A Facebook Servers Rant....Justified?

Received this from a Facebook friend today. Discuss.

FUCK YOU! To people who don't know how to tip 18-20%. FUCK YOU! I bust my ass for you. I refill your h20s, iced teas, beers, etc. I remark your silverware. I keep your orders straight by seat # (but sometimes you get up and rearrange yourselves). This makes separating your checks easier. Plus, I come into the restaurant an hour and a half early to make sure the bathroom is stocked w/ TP and hand t...owels, and are clean and sanitary. Also, the house floors are swept and mopped everyday by me. Folks need to recognize that servers aren't making shit on the hour. Our minimum wage has never increased. Take your 15% tip somewhere else! And FUCK YOU for taking up valuable real estate in my section waiting for your "joiner."

When did servers decide that 15% was no longer an average, acceptable tip?

It's interesting, because I usually start at 20%, and will tip 15% for lousy service, more for great service. Yet for some reason, that post really pisses me off. Probably only because it makes me look less generous than I thought I was.

Of course, I only leave good tips to make myself feel like a bigshot, not because I have regard for humanity.

I don't begrudge a little venting among amigos.

Given that, I'd say dude's wound a little tight over the difference between 15% and 18%.

I usually start at 20%, and will tip 15% for lousy service, more for great service.

...There we go thinkin' alike again. We have so got to sit down and have a beer and solve the problems of the world someday. Two great minds, shouldn't take more than 5 or 6 beers

As a former waiter, maybe a little less espresso?

When you start getting like this ( and it happens) you know it is time for a change. Being a waiter is stressful and it can really start getting to you. There are times when people ARE awful and leave no money or just the dealing with all of the craziness there is to deal with in a restaurant and the general public, but when you start flipping out over the difference between 15-18%? A little mellow out time might be good.

Being stressed out like this is why a lot of restaurant folks drink a tad too much too. It is the only way to really unwind at 1 in the morning.

I do think this is a little overwhelming for a FB post. I mean, does he mean it to ALL of his friends?

Received this from a Facebook friend today. Discuss.

FUCK YOU! To people who don't know how to tip 18-20%. FUCK YOU! I bust my ass for you. I refill your h20s, iced teas, beers, etc. I remark your silverware. I keep your orders straight by seat # (but sometimes you get up and rearrange yourselves). This makes separating your checks easier. Plus, I come into the restaurant an hour and a half early to make sure the bathroom is stocked w/ TP and hand t...owels, and are clean and sanitary. Also, the house floors are swept and mopped everyday by me. Folks need to recognize that servers aren't making shit on the hour. Our minimum wage has never increased. Take your 15% tip somewhere else! And FUCK YOU for taking up valuable real estate in my section waiting for your "joiner."

Watch a couple of Bob Ross videos and things will be alright.

I hope if his employer finds out about the rant he gets fired or at least heavily counseled. If I find out who he is he better hope he'd ever has before a customer or he will find out what a bad tip is. He obviously has a severe attitude problem and a big chip on his shoulder! If he worked as hard as he talks he probably would get good tips. Instead it appears he just expects the tips for having the job. He certainly doesn't have the attitude required to be a server.

[Robin Garr]

Yes, I think this person is stressed out, and sadly, that stress probably shows in his work. That's a problem.

But to those who want to know why 15% isn't adequate any more, I'd point to the economy and also to the employers. Everything is going up but wages, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find out that tips, overall, are off because, well, it's one place where people can cut down and get away with it.

Hey, Steve P, you're a union guy. You want change, how about getting out there and organizing servers?

[Robin Garr]

Added to my post above: I'd say that 20% has become the floor, not the median for good work. Maybe not for the Cheddar's/Olive Garden set, but I think most people who support fine local dining and who are willing to pay for it have already accepted this. In a perfect world, servers ought to earn a decent wage for the work they do, but this isn't a perfect world, and we're not going to change the system by stiffing the people who serve us.

But to those who want to know why 15% isn't adequate any more, I'd point to the economy and also to the employers. Everything is going up but wages, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find out that tips, overall, are off because, well, it's one place where people can cut down and get away with it.

I keep hearing this argument but I still don't understand it. Yes, 15% has been the standard for longtime and it hasn't gone up in all areas. However the price of the meals has increased dramatically and the tip is a percentage of the meal price so in reality the money made from tips should have gone up at least at the same rate as the costs of food and drinks! Actually overall food prices have gone up faster than many other areas so in reality servers should be doing as well or better than they ever have.

Hey, Steve P, you're a union guy. You want change, how about getting out there and organizing servers?

There already ARE organizations ready-willing and able to help these people organize.

http://www.unitehere.org/fs/

http://www.seiu.org/

[Robin Garr]

However the price of the meals has increased dramatically and the tip is a percentage of the meal price so in reality the money made from tips should have gone up at least at the same rate as the costs of food and drinks! Actually overall food prices have gone up faster than many other areas so in reality servers should be doing as well or better than they ever have.

Actually, I haven't really seen that in restaurant dining. Mary and I eat out a lot, and because of my odd job, I keep track of what we pay for dinner for two. I don't see that it has changed that much. I'm stupid about money, though, and do stuff like seriously overtip because I know the challenges servers face; that probably explains why I'm not rich.

On the other side of the coin, though, we still have to address my hypothesis that in a down economy people start cheating on the tip amount (some people, anyway) and that this shows up in the server's bottom line even if menu prices do rise. Any thoughts on this from servers out there?

[Robin Garr]

There already ARE organizations ready-willing and able to help these people organize.

http://www.unitehere.org/fs/

http://www.seiu.org/

Okayfine, but where's that union spirit? You're a retired guy with time on your hands. Why not get out there and start passing out cards?

OK, this is a rant that I'm going to chime in on simply because I've seen things go amiss on both sides of the table....as a customer, and a brief stint as FOH.

Servers, if you don't get the tip you think you merit, then rethink your stance as a server....what are you doing right/wrong to get was you got....

Customers, have you ever waited tables? Do you know what it is like to juggle multiple tables with multiple needs and GET IT RIGHT?

I'm not shy about leaving a "healthy" tip for great service, and if I see the service is lacking, I will, out of professionsal (albeit brief) consideration, pull aside the server and gently point out what I saw as a fail and let them explain their side. Only fair.

Stepping off soap box. Continue with your rants!

Added to my post above: I'd say that 20% has become the floor, not the median for good work. Maybe not for the Cheddar's/Olive Garden set .

Why should we short change the Cheddars/Olive Garden set? They work every bit as hard as the fine dining and the checks are usually smaller so the tips are usually smaller. For good service I tend to tip a little higher percentage in the despicable chains. I wasn't aware they were second class citizens.