OK, I get that we're in a recession, but I need a pep talk.

I only give good service to those who are clearly from the east end, and if I can't tell, I'm sure to card them so I can double check the zip code...otherwise it's a waste of my time.

I really hope that is sarcasm. If not, that is a horrible way to judge people's dining/tipping habits. We now know why you are a career server. With an attitude like that, no wonder you don't get your "well-earned" 15+% tips. Not being from the east end, i take offense to that statement. And what's to say someone comes in (Bourbon's) and does not order alcohol; would you still card them to check their ID? It would seem that you have no idea of common respect for people "not from the east end". You probably didn't get tipped well due to your above attitude.

Chase,

If you read the whole thread, you'll find that Jeremy was jesting based on a few other remarks that were made.

Deb

I agree with the idea that if you can't give 15-20% maybe you should not go out or at least skip the bottle of wine.

We went to Seviche last weekend and while we are on a tight budget we splurge on our dining experiences especially when we go to the city. We passed on drinks and appetizers and I some what felt guilty about giving a 20%+ tip as I thought the waitress probably expects more of a tip (i.e. based upon wine and appetizers) than what she may get from other patrons ordering drinks and appetizers.

I went back and read through the posts and from a servers standpoint, you know the rules of the game as well as the patron and you can choose to do something else. I work hard from my money and I have to satisfy my customers. I rarely give much less than 20%, usually a little more. I may be wrong but the tip amount is a reflection of the service and the experience. I am not going to reduce the tip if the food is not the best or restaurant is too cold. If you choose to be a server and you income is based upon tips, then you should try your best to get the most of it by providing top notch service. I am not sure what would happen if the system changes and the food prices reflected the cost of the server (with no tips allowed), would the level of service decrease?

We dine out quite a bit and love to go to independent restaurants over chains. The service is much better and you seem to see the same faces over and over.

I only give good service to those who are clearly from the east end, and if I can't tell, I'm sure to card them so I can double check the zip code...otherwise it's a waste of my time.

I really hope that is sarcasm. If not, that is a horrible way to judge people's dining/tipping habits. We now know why you are a career server. With an attitude like that, no wonder you don't get your "well-earned" 15+% tips. Not being from the east end, i take offense to that statement. And what's to say someone comes in (Bourbon's) and does not order alcohol; would you still card them to check their ID? It would seem that you have no idea of common respect for people "not from the east end". You probably didn't get tipped well due to your above attitude.

Um...dude. Did you read the rest of the thread? More importantly, have you ever been on this board before? Read through some of my posts...I may be outspoken from time to time, but I've never been snobby...hell, I don't don't even live anywhere near the east end...it was clearly a joke. Who would actually do that?!

yikes. Though I will say this:

for all your outrage over my "attitude" you really might want to think about what the hell you meant by this statement:

"We now know why you are a career server."

a) Do you know me? As far as I can tell, you don't, so that's a pretty big assumption.
2) Based on your clear cut judgement, I wouldn't tell you what was actually going on in my life regardless. But if I was, who do you think you are to judge anyone based on whether they were a "career server" or not?
d) What the hell is wrong with being a career server? Is there something wrong with being a career projectionist? or a teacher? or a landscaper? They all pay about the same. What's your rationale for belittling the folks who serve your food? I'd say that attitude is just as snobby as judging people based on where they're from.

Of course it was sarcasm. Next time you want to go start some drama, maybe you should learn a little about context...I know I learned quite a bit about context in my American Lit classes, but then again, what do I know? I'm just a "career server!"

It's hot in here. Did someone turn up the heat? I'm burning up...

Yeah...I definitely got a bit more heated than I like in here...but I think it was warranted considering the implications of his post. Merry Holikwanzmuskah.

I am from the south end, and I dress as though I'm from the south end

I am curious how someone from the south end dresses.

I think there is generally a difference between how south enders and east enders dress. I've been around in both parts of town, and one does notice that east enders are more into designer brands. Does this apply to all? Probably not. I'm not trying to create a stereotype, but rather a personal observation.

And I hear stories every now and then about how _some_ wait staff will tune their degree of service based on how much tip they think they're going to receive by the patron. And I'm just saying that I get under the impression that I face this more in the east end because wait staff can easily identify me as not being from the east end.

I know it is tough, smiling and acting happy when you feel like crap. Running after every little tidbit of ridiculous things that the customer wants. Suffering through some customers that treat you like a door mat, and take out their bad moods and attitudes on you. I work in the back mainly, so I only hear about the crazy requests. With the recession going on, maybe the tips will continue the downward spiral. I am sorry that people don't tip like they should. I always tip 20% when I go out, but since I work in the back and make considerably less than the front of house staff, I only get out to eat about once every month or even less. I hope that you don't take it personal, when they lower their tips, you sound like a great server, and maybe some of the people realize they aren't tipping up to standard. Please hang in there, people really do appreciate you more than they express in their tips. I always try to converse with my server and acknowledge them as a person, and I really do appreciate all the hard work they have to do. So as a patron myself, while I probably can't afford to eat at your establishment based on the numbers you cited, I really do appreciate a sincere and good server like you.

ok from what little math i can do you made a minimal of $50.00 for 4.5 hours of work. wow good job where else but the restaurant industry can you make so much in so little. Then you add in the 2.13 an hour which I agree is crap because it doesnt even cover ur taxes. And I am sure you had to tip someone out yourself, But u still made a very good wage considering the amount of time involved. Now that is no excuse for a bad tip but I feel that the "oh poor server only makes 2.13" is sad to proclaim by some of the forum. You may be mad because you did not make what you normally would have and I understand that you were venting (and that is fine) but I hope you understand the short sided thinking you are having. You should be building regulars from the people that are coming in no matter the tip. In my experience, those regulars will possibly not be the best tippers but they my have friends that are, and because of the relationships you have built, they will tell their friends and you will ultimately benefit from their experience and therefore make you richer in the long run. These are hard times and they require a higher level of service. Our guests money does not go as far as it once did, so they are expecting even more for what they do have. And there will always be those that don't tip what we think they should, but i bet they dont like that you make at least $10.00 an hour. And i'm sure that some of that is unclaimed tips because it is cash and not automatically claimed as would your credit card tips

just keep your level of service up and ultimately you will be rewarded. Bad nights happen for all of us. You just cant look and let peoples tipping be the only judge of your service. like it was said before, you should be doing a good job because it is the right thing to do.

ok from what little math i can do you made a minimal of $50.00 for 4.5 hours of work. wow good job where else but the restaurant industry can you make so much in so little. Then you add in the 2.13 an hour which I agree is crap because it doesnt even cover ur taxes. And I am sure you had to tip someone out yourself, But u still made a very good wage considering the amount of time involved. Now that is no excuse for a bad tip but I feel that the "oh poor server only makes 2.13" is sad to proclaim by some of the forum. You may be mad because you did not make what you normally would have and I understand that you were venting (and that is fine) but I hope you understand the short sided thinking you are having. You should be building regulars from the people that are coming in no matter the tip. In my experience, those regulars will possibly not be the best tippers but they my have friends that are, and because of the relationships you have built, they will tell their friends and you will ultimately benefit from their experience and therefore make you richer in the long run. These are hard times and they require a higher level of service. Our guests money does not go as far as it once did, so they are expecting even more for what they do have. And there will always be those that don't tip what we think they should, but i bet they dont like that you make at least $10.00 an hour. And i'm sure that some of that is unclaimed tips because it is cash and not automatically claimed as would your credit card tips

just keep your level of service up and ultimately you will be rewarded. Bad nights happen for all of us. You just cant look and let peoples tipping be the only judge of your service. like it was said before, you should be doing a good job because it is the right thing to do.

Not much of a pep talk from someone who seems to be in the industry....

And there will always be those that don't tip what we think they should, but i bet they dont like that you make at least $10.00 an hour. And i'm sure that some of that is unclaimed tips because it is cash and not automatically claimed as would your credit card tips

I feel like this goes along with the "we can see why your a career server" thinking, as though it's a menial professional not deserving of respectful wages. There are several success platforms in the industry, and Jeremy is not in the $10/hour tier (even if he gets to hold back his IRS claim ). It's kinda like the difference in being a pre-school teacher and a college professor.

ok from what little math i can do you made a minimal of $50.00 for 4.5 hours of work. wow good job where else but the restaurant industry can you make so much in so little.

As someone who also makes his living off of tips, I would like to interject the following thought. A good Fri. or Sat. night usually just makes up for the rest of the week. If Jeremy did make 10.00 per hour that night, what does he make on other nights? I would hope to make 20.00 per hour on the weekend, and then I MIGHT average 10.00 for the week. (This is just an example with random numbers, btw.) There is absolutely no excuse for assuming that a server who made, say, 200 on a Friday night, is lucky to be in the industry, or that they make 1000 a week. (I can personally remember making 300 on a Fri night, and only making 550 total over 5 days of work and about 65 hrs. that week.) My point being, a generous tip from you is not likely to be a bonus, but probably just making up a number of poor tips.
Secondly, and most importantly, why do we assume that service jobs are somehow down at the bottom of the list of employment opportunities, and 10.00 per hour should be considered great wage??!! Hmmm.... Let me see: A really good server needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the food he's serving, a solid knowledge of wines and how to pair them, intelligence, an excellent memory, superb communication skills, needs to be a top notch team player, needs to be fast and accurate, needs to be able to balance a large variety of tasks, needs to have a great sense of timing, needs to be able to handle intense stress, etc, etc,etc, and all with a smile on his or her face. WOW! That sounds like a highly professional job to me!
WHY do we insist on assuming that servers are less than intelligent, less than capable, low-class people who don't deserve to make as much money as people with "REAL" jobs?!!
I get so frustrated with this attitude. And to give us a pat on the head and say "Good job! You made ten dollars an hour tonight; you're almost making as much money as a person with a real job! You should be happy" just makes it worse.
There, I'm finished! Just had to get that out of my system.

I agree with Isaac.

Ask yourself this: Would you say to your doctor "Wow, you made a pretty good wage off the operation you did for that last guy, so I'm only going to pay you half - and you should be happy with that!" To your babysitter: "Hey, we used to pay you $8 an hour but the economy is so bad, we're just going to pay you three dollars an hour this weekend and you ought to be grateful for our business!" Would you take 3/4 of your annual salary without complaint and just "be glad" you still had a job? If so, let your employer know right away - I'm sure they'd be happy to take you up on it!

I know it sucks to get undertipped. Well, at least I can imagine it does (never been a server). But I think this is part of a profession that is hit hard by a bad economy. There have been dozens of auto dealers closing, (at least that is what the internet is saying), and other businesses are feeling the crunch as well. The point I am trying to make is that there are lots of professions that get paid on commission, and one of the bad things about that type of pay is it suffers the most during bad economic times. Being a server is a profession, and it requires a certain type of person to be successful. That being said, it still is a profession like many others that will see tough times during bad economic times. When times are good a server can make a lot of money, especially during holidays or special events. The only encouragement I can give is to hang in there, the better times will come again, and hopefully things will even out for the year and your budget as well. You can make it, somehow you will make it.