with the people who deal with your food and drink.

I have had quite a few people assume that being exceptionally nice makes up for the tip they won’t give me. You’re smiles and charm won’t put groceries in my fridge or gas in my car. I also have had a few customers that have decided to leave God as a tip. God? Well, God in the form of a brochure or crochet cross. I hate to say it but I don’t think Jesus is going to be helping me pay my rent any time soon.

I’m sure we’ll be revisiting this topic down the road. After all, this is The Angry Waitress and getting ripped off will definitely make a waitress angry. Be sure to log in for my upcoming blog about us against the kitchen: the final frontier.

What It's All About

After growing up watching my father run a successful restaurant and working in a variety of different restaurants, I have decided to share my many experiences in the hospitality industry with other industry workers and patrons. We all have great stories to share from catastrophes in the server station and kitchen, to crazy managers, and about the mind-numbing customers that we must interact with every time we clock into work.

I have worked in the average dive diners in Jersey, country steak houses, franchises, neighborhood grills, and fancy bistros. Although the type of clientele and products are different and unique in each business, the stories are much the same: people will blow your mind when you least expect it.

With this blog I hope to share some of my funniest experiences (like the drunk patron who decided to use the wall in the bar as his personal urinal), my most frustrating experiences (like the woman who crushed glass in her tuna salad to get a free meal), and some of my most heart-warming experiences (like the little girl who couldn’t stay with her parents and insisted on following me around the restaurant because I made her feel pretty).

I also hope to shed light about this industry to people who have never worked in it. For example, if you want good service and to be a decent human being, tip your server the appropriate 18-20% when you go out to eat. It is important to remember that your server, bartender, and host are actual people—not robots—and they do handle the food and drink you are about to consume.

I also would love to hear some of your experiences as well. We all know that in order to survive in this business you have to keep a sense of humor and not hold grudges. The people who work in this industry voluntarily allow themselves to be doormats to whoever sits in their sections and sometimes it is hard to remember that there is good in people—just not when they’re hungry.

Be sure to log in soon for my upcoming blog post about my best and worst tippers, how Oprah made it harder for servers to pay their rents, and my guide to tipping and why it’s important.