“Check please.”
You’ve just finished a delicious meal at a very popular restaraunt. You and your friends have had a nice night out and it’s time to pay your bill and get going. The waiter/waitress comes back with your bill. You take a quick look and hand them your card. They come back a few minutes later with your card, a receipt, and a pen. They thank you for dining at their restaraunt and wish you and your friends a happy evening. You look at the thin piece of paper and it asks how much you will leave for a tip: 18%, 20%, 22%, custom, or gratuity (20%). Your server was very friendly, patient, consistently had your drinks replenished, and got your food out very quickly, even on a packed Friday evening. You decide that they earned it and leave them a 25% tip on a $200 bill. Having worked as a server full time at a busy restaraunt like this last fall, something miniscule like leaving a decent tip can make your whole day.
I believe in tipping. I believe in tipping generously. From my personal experience, being a server isn’t easy like it may seem to those who haven’t worked the profession. You’re on your feet all day, you have to be able to multitask, take care of several different tables at a time, and, the most difficult part, you have to pretend to be nice to people and maintain a friendly and professional appearance. The job may appear to be “simple”, but it is far from easy. It can be very stressful, especially during busy hours, when you can out of nowhere have to take care of 40 different orders all at once without messing anything up. These people are under constant stress while working and they have to hide it under a mask (figuratively), the least you can do is leave a 20% tip. Sure, they may take a little bit to bring your drinks or there might be lettuce when you asked for none, but keep in mind the several other things they have to do along with everything else that is going at the restaraunt whether it’s in the kitchen or at the bar.
Sometimes, leaving a nice tip can make a servers day. This happened to me, as I just starting out. It was one of my first nights working as a server. It was busy; all sections of the restaraunt were packed. As such, I was “in the weeds”. I had six tables, two of which were large parties. Even though I was young and a little inexperienced, I was doing alright. I hadn’t messed up any orders, I had kept everyone’s drinks filled, and I was having friendly conversations with the customers. Still, I wasn’t exactly feeling great. I had already been working for seven hours and my legs and my heels were cramping up. I was losing patience, as three of my tables had finished eating yet had not left, meaning I still had to attend to them. Eventually as it got towards the end of my shift, I began to close out all my tabs. I went to clean up one table and picked up the receipt so I could enter in the tip information. To my surprise, the customer had left me $100 on a $130 bill (77%). I was ecstatic. After several long and tiring hours of putting on a nice, happy face I received a generous tip. In my mind, that made all the suffering of that day worth it because someone noticed my hard work and rewarded me with a little extra.
I believe in tipping your waiter/waitress well. They work long hours while barely being able to sit down or even look at their phone. Most of the money that servers make is from tips and a lot of them, rely on that money to pay for school, bills, or for me two months of traveling. Those long hours can be intense and grueling; even leaving 30% can absolutely change their entire mood. I’ve experienced this myself and with my coworkers. Such a small gesture can change the entire course of another person’s day.
