Everyone has heard the saying "if you can't afford to tip, don't go out to eat." What I've noticed is that when a person goes out to eat they base how they are going to tip their server by how well they do. As much as that makes sense, that is probably not the best way to go about it. Much too often I hear people say "oh they gave me shitty service so I am not going to tip," or have seen people get tipped only change on a huge bill.
Servers work hard for their money; sure sometimes we don't get great service from them all the time, but when you go out to eat you should at least tip 15%. They are people just like you, they have bills and are trying not to live on the streets. Most of them work harder than what they get paid, due to getting "servers pay" which is typically lower than minimum wage. Granted this goes for not only people who work as servers, but anyone in the service industry such as hairdressers, masseuses, housekeepers, and basically anyone if they are doing a service.
If you ever get rough service from a server it is probably because something has gone wrong throughout the day. Anything that happens in the kitchen is not their fault, they just are just the face you see throughout the process. Everyone has bad days and most people have been in the customer service industry so if anything they should be the ones who understand what is going on. They have seen everything, cleaned up some stuff that you never would want to and they deal with rude people on a daily basis. People too often make excuses to try to get a free meal or something at a discounted price. They don't make the price, they just work there and are trying to make an honest living.
Another reason people end up tipping little or nothing is because of having to worry about figuring out how much to give. If the receipt doesn't have it already have the little guide at the bottom, people tend to just tip whatever they want because they are too lazy to do differently. An easy solution, if you are one of those people, is to download an app. Most of the population have smartphones, and it is as easy as going to the app store and downloading the app. Then you are able to just punch in the total and percentage and bam, there is your total all together. So the next time you decide to go out to eat or get any service done, think of giving an extra 15% to these living breathing people. To those of you who are good tippers, if you have the time, talk to a manager and let them know their employee is doing a great job because it will honestly make their day.
