Tipping is a Privilege, Not a right. (rant)

[yayi]

Perhaps reading Waiter Rant by John Murray may give one a clearer idea of what tipping means to the servers in restaurants.

 

[esrgirl]

Serving at a fine dining place is a heck of a lot different that serving in a fast foot place! A full service restaurant involves significantly more work. I might wait tables for 7 or 8 hours, but spend 2-4 doing other things in the restaurant. With a nicer restaurant comes significantly more responsibility, including much more training- take it from me- I've worked fine dining, family/casual dining, and fast food. If I have to replace and fold your napkin when you get up, crumb your table, serve food and remove food at the appropriate side, replace your silverware of the marking plate I prepared, take your coat and hang it, bake your bread, whip your butter, bring you damp towels and bowels of water for your fingers, pour your water on the appropriate side of you, etc- the meal will cost a lot more, I am doing a lot more, and thus the 15-20% tip will be higher. Tipping should be between 15-20%, that is the social norm in most parts of the US and is to be expected if the service is good. I do believe that as a server, I would work for the customer. Advocating on behalf of your customer and ensuring they have an excellent time and that if anything beyond your control as a server should happen, you do everything in your power to make up for it. You do need to earn your money : ) If you aren't doing your job right you should and will be compensated by your customer accordingly.