I checked out this article about how to get a drink at a busy bar. Apparently what you have to do is tip. Generously.
The author, an experienced bartender, says that his favorite customer is a guy who hands him a $20 bill after paying for his first drink. He then takes care of the guy for the rest of the night, since the guy has taken care of him.
The comments section became an argument between people who’ve worked in the service industry and people who hate tipping.
I’ve always thought that if you’re going to go out to a restaurant or bar, then tipping is a part of the cost. If you don’t want to tip, then just don’t go. I feel this way even though I don’t like the whole practice of tipping.
Some of the commenters say that those tips are how they pay their bills, and you’re stiffing them if you don’t tip them well. Okay, but all the guy at the bar wants is a drink. You’re telling him that he’s got to make sure you can pay your mortgage, too?
Some people might wonder, “How does your employer get away with paying you less than minimum wage, anyway?”
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the employer of a tipped employee has to pay only $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage, if the employee retains all tips, and if the employee’s tips are at least $30 a month.
Otherwise, the employer has to make up the difference.
“Well, how is this okay?” I wondered. One explanation I read is that this subminimum wage system assures employment for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to work.
For people who work for tips, all of this is, indeed, serious business. So I get why servers and bartenders love generous tippers.
By the way, bartenders want you to know that phone numbers don’t count.
3
20
20
20
I wonder if all these people who get tips and need tips to pay the bills… I wonder if they tip people who work at McDonalds or if they tip janitors at movie theatres. In case people haven’t been paying attention those people could use extra money too. The whole thing with tipping is that generally people only tip at certain types of employment and not others while there are plenty of people at various forms of emplowment who could use tips. And so I am disgusted by these people who work at places where they say they need and expect tips because chances are they don’t tip people at McDonalds.