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Originally Posted by Stitchawl
*cough* The people we are trying to 'help' are NOT the waitstaff. We would like to free entire rest of the population from the extortion forced on us by the employer's of the waitstaff not required to adhere to the Minimum Wage Act. If I were to choose to wait tables, of course I'd opt for the side that said; 'give a wink and a smile, ("Hi-eee! My name is Tiffany, and I'll be your waitress tonight! *giggle and/or jiggle* "Hooters" anyone?) write orders correctly, and don't drop the food in the customer's lap, and get lots of money' too. Nothing like cleavage as an income booster...
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Not that you're being sexist, or anything, the assumption being that Tiffany--at whatever restaurant--has to give some T&A in order to be compensated?
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However, having lived in a country where doing one's job to the very best of one's ability is expected, and the concept of tipping not required for the salary of the employee, I've seen that it can work very well for both sides. If that is a 'service industry,' it means providing service to the best of one's ability, not to generate tips, but because that is what 'self-respect' is all about. Unfortunately, in the US, doing one's job to the very best of one's ability is the exception, not the rule. We Americans tend to do our jobs to the level that will satisfy the employer, and little more. The exceptional ones rise to the top, but they are few and far between.
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You misunderstand me completely. I am, and have repeatedly stated, I'm all in favor of people being remunerated in accordance with their capabilities. It's why I dislike unions; while there was once a reason for collective bargaining, now it simply rewards the slackers. Being a waitress--and I'll address your NEXT paragraph in a moment--isn't slacker work, not if you're doing it right.
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In a previous post you stated "I was easily making $150/night, on a regular night (more on weekends), hauling nothing but cocktails.....making $750-$1000 week doesn't sound like the same kind of dough that a Googler makes, but I was barely out of high school, going to school, and it was the 70's. That was a LOT of money." As you say, at this point in time you were just barely out of high school.
At this same time period, an Elementary School or middle school teacher who had already spent four to six years studying and training for their profession, and spent a LOT of money to do so, was lucky to be making $35 a day, teaching all day and spending half their evenings and weekends correcting student papers and planning for the next day's lessons.
Personally, I'd rather see my money used to pay teachers rather than cocktail waitresses. But that's just me.
Stitchawl
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That's right--I was just out of high school. However, compared to a teacher, a waitress or waiter doesn't get "better" at it by doing it longer, particularly. Nor does the waiter require a college degree, nor a teaching certificate. You can learn pretty much all you need to know in a short period of time, if you have a brain. Yes, for higher-end restaurants, you need, preferably, to understand cooking, and even wines--but that's not hard to learn, either, at least, not to an appropriate level. Yes, I made good money, but I also hustled my ass for 8 hours every night, leaving after 2:00 a.m., and part of my (and the other waiters/waitresses') jobs was cleanup of the place. I was, in fact, an excellent waitress; fast, nimble, I had perfect recall of every order I took; I didn't spill drinks and I didn't mess up. I emptied ashtrays, brought refills, and was always at the table the moment I saw an eye lifted, and even before. I handled over 40+ drinking tables by myself, in any given night, for the course of the night. Feel free to try it any time you think it's easy work.
(Nor will I talk much about just how much FUN it is to be a young woman waitress in a bar with a bunch of boozehounds. You think that Tiffany is having FUN, batting her eyelashes? While she ducks grabby hands and everything else? You've probably never had a drunken patron waiting for you when you come out of the ladies', to paw your bits, right? Well, trust me: Tiffany has.)
The flip side for the waitperson is that there's not really any upward mobility; a teacher can move to a better-paying school, or become a principal, etc. Waitpersons are essentially doomed to a life on their feet--which also isn't much fun.
Would you feel that a 35-y.o. waitress was "more entitled" to a living wage than one just out of High School? For doing the same job? What if the 20-something was better at it than the 35-y.o.? Is she entitled THEN? Or is only "educated" people that are entitled to earn what a teacher does--someone who works 9 months out of the year? (And that's not to "diss" teachers; but comparing one to the other is a bit ludicrous, in the context of "tipping.") Quite frankly, if anyone in the US gave two hoots about teachers and payment, they'd be supporting charter schools, so that teachers WOULD get paid in accordance with THEIR value, too. (As they, too, would be "tipped" by the people paying for their children's educations, by the tuition payments.) But that's a discussion for another day, and another forum.
I don't feel that paying waiters and waitresses tips is "extortion." In fact, it is in keeping with my general take on the world, that good performance is rewarded. What amazes me is that so many people think that restaurants make so much money that they could afford to pay in wages what a waiter or waitress earns, otherwise, in tips.
I mean, let's run the actual, real-life numbers: what IS the wage for a waiter in a decent restaurant, in Bangkok? Given that you don't tip there? How much per hour? How much is that person that you're not tipping making, per year, compared to what it costs for someone to live--comfortably--there? Can they buy a house on it? Have a family? What are the real numbers?
Hitch