Be kind, tip your server
You have just enjoyed a delicious meal
out with friends. The bill comes and now it's
time to decide how much to tip your server.
For some people tipping is a normal practice
— 15 to 20 per cent for everyone! For others,
tipping is treated as a reward for the server's
good or bad service, forgetting that certain
circumstances make it difficult to give
exceptional service. We are left with the
people who just feel they shouldn't have to
tip, and at you people I shake my head.
I have been working in London's service industry for the last six years and have experienced some, shall we say, “special” customers. But nothing is worse than a customer who doesn't tip. If you don't tip or leave only a couple bucks, your server is actually paying for you to eat! You're probably thinking, “How can that be true?” but it is. There aren't many jobs where customers can walk in and actually cause an employee to lose money, but that's the twisted reality of serving.
I would like to inform people of the realities of working in the service industry and why servers really do rely on tips.
First off, servers make a lower minimum wage than the actual minimum wage — $8.90 compared to $10.25. When people say, “Their employer should pay them more,” maybe they should, but they don't.
Secondly, servers tip out. This is money that servers give to the restaurant for kitchen workers, dishwashers, busboys or hostesses. Sometimes even greedy owners or managers take a cut. It is calculated as a percentage of a server's overall sales at the end of a shift. Typically, it is two to four per cent of the sales on the amount, including taxes.
Thirdly, servers pay into a dine and dash fund or have to cover the cost of this themselves. Sometimes this money is used to replace broken dishes or glassware, as well. You would think this would be considered a cost of doing business, but it is something that servers have to pay out of pocket. If you work in an office, I would assume if the photocopier breaks they don't make the employees pay for it.
And last but not least, spillage. What is spillage, you ask? When a server trips, gets knocked into or spills a drink, all by accident of course, they are made to cover the cost of the spilled items. It could be a $5 drink or it could be a $50 round of drinks. I have witnessed a tray of drinks get punched out of a server's hand, and the apology the server was given doesn't cover the cost.
Of course servers make mistakes; we are human. We really just want everyone to be happy and have a goodtime. So please, before you type in that 10 per cent tip amount think of what we have to shell out at the end of the night.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
I have been working in London's service industry for the last six years and have experienced some, shall we say, “special” customers. But nothing is worse than a customer who doesn't tip. If you don't tip or leave only a couple bucks, your server is actually paying for you to eat! You're probably thinking, “How can that be true?” but it is. There aren't many jobs where customers can walk in and actually cause an employee to lose money, but that's the twisted reality of serving.
I would like to inform people of the realities of working in the service industry and why servers really do rely on tips.
First off, servers make a lower minimum wage than the actual minimum wage — $8.90 compared to $10.25. When people say, “Their employer should pay them more,” maybe they should, but they don't.
Secondly, servers tip out. This is money that servers give to the restaurant for kitchen workers, dishwashers, busboys or hostesses. Sometimes even greedy owners or managers take a cut. It is calculated as a percentage of a server's overall sales at the end of a shift. Typically, it is two to four per cent of the sales on the amount, including taxes.
Thirdly, servers pay into a dine and dash fund or have to cover the cost of this themselves. Sometimes this money is used to replace broken dishes or glassware, as well. You would think this would be considered a cost of doing business, but it is something that servers have to pay out of pocket. If you work in an office, I would assume if the photocopier breaks they don't make the employees pay for it.
And last but not least, spillage. What is spillage, you ask? When a server trips, gets knocked into or spills a drink, all by accident of course, they are made to cover the cost of the spilled items. It could be a $5 drink or it could be a $50 round of drinks. I have witnessed a tray of drinks get punched out of a server's hand, and the apology the server was given doesn't cover the cost.
Of course servers make mistakes; we are human. We really just want everyone to be happy and have a goodtime. So please, before you type in that 10 per cent tip amount think of what we have to shell out at the end of the night.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
