As a waitress I make a whopping $2.13 per hour. Naturally if business is slow on any given day, the hourly wage combined with number of tips received does not add up to a very formidable amount of money. Since there is no set schedule for servers, on low volume days the staff on duty is systematically reduced over the course of the shift to accommodate the fewer number of patrons.
I’m pretty fixed as far as the hours I am able to work so often times I am one of the first servers to be removed from the rotation. Every day is different, and occasionally the short shifts work to my advantage.
I have been a server for 4 1/2 years now with the same restaurant. I would consider myself an above-average waitress and while working in the Boston area, I had always felt rewarded for my efforts with generous tips (20% or better on average).
As I have mentioned in my “about site,” my familiy and I have recently moved southward, and upon transferring to a new restaurant, I have quickly discovered that tipping well is the exeception in this area, not the rule, even for great service.
Day after day I am disappointed while cross-examining my sales to tip ratio and find myself wondering how 900 miles can make such a vast difference in the percent people tip. I have always been under the impression that 15 % is the standard, with up to 20% or more if the guest felt the service was exceptional.
As a matter of fact, I have done a little web-research and found that most sites with rules for tipping etiquette state that very same thing:
http://www.tipping.org/tips/TipsPageRestaurant.html
http://msms.essortment.com/propertippinge_rmuv.htm
http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/hhsnew/academics/gt/ch10.html
I’m sure I could find a thousand more links for this, but I believe the point is made. Certainly, people must be well aware of what is expected, and more appropriately put, deserved. Servers work very hard for the tips they earn, and the $2.13 (+) per hour they are afforded by the restaurant is definitely not a just reward.
