The Jumping Off Point

Karma, the silent Killer!

gra·tu·i·ty (gra-too-it-ee) n. pl. gra·tu·i·ties
A gift or reward, usually of money, for services rendered; tip(s).

In Utah, and many other states, servers DO NOT get paid hourly minimum wage; we get paid $2.13 per hour. Without tips, minimum wage is $7.25 per hour (Federal Minimum Wage). This works out just fine because we make enough in tips that we make more than minimum wage most of the time. 

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HOWEVER…. here are some realities about Gratuity that people tend to be ignorant of:

In most cases, a server’s hourly wage will only cover a portion of their income taxes (aka they get VOID paychecks). Your gratuity becomes whatever additional amount they owe in taxes before it actually affects their ACTUAL income. 

No matter which restaurant you go to, when you take a table, that table is assigned to one server. That table is part of a section that that server is allotted to provide service to the restaurant’s guests. Typically (in most restaurants I’ve worked in) a server is assigned 2-5 tables. When you take a table in their section, you just became 1/2 to 1/5th of their income for that hour or two.

On average, a good tip is 15-20% or more if you felt they earned it. Servers EARN their income through tips. KARMA would compel you to reward their efforts if they deserve it (which is why the government allows companies to pay them well below Federal Minimum Wage). Most restaurants set automatic gratuity (usually for parties of over 6 or 7 people) around 18% because that is generally accepted as an appropriate tip percentage for moderate to good service provided to a table.

If you can’t afford to tip accordingly based on the amount of food you buy, perhaps you should assess whether or not you should try a different restaurant that is more within your budgetary constraints; because, clearly you can’t afford the service that goes along with the food. Cheap people get cheap service.

When you “stiff” a server by not tipping. Not only are you a terrible human being for violating their livelihood, but KARMA will provide you the proper consequences for your inhumanity for robbing that server of money they needed to pay their bills or buy their children food or pay for their education (or shit, to buy the gas it takes to get them back to work the next day). 

When you “dine and ditch”, not only are you stealing food from that company, you’ve essentially raped that server of their ability to earn income from that table for the amount of time you chose to maintain your farce prior to committing your CRIME!

DO NOT just tip a server terribly for bad service! Talk to their manager! If you felt they provided you with absolutely horrid service, they need to be coached, retrained, reprimanded, or simply fired. By just tipping crappy, you are not only exacting pointless retribution, but you’re also allowing the terrible service to continue on to the next guests that get served by that server. Say something! Because then, when you tip a shitty tip, the server understands why and THEY then must face the reality of the situation.

That said, when you tip bad without reason, you’re just an ugly person inside and out.

For some reason, people are afraid to tip more than $20. With more than 2 or 3 people in your party, it is easy to rack up a bill higher than $100 (assuming 20% gratuity). In some cases, it’s easy to go over $200 when buying meals for an entire family… With automatic gratuity, your included tip would be $36; imagine in your head what someone would actually tip if the gratuity weren’t included (I promise you it would be somewhere closer to $20-$24 which would be a 10-12% tip). No bueno!

When you sit at a table for hours after you’ve finished your $20 meal, that $5 tip you left doesn’t cut it. For each hour you sit at a table chit-chatting with your girlfriend or parents or boss/coworker, your server needs an additional $5.12 per hour just to make minimum wage. Even if you’re only taking up one of their (lets say) 3 tables, that’s still an additional $1. 70 PER HOUR contribution to the server’s tip that YOU need to make to compensate for “camping” their table making it impossible for them to use it to earn their living. 

Also, after your party of 15 people have finished their food and paid and you choose to “camp” for several more hours, you need to be mindful that you may possibly be “camping” your servers ENTIRE section… that translates into them basically making NOTHING for those several hours that you chose to “camp”. KARMA would compel you provide an additional $5.12 PER HOUR to ensure your server at least made minimum wage for those SEVERAL EXTRA HOURS. Otherwise, you’re stealing from your server you dirty, selfish person.

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I know that’s a lot to take in and a lot of it is mostly venting. But don’t think I’m just making things up. These are issues that hit, no, SLAM servers in the face nearly every day. Serving isn’t easy. It takes patience, timing, balance, and a shit-ton of tolerance. The people of the world are not generally nice and people in the service industry tend to receive the brunt of it. If we can all learn to be nicer and more generous and set a goal for ourselves to not screw each other over all the time, maybe, JUST MAYBE, the world will be a little less bleak.

ILY <3