I’ve never worked as a waiter, but I have friends that have or still do…that being said, they’ve stated the stereotype is true. My friends that are servers are white men and women.
It makes me wonder, does race make a difference to the PATRON? Meaning, will a black patron tip a black server more than white? Will a white patron tip a white server more than a black server?
I personally walk into a resturant with the intent of tipping 25% no matter what the sex or race of the server is. Going above and beyond the call of duty will increase the tip in 5% increments. Less than expected service will reduce the tip in 5% intervals.
I bartend now; back when I waited tables, yes, it was generally true that I and most of my co-workers were not expecting much when we had an AA table.
We were all pleasantly surprised when we did get a good tip.
I worked with an AA co-worker who used to tip out the hostess not to give him any AA tables. He said it was nothing personal, he just wanted to make money.
Again, though, African Americans are not the only people in this category in a waiter’s mind…FoieGrasIsEvil makes the valid point that lots of “categories” of people are not known for their stellar tipping abilities. A table full of middle-aged women, regardless of their race, is perhaps one of the least popular tables on record. At least IME. Particularly if they want split checks.
As a waiter you can’t help but form opinions based on your experience; you will be proved right frequently and of course there will always be those people who surprise you.
Which, as a tipped employee is generally what I find. Fewer tip, but the ones that do, tend to tip very well. I also think it could be more of a SE class thing as I’ve noticed the ones with better jobs tend to tip much better.
NONE are as bad as rich older ladies though. :rolleyes:
“I think it is the waiters who are pushing this propaganda. All of my friends of all races do this (or a little more).”
This last sentence in my original post should have read, “All of my friends of all races tip in the 15-20% range (or a little more) all the time,” not meaning to imply they push the “let’s go to 25%” agenda.
20% is the normal tip these days. AA tend to be outliers more than anything. I’ve gotten bad tips from all sorts of people, but my best (and some of my worst) tips have come from Black people. In the end, it probably works out about the same as most other groups (maybe slightly less). I think it kinda depends on what type of restaurant you work at. Some places are less conducive to getting exceptional tips. Most people at a casual dining restaurant will not leave a %50+ tip for a few reasons:
People with that kind of tipping philosophy generally don’t go to casual dining restaurants (ie. Friday’s, Ruby Tuesday’s) because they want the higher level of service and better food that is generally available at higher end restaurants.
Most chain restaurants don’t give a waiter the opportunity to truly provide excellent service. They don’t provide an extensive alcohol or food selection, nor do they allow for a leisurely dining experience. To make money in that sort of system you need to turn tables as quickly as possible.
Since (I think) most waiters work in those types of restaurants, I think they see more of the bad side of AA tipping proclivities, and fewer outstanding tips. I also think that many waiters don’t really expect to get good tips from AA, so they don’t give as good of service.
I worked at a lot of different restaurants in Virginia when I was younger as a cook. I can tell you the wait staff certainly had this perception, but as a cook, I can’t say if it is true or not. A lot of these places had a pretty strong racist vibe in them, so you would hear all kinds of nasty things about all kinds of people.
Former server here. Some of the best tips I ever got were from black people. And so were some of the worst tips.
It’s such a weird thing, but if I had to generalize (and I don’t really like generalize, but you’re asking for it, so I’ll attempt to), I’d say white folks were more likely to go with a “standard” 15-20% tip, while sometimes I would get VERY generous, 25-30% tips from black folks, and other times terrible, 10% or less tips.
But regardless of race, and apparently even service, tips can really be all over the map.
It would end up costing most people slightly less. The cost of tips would be averaged out over all the customers, meaning that those who would not leave a tip, or who would leave a tiny tip, would end up paying more. Those who would normally leave a tip would therefore pay slightly less than before. (Assuming we’re keeping the overall money earned by waitstaff constant, and also assuming that most people tip at least 15% or so.)
You said you’ve heard black people justify their not tipping, or tipping poorly (you didn’t specify) by saying their ancestors were underpaid workers (or slaves, as I assume is implied by your “many had it much, much worse off”).
How is what I said worthy of rolleyes? If that’s the real reason, it suggests deliberate payback for past injustices.
Hmmm…almost every single member of my Irish-American family has been in a service industry at one time or another, usually as waiters or in retail stores (and when my grandmothers first came to this country, as housemaids) and in response, knowing what it’s like to have such jobs, we all overtip and treat service personnel like decent human beings.
That said, we can also tell when poor service is due to somebody getting slammed by patrons or the expeditor management or somebody just goofing off and our tips also reflect that. However, that rarely happens, as they can often tell we’ve been there and we know how to order/buy in a way that makes it easiest for them.
FWIW, the “black’s don’t tip” meme is alive and well here in NY too, and I’ve heard it from Asians and Latinos as well as whites.
I’m not sure why it is worth determining which “race” is the best tipper. Do blonds tip better? Reheads? Tall people?
What really is unfair is to judge someone from another country as undertipping because she or he tips only 10 percent. Cultural norms vary. Perhaps he is doing what is normal and natural in his own country. When I was in Paris, I discovered quickly that I was overtipping and was being impolite. It takes a while to adjust to other ways of doing things.
I leave a 20 percent tip for reasonable service and more for outstanding service. I don’t include the tax when determining the percentage and I leave a penny for extremely poor or rude service. (I don’t blame the waiter for cold or slow food, however.)
I also make it a point to commend good service to the management or owner and I am pleasant to the server.
The best service ever was in one of Denmark’s nicer restaurants. I was there when smoking was still common. If I took a cigarette out and put it to my mouth, the waiter was there with a light. I have never seen anything like it. I supposed he waited on no other table but ours. It was explained to me at the time that he was especially trained for table service as if it were a profession.
True, but there are a few problems with this way of doing things:
There is a misalignment of goals. In today’s system, a waiter’s goals are to serve as much food as possible while providing good service. The restaurant’s goals are roughly the same. If waiters were paid by the hour, they no longer have as much incentive to do either. As a result of high labor costs, restaurants would cut back on the number of waiters ont he floor at any given time, resulting in worse service overall.
There is a limit to how much people will pay for things. I realize people would be paying roughly the same thing now, but it’s a different thing psychologically to pay it up front. Casual dining restaurants would have a problem selling $15 hamburgers when plenty of places like Fuddruckers sell the same thing for half the price. Those restaurants would have a harder time selling beer for $6-$8 a pop as opposed to $5 or so.
How could you overtip? I mean, I understand undertipping being offensive in some circumstances, but I can’t imagine being like “ugh, you rude American, you gave me too much money!”
Yeah, IMHO, the point of tipping is to allow market forces to determine one’s rate of pay. Server ‘A’ busts her ass all night tending to everyone’s needs her patrons would hopefully tend more towards the 20-25% bracket. Server ‘B’ doesn’t care and spends half her time out back having a smoke, the service is NOT as good, so she would be more likely to get only 10-15%.
Seems obvious at first, but I think the important implication is that a tip is not “just a little something extra.” It is expected income that the patron is afforded the opportunity to dole out in proportions they see appropriate. While a “no-tipping” society would be easier, the slacker would get paid just as much as someone actually working.
Hell, my ancestors were raped by marauding Slavic tribesmen. So every time I see someone with a Russian accent, I’m going to kick him in the nuts. Payback’s a bitch.
I’m normally the one defending the French against the lame “Freedom Fries”-caliber francophobia of my co-workers and family members—but if this is true, I may have to start hating them too.
People overseas tend to get insulted when people overtip because it is seen as “showing off.” As in, I am a great rich American so I will throw you poor europeon waitstaff a bone since I have sooo much money. They think we are flaunting our superiority, when in reality, we are trying to avoid offending people.
That always reminds me of that Dave Barry article about how to spot Americans in Europe. There are the ones in sneakers trying to figure out how much to tip, or something like that…
How could you overtip? I mean, I understand undertipping being offensive in some circumstances, but I can’t imagine being like “ugh, you rude American, you gave me too much money!”