SuppliedWhats’ not to love about dining out? No grocery shopping, no cooking, no cleaning. It’s a time to relax, have a beer and enjoy yourself. Sadly, there’s something that people often forget when they’re out at a restaurant or bar — eating out is a luxury.
Let me give you a little industry 101.
“Server” or “bartender” are glorified terms for food and drink slaves. For the half hour or however long the customer stays in their seat, our attention is completely their’s and we cater to their every desire. Most of us including myself will go above and beyond what we need to do because, frankly, we pay for you to be there.
Every server is actively buying every patron’s time, no matter if you’re in a restaurant, bar, pub or club. For every dollar you spend on food or drink, we tip out around four to seven per cent depending on the workplace. That money is divided among kitchen staff, bussers, hosts/hostesses, expos, managers, security or whoever else works at that location. If a customer spends $10 on food at my particular workplace, I would pay 40 cents to give them their food. So if I’m getting a 10 per cent tip on that $10 bill, in reality I’m only getting half of that money. This is why industry standard is 15 per cent or above. The majority of the time, we deserve this as long as we’re providing you with decent service.
While bad service happens sometimes, remember that your ass could be cooking your own food, getting your own drinks and doing your own dishes. If bad service happens once, it’s usually just a one-off thing. No one wants to work on a weekend, so show the same level of respect that we show you. We have the right to refuse service to anyone so don’t be a dick and don’t think for a second that us waiting on you is your civic right. Tip your server well because we remember who does and who doesn’t. Those who do will get their drinks brought to them before they can order them, those who don’t — I will literally pretend you don’t exist.
Servers and patrons walk a fine line to maintain mutual respect. Having been in the industry for over two years serving in a restaurant, a pub and a lounge, I’ve seen some people at their absolute worst. We know how people can get when they’re eating out or drinking, so as a collective, we’re constantly on edge. It’s downright embarrassing the amount of times I’ve seen people snap fingers, make rude remarks and lose their temper, not to mention the sexual harassment females face in the industry.
Sounds awful, right? So why do we do it?
People work late on weeknights and weekends to earn a decent amount of money at a job that barely requires a high school diploma. Many of us are university students trying to pay off our thousand dollars of debt, those who aren’t are trying to pay rent and feed their families just like everyone else. A good server on an average night walks away with around $100 in tips. That equates to about $20/hour including our wage. Some of my colleagues I’ve seen walk out at the end of the night with hundreds of dollars, which brings them closer to $40/hour. However, the money has its drawbacks.
In the end, the cash isn’t worth the abuse a lot of the time. Most people can’t last more than a few weeks in the industry. Serving is a physically and mentally demanding job with a high burnout rate. Workers come off their shift frustrated from having people degrade them and exhausted from being on their feet for hours. Many use alcohol and drugs to unwind. This can create a vicious cycle, as alcohol is so accessible to servers and bartenders. It’s not often that we go into a shift planning on drinking throughout or afterward, but when a large party doesn’t tip and customers throw verbal insults, frustration ensues and many turn to alcohol. Money that should be used to pay off student loans is instead wasted. I’ve seen burnout first-hand with a particular coworker of mine. It’s a sad reality, but it’s one of the risks of our job.
We also worry that the NDP’s minimum wage increase to $10.70 from $9.20 may do more harm than good, since many patrons are saying they’ll no longer tip or will tip significantly less. We all depend heavily on our tips to pay for school, rent, or whatever other bills need to be paid. If people want the continued luxury of having their own individual food and drink slaves, then tip your goddamn server.
