On the nights I can’t bear to consume another meal in the dining hall, it’s not unusual for my friends and I to treat ourselves to dinner at a favorite local restaurant.
The other night as we were leaving one of said dinners, I set a tip on the table and waited for one of my friends to do the same. She stared at me blankly until she realized what I was waiting for, and responded, “Oh, I don’t tip. I don’t have the money for that.”
This tendency among my peers to tip poorly, or not at all, is something that really bothers me. I’ve worked in the food service industry. I’ve experienced awful tables and unruly customers. And I am floored that there are people who believe wait staff do not deserve to be tipped for the services they provide.
With the ever-increasing debate about minimum wage, it’s important to acknowledge most waiters and waitresses are paid well below this menial amount — sometimes as little as $2.50 an hour. Employers do this because they expect the rest to be made up with tips. Though some restaurants will adjust salaries to meet minimum wage if a wait staff member does not make that much in tips, this is not always the case.
Tips are the primary source of income for wait staff, and though many people have come up with various excuses for their poor tipping habits, this doesn’t justify their frugal behavior. Your food arriving late is not a reflection of the wait staff service, but rather of the kitchen workers, whom the wait staff have to share a portion of their tips with at the end of the night.
And though it can be tempting to leave a waitress who was slightly snippy a bad tip, it is important to remember that person is only human. Perhaps they dealt with a particularly difficult table before yours, or a rough situation at home has soured his or her mood.
At the end of the day, waiters and waitresses generally do their best to ensure that your dining experience is positive, and the least you can do is throw them a few dollars in return. If you “can’t afford” to tip your wait staff, then maybe you should think twice about going out to eat in the first place.
