blackbootz oyster AnSionnachRua
Much like the author:
I'm no fan of tipping. However, I recognize that I'm powerless to do anything about it and any action I take is going to hurt the people I side with the most.
The Wall Street Journal profiled Danny Meyer last week:
- When the company rolled out its “Hospitality Included” strategy that fall, it was clear that Mr. Meyer faced a major leadership test. A revenue-sharing plan for dining room workers didn’t always make up for lost tips. Many legacy staffers quit and turnover rates spiked. “We lost some people,” Mr. Meyer says.
Many diners seemed thrilled to stop calculating tips but others couldn’t compute the math behind the rising prices. A few confused patrons continued leaving cash on the table. Losing a federal tax break for restaurants based on the tip income its employees report cost the company $1 million a year.
Mr. Meyer launched a public campaign to urge other restaurants to join him. While some owners thanked him for jumping on the tip grenade, few followed suit. A citywide downturn in lunch business and competition from online delivery services made them skittish about raising prices. “We quickly arrived at the conclusion that we’d be going it alone for a long time,” Mr. Meyer says.
I think the big thing is yes the industry would have to change but people’s expectations would also need to change. I serve tourist but I also work with servers from other countries who are on working holiday visas, they generally have a lot of catching up to do in terms of meeting people expectations of service in America/Canada. I still laugh about the Russian guy who looked at me like I was psychic for bringing his table another pitcher of water before the first one was empty. That’s why I don’t ever see tipping going away, people’s expectations aren’t going to change. It’s like if you go to a grocery store during a busy hour, you know you kind of screwed yourself and most people understand why it’s slow. They might not be happy but they get that they made a choice to do groceries at 3pm on a Saturday The restaurant industry though everything has to be prompt no matter what. I was never in the weeds or behind as a grocery store cashier because that’s not a concept, it’s just busy. The entire computer system could crash and people still expect prompt service in a restaurant. You basically have to have worked in a restaurant to know when the wait is going to be longer for food by just seeing the place, most other people need to be told and they’re shocked every time. Canada is probably the best place in the world to be a server honestly. Good wage and comparable tips to what you will find in the states.
And this, I believe, is why service in Canada is an order of magnitude worse than in the US. American service is of a spectrum between respectful and obsequious. A talented server at an expensive restaurant in the US can get you to order more drinks than you would have, buy dessert and an appetizer where you wouldn't have, and still tip 25%. Canadian service, on the other hand, is of a spectrum between diffident and respectful. A talented server at an expensive restaurant in Canada will make you confident that they're telling the truth that the monkfish is fresh. I've never had an experience in Canada that was worth more than 15%. I think it comes down to the fact that Canadian servers can suck balls and still earn a living. American servers without the knack quickly cycle down to the restaurants you don't want to go to.Good wage and comparable tips to what you will find in the states.
It’s true in a lot of places, American’s have higher expectations for service than Canadians. I think it’s that a lot of people get into it thinking it’s easy money and they don’t stand to lose that much by taking a chance since the wage is similar. The best servers are sales people and that’s not for everybody.
Tipping was one of the first things I asked my brother about when he got back from his trip to the states last month. He went to NYC for a wedding and I queried about the tipping over there and how he handled it. Apparently he just asked what's expected and adhered to that, but the idea of tipping freaked me out - I'd be worried I was doing it wrong, not tipping enough or too much, stepping on toes every which way. It's a small thing I know but for some reason it's always been in my head when considering travelling to the States. It sounds crazy that not tipping would cause people to quit the job, but that unfortunately makes a lot of sense in the service industry over there.
I thought that'd be the case - but I had a social anxiety kind of scenario play out in my head where someone was annoyed I tipped too much because it suggested they "needed it". I'm sure I've seen it in a movie or three and it's inaccurate but damn it's in my head sometimes. Good to know though!
Might as well just dump the finer points of tipping here and assume you may be interested. I'm in front of a real keyboard. Servers tend to make $2.12 an hour. I've only made that once. I've worked delivery three times and those jobs tend to be in the minimum wage area. But I've known a lot of servers. The law is that if you make less than minimum wage then your employer has to lift you up to minimum if your tips don't cover the difference. How many companies do this and how many servers request this? I don't know. Doesn't seem to be many. Tips are like being paid under the table if the tips are cash. Fuck those credit card tips; they leave a paper trail. So if you start asking for your three dollars an hour you have to claim all your tips and who wants to be taxed on cash payments? So servers or drivers tend to just eat the loss for slow periods and make it up later during peak hours. It's just easier than chasing an extra three bucks (or fiveish bucks now, hmm...) for a slow shift. The rule of thumb is 15% of your total from the meal. But some restaurants have the servers split their tips with their busboys. Not all restaurants. How can you know? You fucking can't know if this is the policy at a given restaurant unless you ask. The server wouldn't mind. No one working for tips is ever offended by a big tip and if they're splitting tips they probably maybe also want the bussers to get their share. So you make good tips by working the busy weekend dinner shift at Cracker Barrel or at a high end restaurant where 15% is easily at least $15 per table. This gives management leverage to punitively give you a shitty shift if they desire. Because your performance isn't great lately. So this is an argument for tipping. It incentivizes good performance. It also gives the scheduling manager the power to financially kneecap you for any number of petty reasons by sticking you on an afternoon shift where no one is there or just cutting you off from peak performance days of the weak. Maybe you didn't share your fishscale coke with him and he's salty. It's a really shitty system. But not for the reasons you were concerned about. I'm broke as fuck as a rule and I always try to tip more than 15%. People appreciate any extra because it's a grueling, precarious payment system.
Hey thanks for going into detail - I'm definitely interested in how it all works. That is eye-openiing for sure. I think I'm more concerned about someone making $2.12 an hour and relying on tips to stay afloat, along with how you've described they can be punished by having busy shifts taken away from then, but the social aspect of it was definitely why I asked my brother. 15% sounds like a good rule, bump it up when applicable. As usual, Hubski rams home how good I have it in my little corner of the world.
Some observations from a consumer that has never had to work foodservice but has consumed plenty: - Servers on the West Coast make between $7 and $15 an hour plus tips. Some restaurants point this out by noting that a gratuity has been included, or that the final bill will include a 15% gratuity (they can pay wages out of that gratuity). Some don't. - Every service industry fight I've ever heard about (I've worked bars, but not as a server) has been between front of house shafting back of house. Computerized point-of-sale terminals split non-cash stuff based on preset rules; restaurant owners can also get a cut of the tips pretty easily, whether or not it's legal. - Los Angeles servers are trying to make the rule of thumb 20% for mediocre service and 25% for standard service. You will get a credit card receipt suggesting tips for 20%, 25% and 30%. They're also making $10.50 an hour minimum. This has had two effects: (1) I go out to eat very little in LA because fuck y'all (2) counter service and communal tables are super-hip because you can shove more people into the restaurant and pay fewer servers. Fuck communal tables. It was awesome. There's a restaurant in Long Beach where they tried to seat me outside at a communal table and I said I was eating somewhere else. Six months later the communal tables were gone. Fuck communal tables. - Cracker Barrel may rule. Olive Garden sucks. I always try to tip more than 15% too. But if you've convinced yourself that you're entitled to 25% (on an $11 "sangria" made with white wine and a $18 "pizza" that's basically a pita covered in Costco sausage and ragu) I will fuckin' eat tortillas and government cheese you fuckhead. God I fucking hate this city.