By Daeja Conner
Staff Writer
Restaurant goers across the U.S. have tipped waiters for their great service throughout a night of dining or drinking. Some recipients of good hosting choose to not partake in the process of tipping and find it a nuisance or an unnecessary amount of money going toward good service that should always be present in fine dining. The act of tipping, however, should be a mandatory gesture toward waiters and waitresses that assist throughout a night of eating out.
Waiters across the United States are getting paid the minimum wage of $12 an hour or less for their strenuous job of accompanying large crowds of people that dine in their restaurants. With waiters getting paid this little amount living off of the money they are making alone can be a difficult task. With incoming tips for good service that waiters receive, tipping can create a drastic change in the amount of income they have and can assist he/she in many various ways.
“Making $11 dollars an hour usually isn’t enough to cover everything I need to buy. […] I barely have enough money to cover my gas to and from school and my phone bill. […] It makes me wonder how people can have a job like mine and pay for a house or provide for a family at the same time.” senior Bethany Lee, a waiter at Big Catch Seafood House, stated.
Workers throughout the US also experience a minimum wage battle due to management that cuts almost half of their hourly pay out all while expected tips to make up for the other portion of their pay. A survey conducted on Jan. 11 by The National Employment Law Project (NELP) showed that waiters and bartenders earn more in tips than they do from what employers pay them as an hourly base wage. The median share of hourly earnings that come from tips account for 58.5 percent of wait staff’s earnings, and 54 percent of bartenders’ earnings.
Being a server is also a job that requires high levels of multitasking that can take a toll on someone mentally and physically. Waiters not only have to keep track of orders, but also need to balance weighty plates of food to and from the kitchen, clean tables in-between populating groups, all while putting on a smile and giving customers an experience that will make them want to return.
Christina Giannopoulos, a six year server in the food industry, told Massachusetts Media “Serving is a tough job. Not only is it mentally exhausting but it’s also physically exhausting. When I get a tip that does not reflect the hard work I have put into making a customer’s dining experience an enjoyable one, it is disheartening, to say the least”
With the numerous tasks that a waitperson has to accomplish in abrupt time periods, tipping is a way to show gratitude towards the effort that they put in towards your time out. Waiting tables all day is a hard labor job and should not go unnoticed. After indulging on desert to end off a great evening, leaving a tip can leave both the waiter and the patron walking away with a smile on their face.
