:eek: Where are you guys living??!! I worked as a waitress and I was making $5.90 per hour (minimum wage) plus tips. I never got more than 8 bucks a night in tips, unless I got a really really nice group of customers.
It depends on the place whether or not you should tip for takeout. Where I was working there were 2 waitresses and one cook, that’s it. The cook cooked and did dishes. The waitresses took orders, got drinks, served customers, took take-out orders, took up room service (it was in a small hotel), cleaned the restauraunt, did prep (drink machine’s, side servings, pop cooler, desserts, roll-ups of forks and such for takeout and room service), etc. This place wasn’t always busy during the evenings, when I worked, but it could be. I was always nice and everything but it’s annoying when people walk out without leaving a tip. Take-out I didn’t expect it so much but the waitresses had to do most of the take-out stuff, as well as usual duties.
If you know they don’t have enough people on all the time, or take up a lot of the waitresses time it might be a good idea to tip. I always tip unless I truly cannot afford it, not usually so much on take-out though as I rarely do takeout. If I went back to the restauraunt I worked at for take-out I would do it, but I don’t go there much as the food wasn’t that good.
Obsidian - I worked in the Chicago area, both in the city and in the surrounding suburbs. I “retired” from the business eight years ago, so it’s possible that the minimum wage for waitstaff has gone up since then. But, in the *fifteen years *I waited tables and tended bar, the minimum wage went from 2.01 to 2.35. I couldn’t tell you my average per night tips, since I worked in so many different restaurants and positions, but, the last year I worked full time (40 hours) with my 2.35 hourly wage and my tips, my net income for the year was $35,000. Not too bad, really, considering it was eight years ago.
Obsidian - I worked in the Chicago area, both in the city and in the surrounding suburbs. I “retired” from the business eight years ago, so it’s possible that the minimum wage for waitstaff has gone up since then. But, in the *fifteen years *I waited tables and tended bar, the minimum wage went from 2.01 to 2.35. I couldn’t tell you my average per night tips, since I worked in so many different restaurants and positions, but, the last year I worked full time (40 hours) with my 2.35 hourly wage and my tips, my net income for the year was $35,000. Not too bad, really, considering it was eight years ago.
I live in Canada. We all get minimum wage +tips to make it a decent salary, but it wasn’t all the same. Glad I’m not working as a waitress now as I wouldn’t be able to make ends meet at this time, as I recently left the family abode. Before it was just for spending money I was working, now it’s for bills.
And our boss was a bit of a cheapskate, that’s why there were only 2 people on in the restauraunt at night. There was a couple of times I worked my ass off because the other person didn’t show up, and then I got fired for not pulling my weight :rolleyes:
I’m in the Dallas, Texas area. In your case, you were getting minimal tips, so they had to pay you minimum wage or a bit more.
In the case of my friend, after deductions a two week paycheck might be $20 to $40. Then you have the managers who “shave” hours (at $2.13 per) to make their numbers look better. Or they do a “paid out” where they may ring $0.01 and a $200 tip to get some petty cash. The server then has to claim taxes for $200 that they didn’t get.
My friend gets pretty goods tips, but some days are really dead and she’s not getting rich by any means.
I used to wait tables while I was a student, and was only paid $2/hour. My measly paycheck was taxed based on an assumed 15% of all sales receipts, including take-out orders, so my take home pay on non-tip wages worked out to about $1/hour. I was expected to share my tips with the busboys (who made minimum wage) and the bartenders (who made better tips than I did).
Assembling take-out orders in a regular sit-down restaurant takes you away from your regular tipping (paying) customers, even if just for a little while.
I tip on take outs, if it’s from a regular restaurant, and the order was handled by a bartender or waitstaff. Certainly less than I tip for a sit down meal, but usually 10%, depending on the quality of service provided, of course.
Wow, TMWSTER, your busboys were pampered! My first ever job was bussing tables at a very busy 24 hr pancake house. Servers and bussers all made 2.01 an hour, and the servers had to give bussers enough tips to make minimum wage. But if that was all you got, you weren’t doing a very good job–the senior server would tell you so, too. The harder you worked, the more the servers would reward you. Once I got the hang of it, I did pretty well. I can only assume that the servers were making enough to give me those decent tips. But this place was insanely busy on the weekend (the only time they scheduled bussers), so it wouldn’t surprise me that tips on the weekends were pretty good generally.
I think most people don’t realize that waiters make so little, and that so much of their actual earnings are dependent on tips. Most people I’ve talked to think “minimum wage” is required for everybody, and that tips are somehow just gravy. They’re not–they’re a good part of a waiter’s income.
In Canada (as far as I know) you can’t pay anyone less than minimum wage, even if they are making tips. The restauraunt I was working at the best tips were made by the breakfast shift, as lots of people would come in around that time. Another major reason why we didn’t have many tips was because of the vouchers. The hotel and the restauraunt have an agreement with the reserves so a lot of native’s come in with the vouchers for a hotel room and food so they can do what they need to do (generally it was medical stuff, sometimes just people who wanted to do shopping and such). They usually never bring money with them (or if they do they didn’t tip) and just use the vouchers.
I always treated them just like I would any other customer, but it was always fun when we’d get some belligerent voucher holders in there. They were usually the ones who had brought money to be able to drink in the lounge (vouchers didn’t work there), and no matter how pleasant we were to them they would never tip. It was also interesting having all the guys hitting on me, but then I suppose waitresses get that all the time. That was my only waitressing job ever so I don’t have something to compare with.
I was having the same thoughts, O. Flutterby. Here in Calgary, the average wait person makes about $6-8 bucks an hour judging from the want ads, and most Calgarians tip around 15% plus. I think all you American wait people should move to Canada. Get the same percentage in tips, plus an (almost) decent wage. You would be working in a restaurant/bar the day you got here - there is a severe shortage of service industry people here. (Yeah, I know - that’s all in Canadian dollars. But so are all your bills and expenses, eh?)
Actually featherlou Alberta is one of the worst places for tips, and pay scale*. Any other province tips better AND pays better. Not all of them are insanely expensive to live in either. And not all Canadian’s are nice… I should know I’ve worked as waitstaff! Kidding aside, people are nice but you can find your belligerent ones. I’ve had quite a few of those but managed to be polite even when I wanted to smack them or something (perfected that with the family when they piss me off)
[sub]*This coming from a friend I made of the bartender who worked the lounge in the hotel. She was originally from Montreal, moved to Whistler then to Alberta and back to Montreal (where I lost contact with her). She worked as bar/wait staff in 3 seperate provinces, at least, and she said the worst was Alberta, the best was BC. She also said she got to use more French working in Whistler than she did in Montreal.[/sub]
Well, there you go - all of Canada has better pay and tips for service staff than the US. And in places not Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary, you can afford to live, as well.
(BTW, keep it down about not all Canadians being nice - don’t want to let the truth get out. Much more fun to keep perpetuating the stereotype.)
I had to revisit the OP. If I drive up to a place and they bring the take out to my car, then obviously the person is performing an actual service. It’s fair to assume that the person is working for tips, rather than getting paid at least minimum wage.
But in the OP, the person was just picking up take out. If I go to the counter at Pizza Hut and simply pick up an order I’ve placed, why on earth would I pay the cashier extra for this privilege? Why not just have them deliver it?
Now, getting take out from a restaraunt like the 99’s or Outback is a little different. They are packaging up your food and bringing it to your car for you, so I think a buck or two on a $30 meal would be appropriate.
Kidding aside, people are nice but you can find your belligerent ones. I’ve had quite a few of those but managed to be polite even when I wanted to smack them or something (perfected that with the family when they piss me off)