So about this young lady who was fired for posting the receipt left out at the restaurant. I have many feelings about the topic being currently employed as a waitress and faced with the daily barrage of "will they won't they tip me" and what can I do to kiss their ass enough to get paid. While everyone must kiss ass at their job to some extent waiting requires a special skill. I need to convince a customer that nothing makes me happier than serving their needs. We servers allow ordinary people to feel privileged. We are less servers and more servants, to be treated as such, ordered about without any courtesies and belittled and/or stiffed for the slightest mistake or perceived slight. The number of times I have had to explain that the reason that the table across the way got their food first isn't because I like them better or I am giving them special treatment it is because their food came out of the kitchen first. Maybe it was easier to fix, or maybe they are out of something for your meal and are waiting for kitchen prep to bring it. And maybe, just maybe, in an effort to make sure your food didn't come out before your salads were done I held your ticket and put it in after the table next to you because they didn't eat salads. There are a lot of reasons that don't involve me doing anything wrong. But maybe I did make a mistake. Everyday, in every job people make mistakes. In some jobs (like those in the medical field, driving school bus and the like) mistakes can be lethal and are thus less tolerated but no other field allows for your boss to pay you randomly on a daily basis for your performance. And it is often random. Perhaps I didn't smile enough, or maybe I didn't get the refill fast enough. Maybe I opted to run someone's hot food before bringing you your third refill. Or, God forbid, there is a real problem, a mis-cooked steak or rejected food item that must be corrected and then the whole house of cards that is a dinner rush comes tumbling down. There are many reasons why you may not feel you received enough attention from your server but too many people enjoy (and they do enjoy it, makes them feel powerful in a world where most of the time they are powerless) the ability to hold back pay for any reason or no reason.

What bothers me most in this case is that there are so many options now a days for people who don't like to tip. These people feel that tipping should not be a part of eating out. Fast food restaurants are no longer the only choice. Just about every restaurant offers take out and although a server is sometimes involved in putting it together and it is nice when people tip for carry out there is no expectation of a tip. If you feel that a tip should not be a part of the dining experience then you should take your food home with you, serve it yourself and get your own drink refills. Servers are responsible for an overall dining experience, they are often held accountable for the quality of the food as well as their service which sometimes leads to arguments with the kitchen staff trying to meet the customers needs. I am the customers advocate and I take that personally which is why I take being stiffed personally as well.

Every day, (Every day) people stiff or undertip, generally for no reason other than their unwillingness to pay for service. Servers are like independent contractors working at the restaurants, tips make up the bulk of their income. Income can be very good (I do better waiting tables then is currently being offered in my field, laboratory technician) but I would trade the better pay for full time wages that can not be whimsically withheld for some reason like, oh I don't know, my tip for running around serving you exceeds what you currently pay your omnipotent sky daddy. Nobody is asking for ten percent of everything you make, just a percentage of what you spent in my restaurant. Large parties required extra effort, not only taking orders, and keeping drinks full but coordinating all the meals to be delivered accurately and together, to assure that the server is adequately compensated the restaurant does the math for you. If you feel the service was poor you may complain to the manager and if they agree you may find the tip removed but just because you resent tipping is not a good reason not to tip. I wonder if the pastor would allow her parishioners to stiff the church if they didn't like the idea of tithing. Perhaps she would suggest that they watch church TV instead.

But lets not forget something here, the young lady was fired for "outing" the pastor who felt comfortable not only refusing to tip at all (not even matching the ten percent she gives to God) but venting her resentment in the form of a curt note left specifically for the server not the restaurant, since she used the personal pronoun "you", and then became upset when the server shared that personal note left for her with her co-workers who then shared it with everyone. The note didn't belong to the restaurant, even though it was written on the receipt, it was "addressed" to the server based on the personal pronoun and was hers to do as she saw fit. Yadda Yadda Yadda about the "We have a policy that allows up to fire our employees for posting bad stuff on the internet." The restaurant didn't have to fire the server and could defended her because the customer was rude and was obviously not worried about people knowing it was her since she wrote it on the receipt rather than, say, simply refusing to pay and verbally explaining to the manager thus allowing her to maintain privacy. No, she felt proud and justified and her pride lead her to being called out. If people hadn't try to shame her I believe she would have continue to be proud of her action. She should have felt ashamed but instead she was enraged that she wasn't allowed to be callous and rude in private, despite her public actions.

To the server I say, I'm sorry, it shouldn't be how it is but until people demand change it is what it is and we must eat it no matter how bitter the taste.

To the pastor I say, shame on you, pride is a sin you should work on eliminating but first, try and learn compassion.

And to everyone else I say, please tip your servers.

I wish you Peace

~alison~

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