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Why should i pay $14 to enter the US?

My experiance of waiters/servers seems to fluctuate between being asked if everythings ok (usually right after I have just put some food in my mouth) to being ignored, Which tends to be the time I actually want something.

Of course working in a customer facing enviroment isn't as easy as some might think. Always trying to present a happy face, when you are having the day from hell. I've generally found that people who work in a customer facing field whether that be waiters or retail staff are generally more understanding when things go wrong.

But touching back on the OP's question. Is to actually reverse the question and ask how you would feel if the UK started to charge £14.

True $14 isn't a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. It wouldn't necessarily put me of visiting the US, but paying it and voicing an opinion at the prinicple of the thing are two different things.
 
I do think some waiters in general have unrealistic expectations

That's my original objection. 20% is unrealistic as the standard tip.

That's what has basically been argued here, that regardless of context, 20% is the mandatory acceptable tip and anything below that is shafting someone.
 
I waited tables from high school until 1/3 of the way through law school. It's very hard, both physically and mentally. It's a lot of multi-tasking, actual running around, and customer service. I was really good at it (trained well), but I don't think I could do it now because I don't have the strength to lift heavy trays, the stamina to pull a 7 hour shift, or the memory to keep all the tasks in my head at once.

I start my potential tip at 15%. I do this because I am an inherently difficult table (or have been for the past couple years) in that I dine out with my very well-behaved children. Waiting on family tables is hard; you'll make more trips for drinks, for example. I appreciate when wait staff anticipate stuff that makes my experience easier (wet-naps, a packet of crackers pre-meal, covered cups, removing steak knives), and I'll usually increase my tip based on that. On the other hand, if you leave me waiting forever for a kid's meal, my kid will get cranky and so will I.

Ultimately, if it costs $60 on average for a family meal at a nice but not upscale restaurant, you don't have to do much to make the $3 difference between 15% and 20% just by making my meal pleasant.
 
A waiting job is starting a career, or can be.

I'll admit that's true and it wasn't fair for me to say it couldn't be a career.

There are people that will want to just be a waiter for their entire lives and can make a good living doing so (starting a restaurant/bar/etc is way beyond just being a waiter, so I'm strictly speaking of just being a waiter nothing else)


BUT, I expect people that have chosen it as a career are exceptionally good at it. They have mastered the social interaction (most important) aspect of waiting, and can probably give valid, useful information to the customer regarding the food options at the establishment.

I don't think these people would say, "20% is the MANDATORY tip anything less you are a scumbag and I'll shit in your food next time before I serve it to you."

They don't have to act like that, because they are professional and know how to maximize their gratuity.
 
So what do I do if I encounter very poor service?

Tip them some pocket change so they know you didn't forget, you just thought they were awful.

That's a good idea.
I have been known to leave one penny for very bad service (no refills, absentee server, no check after finished, server appears unsanitary, etc.) I never let a restaurant add the tip onto my bill, because they add the maximum. I choose how much they earned.
True $14 isn't a huge amount in the grand scheme of things. It wouldn't necessarily put me of visiting the US, but paying it and voicing an opinion at the prinicple of the thing are two different things.
Voicing an opinion is fine, being nasty and insulting to the elected leader of the free world is unacceptable.
 
Isn't that the point of college? To get training for a career?

Like, duh. Not sure how you interpreted what I wrote that you needed to include those questions.

TheBrew said:
And college is filled with 'real problems'. Just his biggest problems don't include if he should choose White Cheddar or American Cheddar Cheeze-Balls, doesn't mean his problems are any less real than yours.

:rolleyes:

I see you are stuck on the "college" word in my post. Please show me where I said people don't have real problems in college.

Let me clarify...

if you are on here whining about tips, get a REAL JOB. Start a career. Because a waiting job is just not that stressful (or significant/meaningful) to where people here feel entitled to make $30-$40 an hour for bringing me a cheeseburger and a beer. And that you are going to contaminate my food the next time I come in because I left you 12% instead of the 20% you feel is demanded regardless of service/time/cost/etc.

You implied that he doesn't deal with real problems because he has a college job and proceed to mock him for having a college job instead of a career. That is a massive disconnect from reality. He is working this job so that he can pay for an education to get a career. What do you expect him to do, drop of out school so that he can get a career to earn the privilege to have real problems?

Yes, everyone should have good service as people should behoove themselves to act professionally in their position. However your intense hatred of waiters is disturbing.

So I really only have one question:

Please show us on doll where the waiter touched you?
 
Well, threads like this make hate ignorant non-tippers so it balances out. People who intend to only tip a dollar should tell their server before they get their meal. That way they can get a dollar's worth of service.

Sounds like you need an actual career instead of a college job then.

Deal with real problems and then I'll have sympathy for you.

Well, I'm in law school and working for the Public Defender's Office this summer, so I'll keep that in mind.

It doesn't change the nature of the restaurant service industry. It needs to be viable, which means there needs to be people willing to work there and restaurants have to keep food costs low. I never asked for sympathy, I explained the realities of the industry. I view it as free riding off of expected cultural norms. Service isn't included because they want to make sure that poor servers aren't given full tip. But a certain threshold is expected in normal situations, otherwise the industry would be forced to change to a different system.
 
I don't remember the free world electing Obama. ;)
:lol: Good one.

Still, I'd pay way more than $14 to vote for him instead of my own country's politicians. ;)
I'll vote for him for you.

I'll be expecting my $14 on November 7, 2012. Plus tip, sir. :shifty:

(Given where I live, if I actually did get paid, it would be the most meaningful vote I ever cast. :( Other folks are lucky they don't have federal systems. On the minus side, they have parliaments.)
 
I don't remember the free world electing Obama. ;)
:lol: Good one.

Still, I'd pay way more than $14 to vote for him instead of my own country's politicians. ;)

Well, if there had been elections I would have voted for him, too. He'd probably have received 90% or so of the free world vote, considering how popular he is.


(Given where I live, if I actually did get paid, it would be the most meaningful vote I ever cast. :( Other folks are lucky they don't have federal systems. On the minus side, they have parliaments.)

Uh, aren't parliaments sort of essential to a modern democracy? Assuming you live in the USA, you do have both a parliament and federalism, like some other countries (including my own), by the way.
 
Uh, aren't parliaments sort of essential to a modern democracy? Assuming you live in the USA, you do have both a parliament and a federalism, like some other countries (including my own), by the way.
Now now, don't confuse people with this crazy talk, my friend. How can you expect people to know that Germany is a federal republic? Do you call it the United States of Germania? No? Then, blame your confusing nomenclature for that!
 
You implied that he doesn't deal with real problems because he has a college job and proceed to mock him for having a college job instead of a career. That is a massive disconnect from reality.

Sorry but I don't see that. "Real" problems are usually not job related, but family or friend or whatever.

"Real" business problems are normally more serious then oh that asshole shorted me a dollar.... real business problems are: lawsuits/litigation, performing open heart surgery, etc, etc...

TheBrew said:
He is working this job so that he can pay for an education to get a career. What do you expect him to do, drop of out school so that he can get a career to earn the privilege to have real problems?

Good for him. I expect for him to recognize that 20% is an unrealistically high minimum threshold for tips, and not assume anyone that doesn't give him his "entitled" 20% is an ignorant scumbag.

TheBrew said:
Yes, everyone should have good service as people should behoove themselves to act professionally in their position. However your intense hatred of waiters is disturbing.

And completely made up by you.

TheBrew said:
So I really only have one question:

Please show us on doll where the waiter touched you?

It was on my camel toe!

cameltoe.jpg
 
Good for him. I expect for him to recognize that 20% is an unrealistically high minimum threshold for tips, and not assume anyone that doesn't give him his "entitled" 20% is an ignorant scumbag.

I would say that most servers consider 20% an expected average, not a minimum. We all know we're going to get smaller tips and bigger tips. I never expect to get MORE than a 20% tip. I just expect my average tips for a given shift to come out to about 20%.

Correction: I hope for an average of 20% I expect about 16-17%.
 
Uh, aren't parliaments sort of essential to a modern democracy? Assuming you live in the USA, you do have both a parliament and a federalism, like some other countries (including my own), by the way.
Now now, don't confuse people with this crazy talk, my friend. How can you expect people to know that Germany is a federal republic? Do you call it the United States of Germania? No? Then, blame your confusing nomenclature for that!
:lol:

Shockingly, the FRG is an FR.

Anyway, all I meant was that afaik they don't elect executives in the retarded way they do here. Just a throw away joke about how I throw my votes away.
 
I guessed you were probably referring to the electoral college but I wasn't sure. I also like to be a smart ass. ;)

(And for the record, I usually don't expect people to know that Germany is a federal republic, I'm happy when they associate anything else besides the Nazis with it.)
 
I would say that most servers consider 20% an expected average, not a minimum. We all know we're going to get smaller tips and bigger tips. I never expect to get MORE than a 20% tip. I just expect my average tips for a given shift to come out to about 20%.

Correction: I hope for an average of 20% I expect about 16-17%.

Yeah, ideal average is 20%, expected average is usually 16%, with the compromise of 18%. Once again, this is if the service is satisfactory with no complaints. If you had complaints, that's fine, feel free to drop the amount to something less. That's the beauty of making it added on rather than automatic. If a server could automatically add gratuity as just a service fee, they would probably like that better. Then tips could be just for exemplary service. But that's not how it works.
 
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