# Waiter/waitress rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357 "2010-05-31T06:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/261 "2010-08-10T19:07:29Z")
> [@lexi](#): > > I usually go to tiny neighbourhood places, somewhere between 10 and 18 tables, some don’t even have POS systems (bills are on carbon paper or on these tiny yellow pads, and in a handwritten code for each item), some use old relics of cash registers with buttons for each menu item, so I know not every restaurant has a POS which makes it easy to split a bill - but as I said before, even if it is not easy, a server should always accommodate the request. I would think that little yellow pads with carbon paper would be the easiest system to get individual bills in. Write up one tab for each person. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/262 "2010-08-10T19:48:46Z")
Tossing a little fuel on the fire… So tipping from at least 18%-20% is customary per this board, right? Custom is defined by the collective populace, right? The collective population includes stingy old folks, stingy folks of different social/ethnic minority, stingy tourists, stingy philosophy majors ;), and so on. The 20% and over crowd are really the high-end outliers in my experience. So why does the custom dictate the tipping practice based on the right hand extreme of the tipping bell curve? Why not the mean/median? Just because disgruntled-ex-waitstaff-person-X insists that anything less than 20% is a stoning offense doesn’t justify that being set as the social custom line. Tip table: Old folks: 5% and a piece of Bazooka-Joe gum and a “What a nice dear, you should meet my grandson” comment. Ex-waitstaff: 25%, an obligatory tale of their work experience to others at the table while presenting the receipt with a flourish, and a background hallelujah chorus performed by the sous-chefs barbershop-quartet style. Happy medium: 10-15% ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/263 "2010-08-10T19:50:21Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > > [@lexi](#): > > > > I usually go to tiny neighbourhood places, somewhere between 10 and 18 tables, some don’t even have POS systems (bills are on carbon paper or on these tiny yellow pads, and in a handwritten code for each item), some use old relics of cash registers with buttons for each menu item, so I know not every restaurant has a POS which makes it easy to split a bill - but as I said before, even if it is not easy, a server should always accommodate the request. > > I would think that little yellow pads with carbon paper would be the easiest system to get individual bills in. Write up one tab for each person. In theory, yes - but some chefs can be sticklers for how a table of orders are written up, and if they are like the one german chef I worked with at a hotel, he would request that you rewrite the orders all together for a table so he knew which orders went together. Personally when I waited tables, most of my issues were not with customers, not with separate tabs, and not even with rude or insane customers who were cruel to the staff, but with other staff. You get a chef who’s worked in top hotel’s worldwide who thinks he’s god’s gift to the industry, and freaks out if a customer finds a problem, legitimate or not with the food, and then you throw in clueless restaurant managers who have never waited a table or cooked in their lives, and a few older servers who thought they were the pillars of the restaurant who truly believe that if ever they were to leave the place, the whole company would topple - then you add in the alcoholic bartender and a couple of servers who dated for 6 months who have recently broke up, and the married banquet manager who is sleeping with the married waitress, and the 40 year old cook who hits on every female server under 21. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/264 "2010-08-10T19:57:52Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > So tipping from at least 18%-20% is customary per this board, right? 15% is standard and expected in the U.S. at this time. I tip 20% because I can afford it and I remember how much difference a few extra dollars made when I had a job where I had some extra income from tips. IMO if you’re tipping less than 15%, you got poor service, you’re an old person who hasn’t looked at the economy since 1955, or you’re a cheap asshole. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/265 "2010-08-10T20:25:59Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Oh, well \*everybody \*knows that. Funny story, actually–it’s how Black people get their skin color. It isn’t really melanin. They actually suck all the pigment out of dollar bills. But they can’t control it, so it happens at really random times, so suddenly they’re left with a wallet that’s half-full of worthless pieces of paper. It’s quite embarassing, really. > > :rolleyes: [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1329241](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1329241) ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/266 "2010-08-10T20:32:41Z")
Black culture in the U.S. isn’t monolithic. There \*is \*a difference between “on average, Black people tip less than white” and “Black people are shitty tippers.” ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/267 "2010-08-10T21:55:13Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Black culture in the U.S. isn’t monolithic. There \*is \*a difference between “on average, Black people tip less than white” and “Black people are shitty tippers.” But that _would_ mean that, overall, black people tip less well than do white people; ergo (and speaking in general terms, of course), black people are, to put it colloquially, shittier tippers than are white people. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/268 "2010-08-10T22:23:05Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Tossing a little fuel on the fire… > > So tipping from at least 18%-20% is customary per this board, right? Custom is defined by the collective populace, right? The collective population includes stingy old folks, stingy folks of different social/ethnic minority, stingy tourists, stingy philosophy majors ;), and so on. The 20% and over crowd are really the high-end outliers in my experience. Well, the IRS doesn’t care about collective customs when it takes taxes, and the reason for tipping creep is because restaurants try really hard to keep the cost of a plate down. A 15% tip on a $10 burger in 1980 went further than a 15% tip on an $10.95 burger in 2010. Even in places where meal prices have shot up with inflation, it’s usually in areas where the cost of gas, rent, utilities, insurance, tuition etc. have shot up right past inflation. Food for thought. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/269 "2010-08-10T22:42:01Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Well, the IRS doesn’t care about collective customs when it takes taxes, and the reason for tipping creep is because restaurants try really hard to keep the cost of a plate down. A 15% tip on a $10 burger in 1980 went further than a 15% tip on an $10.95 burger in 2010. Even in places where meal prices have shot up with inflation, it’s usually in areas where the cost of gas, rent, utilities, insurance, tuition etc. have shot up right past inflation. > > Food for thought. Yep. About 5 years ago, former Doper and Mod **manhattan** , who worked in the financial sector and followed these sorts of stats, addressed this issue. I made an observation about the problems of tipping creep, and he noted: > [@Should we tip servers in fancy restaurants more than servers in cheaper ones?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-tip-servers-in-fancy-restaurants-more-than-servers-in-cheaper-ones/283973/48): > > Ah. But over the last several years, food inflation has been less than inflation generally and the food-away-from-home index has been growing more slowly still – the result of enormous competition in the industry. So some percentage creep on the tip has been necessary to keep real server wages constant. We’re starting to see some indications that the restaurant cost index is now moving up more quickly than general inflation, primarlily as some of the quick serve and casual-dining chains finally give in and try to pass through higher protein costs. It’ll be interesting to see if the trend continues and what, if anything, will be the public’s reaction as regards a “standard” tip. ---
**Author:** ![Acantha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Acantha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acantha)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/270 "2010-08-11T02:32:37Z")
Actually, shotfromguns, the subject of the thread was _If you’re a waiter, waitress, or otherwise serve food at a restaurant or eatery, feel free to post here and let off some steam._ So it would seem \*your \* rants about how waiters need to split checks are off topic. Start your own thread if you want to bitch about how much waiters and waitresses suck because they don’t kiss your ass just so. You might want to wipe the spit off your screen also. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/271 "2010-08-11T03:17:45Z")
> [@Acantha](#): > > Actually, shotfromguns, the subject of the thread was _If you’re a waiter, waitress, or otherwise serve food at a restaurant or eatery, feel free to post here and let off some steam._ > > So it would seem \*your \* rants about how waiters need to split checks are off topic. > > Start your own thread if you want to bitch about how much waiters and waitresses suck because they don’t kiss your ass just so. > > You might want to wipe the spit off your screen also. The discussion hasn’t been about the stated topic in ages, doll. And as it’s not been deemed worthy of closing or other such admonition by any of the mods, you might want to stick to the topic at hand (which has grown larger than the OP’s (who hasn’t made an appearance in this thread in ages, either) initial intended discussion topic), instead of bomplaining about the thread going off topic because your nose got put a tad out of joint, and, as such, coming off as a silly person. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/272 "2010-08-11T13:53:11Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > But that _would_ mean that, overall, black people tip less well than do white people; ergo (and speaking in general terms, of course), black people are, to put it colloquially, shittier tippers than are white people. If you can’t understand why “Black people are shitty tippers” is racist while “Black people are more likely to be shitty tippers than white people” is an observation of fact, there’s not much more I can say. > [@Acantha](#): > > Actually, shotfromguns, the subject of the thread was _If you’re a waiter, waitress, or otherwise serve food at a restaurant or eatery, feel free to post here and let off some steam._ > > So it would seem \*your \* rants about how waiters need to split checks are off topic. Apparently you are fucking retarded, so I’m going to explain this to you slowly. Threads can have more than one topic under the heading of the main discussion. People will get off on tangents related to the subject being discussed. When you reply \*\*TO ONE OF THOSE TANGENTS \*\*with \*\*UNRELATED WHINING \*\*that’s just more of your own attempts to **EXCUSE YOUR OWN LAZINESS AND INCOMPETENCE** , I’m going to call you on it. \*\*\*YOU \*\*\*equated asking for a split check with other things that would actually legitimately classified as mistreatment waitstaff. That makes you an idiot. > [@](#): > > Start your own thread if you want to bitch about how much waiters and waitresses suck because they don’t kiss your ass just so. So, since you think requiring you to perform a simple part of your job is asking you to kiss my ass, I’m guessing you didn’t \*choose \*to stop being a waitress so much as you were _fired for being a shitty one_. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/273 "2010-08-11T14:02:23Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Tossing a little fuel on the fire… > > So tipping from at least 18%-20% is customary per this board, right? Custom is defined by the collective populace, right? The collective population includes stingy old folks, stingy folks of different social/ethnic minority, stingy tourists, stingy philosophy majors ;), and so on. The 20% and over crowd are really the high-end outliers in my experience. > > So why does the custom dictate the tipping practice based on the right hand extreme of the tipping bell curve? Why not the mean/median? Just because disgruntled-ex-waitstaff-person-X insists that anything less than 20% is a stoning offense doesn’t justify that being set as the social custom line. > > Tip table: > > Old folks: 5% and a piece of Bazooka-Joe gum and a “What a nice dear, you should meet my grandson” comment. > Ex-waitstaff: 25%, an obligatory tale of their work experience to others at the table while presenting the receipt with a flourish, and a background hallelujah chorus performed by the sous-chefs barbershop-quartet style. > Happy medium: 10-15% A decade ago, 10% would have been okay (in Toronto at least). These days, 15% is standard, and some folks do 20%. I think in another decade or less 20% will be standard. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/274 "2010-08-11T14:07:13Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@MTCicero](#): > > > > But that _would_ mean that, overall, black people tip less well than do white people; ergo (and speaking in general terms, of course), black people are, to put it colloquially, shittier tippers than are white people. > > If you can’t understand why “Black people are shitty tippers” is racist while “Black people are more likely to be shitty tippers than white people” is an observation of fact, there’s not much more I can say. Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to get in the way of your feelings of white guilt. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/275 "2010-08-11T14:24:33Z")
Admittedly, not exactly a hard news source, but you might enjoy watching [this](http://www.hulu.com/watch/163960/louie-dr-bennick#s-p1-so-i0) (relevant part is at about 9:10). > [@](#): > > Black waitress: What are you talkin’ about? > > Louie: She says black people don’t tip. > > BW: Are you nuts? Niggas don’t tip, everyone knows that. Have you ever waited tables before? > > L: No. > > BW: Then shut up, asshole. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/276 "2010-08-11T14:31:14Z")
Ooh, he just cited a TV show! Shot From Guns, you just got OWNED. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/277 "2010-08-11T15:11:13Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > But that _would_ mean that, overall, black people tip less well than do white people; ergo (and speaking in general terms, of course), black people are, to put it colloquially, shittier tippers than are white people. Except that “overall” black people don’t tip and “overall” white people don’t tip. Individuals tip. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/278 "2010-08-11T15:21:15Z")
> [@MTCicero](#): > > Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to get in the way of your feelings of white guilt. Yeah, objecting to blanket statements about people based on the melanin content of their skin makes me a real race traitor, all right. Maybe next week, you can tell us about how Hispanics can fit 20 or 30 people in a house, and how Asians can turn a TV into a watch. I’d type more, but I’m off to put my hair into shitty white girl dreadlocks and get fitted for a dashiki. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/279 "2010-08-11T15:29:23Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Yeah, objecting to blanket statements about people based on the melanin content of their skin makes me a real race traitor, all right. Maybe next week, you can tell us about how Hispanics can fit 20 or 30 people in a house, and how Asians can turn a TV into a watch. Remember, while they may not tip, they have the gift of dance! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357/280 "2010-08-11T15:35:07Z")
I love you for getting what I was referencing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waiter-waitress-rants/541357.md?page=15)