| Nightwish224 said: You rarely tip at a restaurant? I would hope you realize that being a waiter/waitress is a service industry job. I always remember who tips, but, I remember those who do not tip more. Be careful where you eat. ;) |
Here in British Columbia waitresses and waiters are all guaranteed minimum wage, tipping is a way of showing appretiation for good service. It is only in some western societies where tipping has become compulsary, tipping was never created as a tax that you pay everyone just because they do there job.
In some countries and states service industry jobs pay less, in those cases tipping should be a regular thing as they do not make minimum wage. Here in BC waiters and waitresses have been guaranteed minimum wage. New legislation passed by premier Christy Clark is raising the minimum wage to over ten dollars, however for the first time in the provinces history servers at resteraunts will be excluded from this rise in minimum wage. So in the near future when the minimum wage is increased and waitresses no longer make the same wages as everyone else I will start tipping everyone.
I have worked security, retail , janitorial and many other much more difficult jobs and never recieved any kind of tip of any sort for my work. I made minimum wage at almost every job I have worked. But my friend who was a waiter made more then I did each day in tips alone. A friend of mine (Female) worked at a very expensive resteraunt in Vancouver and in one day bragged she brought home almost a grand, which I found unbelievable. She has told me on a good regular day she can bring home up to two hundred dollars in tips.
I have other friends who wait and didn't make that huge amount. But the worst one I can think of said she made about 30$ in tips a night at MileStones on top of her minimum wage. Another of my friends is a greeter and bus boy at a resteraunt and doesn't make shit in tips, he said sometimes he does recieve tips but they are very rare people usually tip their waiters/waitresses. Why doesn't he deserve a tip for bussing while a waitress deserves one for serving? Both are service industry workers both garnish the same wages why does one deserve more pay then the other?
In fact if the waitress or waiter are recieving minimum wage, why do they deserve a tip at all? People don't tip security guards, janitors or other employees who give essential services. It doesn't make sense to tip someone who makes the same wage you do, its a job just like the one I had.
That being said I still tip really good waitresses and waiters. I think since everyone tips them and they do such a good job I am not showing them appretiation. If I think they did an amazing job then I need to tip to express my graditude. But if the service sucks and the waiter or waitress doesn't do her job past the bare minimum why would I tip?
Every time I go to the US in a state where wait staff make less then minimum wage I tip compulsary. Though my last visit pissed me off, I was staying at a hotel and ate every meal at the restaurant at the hotel. The last day as I was tipping I finally decided to read this little card on the side of the thing holding the bill. When I read the small print I was horrified.
The thing said "Dear customers here in North America it is customary to tip your server 15%, because you are unaware of this practice we have taken the liberty to include your tip in your bill" I realized I had been tipping on top of the 15% tip my whole stay, honestly I was tipping 30% that's radiculous and nobody said anything to me when I was giving out these tips. Nobody said "You know your tip is included in the bill". I was so upset of course I didn't complain but I am very hesitant to tip at hotels and fancy restaurants in the US now. To me that is a shaddy business practice. Unless the restaurant informed you ahead of time that your tip was included and made it obvious.
Now every time I'm in the US I carefully read everything on the menu and the check book to see if their is any hidden tip fee.
I think that all waiters and waitresses deserve to be paid minimum wage, getting bonuses based on performance working there way to higher wages like every other employee. That is how it works in British Columbia and a lot of Canada and some states and other countries. It makes absolutely no sense to pay an employee less and then expect the consumer to pay the employee their wages. An employer should be responsable for paying the employee if the employee doesn't do a good job they should be fired like any bad worker at any other work place.
But as I said once BC's laws change which will occur soon, I will start tipping more often. However by law Wait staff will have a guaranteed wage of 9$ an hour only a 1.25$ less then a regular employee. A single customer tipping will make up the difference in wages, so if the waitress does a horrible job I still won't tip.
In the end I tip where a tip is earned, where I live there is no reason why every waiter and waitress deserves a tip. They are no worse off then myself or any other working Canadian. In fact I'm unemployed at the moment so they have it way better then I do, why should I take what little money I have a give them a raise if they don't deserve it?
-JC7
"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer
