Remember Those Who Serve

By ­­Staff Writer Sabra Hayes

In today’s struggling economy, it is very easy to forget the people who serve. I’m not talking about those who risk their lives in the armed forces, but those who serve in restaurants.

Some of us have trouble trying to figure out how much to tip someone. Others question if a tip should be left at all. Working as a server, I have gained a newfound respect for every one of my co-workers in this under-appreciated industry.

I have noticed that many people have become so obsessed with penny pinching that they forget the basic rule of dining out: leave a tip. Most servers only make $2.13 an hour. This is drastically below minimum wage and you can bet that most servers work for every penny of that $2.13.

Many people do not know that tips are taxed. Every server is required to tip out the busers and the bar staff at the end of every shift. The tips, including cash tips, must also be declared on the timecard.

The taxes on tips apply just as they would to any other pay check. I doubt that very many people stop to consider just how much of the tip they leave actually makes it into their server’s pocket.

With the economy in a recession, people are more interested in saving money than spending it. Those in the service industry are getting gypped because customers are spending as little as possible on a meal.

What needs to be understood is that those of us who work in the food service industry cannot get by solely on an hourly wage; we need and work hard for those tips to support ourselves and pay our bills.

The typical patron underestimates the workload expected of servers. Not only are they responsible for cleaning your table, bringing your drinks and food and ensuring your overall dining experience is a pleasant one, they are expected to serve in the exact same manner for all of their other tables. If customers are worried about spending money then they should skip dining out altogether.

I’d like to tell you a story. Back in the 1930s, when an ice cream sundae cost much less than it does today, a ten-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table.

A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” asked the little boy. “Fifty cents,” said the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins he had.

“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he asked. By now, more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing very impatient. “Thirty-five cents,” she replied abruptly. The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry. As she wiped down the table, there sat neatly beside the empty dish, two nickels and five pennies. You see, he didn’t order the sundae because he wouldn’t have had enough money to leave her a tip.