Why do people tip waiters?

I am 64 yrs. old and remember working as a waitress in my 20's. With 2 small children to support and earning $.86 per hour (union scale in the 60's) I depended on my tips to get by. Servers have to meet the needs and WANTS of every diner. Many times the service seems poor because the cooks and kitchen help are slow in food preparation. If it is cooked badly it is assumed it is the server's fault and nothing could be further from the truth.

Now, if someone goes to eat at a restaurant and includes alcoholic drinks, appetizers and a dinner than expect to give the server at least a 20% tip. If you are unwilling or unable to do this either stay home or go to a fast food restaurant. In response to the accusations of servers spitting in the food if you are unwilling to reward good service this may be the response the next time you eat there. I doubt this would occur at any reputable eating establishment. Also, servers as well as the rest of the staff have to be tested for infectious diseases to prevent exposing customers to them.

Take good care of your diners and they will take good care of you!!!

Debbie

Mail-men, cashiers, or hotel maids make at least three times what a server does. Servers make $2-4 an hour, and it is an understood part of etiquette for people with BRAINS that tipping is a part of the cost of dining out.

Though by definition a tip is never legally required, and its amount is at the discretion of the patron being served, in some circumstances failing to give an adequate tip when one is expected may be considered very miserly, a violation of etiquette, or unethical.

To Insure Prompt Service, the origin of the word tips. No adays you don't tip before you receive service you tip afterwards, the reason being-throughout your whole dining experience your server knows that whether they can pay their rent or not is dependent on the service they give to you. Therefore making them want to please you and giving you better service then say a McDonald's cashier who makes a guaranteed hourly wage of at least $7.25 an hour. Servers make $2.13 an hour most places, they LIVE off tips. "Get a better job, its not your fault!" you say?? Well who is gonna wait on you next time you want to impress a date, your out of town, or just don't feel like cooking? Exactly, you need them as much as they need you. So tip 20% or don't go out to eat where tipping is necessary!

I have worked in the service industry for many years. I'll tell you why to tip.

1. Unlike hotel maids, mail-men, trash collectors, teachers, etc. waiters and waitresses are not required to be paid minimum wage. I have made anywhere from $2.00 per hour to max $4.65 per hour

2. Taxes are taken out of the less than minimum wage that is made. Often waiters and waitresses actually get pay checks that say: VOID $0.00

3. Your tip doesn't just go to the server, its divided up to the guys carrying food to the table, bussing your table, the bartender.

4. If you stiff on a tip, the server doesn't get paid, but they still have to pay those other people; the server actually looses money on people who don't tip.

Would you work for free? If you don't tip your server its the equivalent of you spitting on them.

Waiters make 2.-3 an hour. The other professions that you mentioned do not. They make minimum wage or more and recieve a full paycheck. Servers do not recieve a full paycheck. Some don't even see one at all. Tips are their source of income.

Servers and bartenders are tipped employees. They make around 2.13 an hour. Tips are how they get paid. Mail-men, cashiers, and hotel maids are not tipped employees and make minimum wage. Servers don't get paid minumum wage, not even half. What is hard to understand about that?

Idk, they are probably afraid of looking bad or cheap. I always tip the basic amount from my subtotal since I feel that tax is already me paying more than I should. And seriously, there are soo many terrible servers, that giving a tip is almost like they are stealing from me. I was a server and was really damn good at it, I got horrible tips since it was at a casino restaurant that mostly retired older people visited, and never did I give substandard service because I knew I wasn't getting a good tip.

Also, those other services that you mentioned, I always give them something for the holidays and as for hotelkeepers I leave a tip at the end of my trip, if they did a good job.

it's an agreement that was made a long time ago. if you don't like playing by the rules, eat at mcdonalds. the question that should be asked is why aren't most of you people even tipping 20 percent???

well its because they are bringing ur food filling your cup and etc. but they dont keep all the tip they split it with the bus boy and i think the cooks too.

Someone who shares my view. Well said. I was recently chastised for not giving $5 in addition to the $6 the other person gave...I tipped $2 and they are lucky they even got that.