Originally Posted by
Allie
Yeah, but keep in mind that isn’t always the case. At least cooks get a steady pay, where servers are almost completely dependent on your tips. Like I’ll work a seven hour shift and only walk away with about $30-40 in tips, plus a few dollars below minimum wage an hour. So maybe a combined total of $55 divided by seven hours is about $7.80 per hour, just under what a cook would make there.
And not only is it just as physically laborious when the place gets busy, but it also tends to be emotionally draining to an extent (for me, at least). Tbh, I would consider the emotional effort wayyy more work than whatever I do physically. and what makes it worse is that everything you go through feels too petty to get upset about, even though you know internally that there must be some good reason for why you feel this way. Like even right now I feel totally pathetic complaining cause it’s such an “easy” job and, all in all, it’s just food, not someone’s life at stake, right? But it’s a service job, and in that people will treat you like it’s the end of the world if you can’t manage to refill their iced tea within 5 seconds of an empty glass cause you’re a little busy atm. basically, it just sucks being the “face” of someone’s dining experience. Because even if your server was great and did their best, if your food is terrible, you don’t leave a great tip. When other people slack, it’s always the “face” that takes the hit.
And there are more shitty tippers than generous ones, so even if you feel like you overtip, chances are the extra dollar or two you gave only balanced out what they should’ve received from someone else. Ugh, I hate saying “should’ve” though, because technically it is a “tip” and so one shouldn’t technically feel entitled to it… but heh, in a way we are, since it’s the primary source of profit for all the work we do. Personally, I always tip at least 20%, as do most people who’ve had even a little bit of experience working in a restaurant, I’ve noticed. The most common tip I get is $3, but on average it ranges from $2-$10. Rarely below, unless it's a single person—businessmen who come in for a quick meal & coffee, to-go orders, a hungry student late to class, etc. Almost never above, unless they're A) creepy, B) a large party, C) extremely impressed, or D) know me personally.
lol and one more thing: to those of you who think it’s wrong to profile… fuck you, because when I started working I didn’t believe ANY tipping stereotypes had truth to them, but in only a couple months I’ve been proved totally wrong. hah. SO IN CONCLUSION ALL OF THOSE RACIAL/OLDPEOPLE/REGIONAL/FATPEOPLE/etc STEREOTYPES ARE ABSOLUTELY TRUE but I won’t elaborate cause I know I’ll take shit for it ahah