Being a service industry “veteran”, I get pretty agitated when I hear that people aren’t tipping because of the, “recession”, or because they’re on a budget and trying to save money. Newsflash broke-asses, if you can’t afford to tip your waiter, waitress, bartender, hairdresser (fill in the service industry professional here) stay at home!
Obviously I’m a huge proponent of saving money and being frugal when possible, that’s how I paid off $30,000 in student debt. But frugality is never an excuse for not appropriately tipping service industry professionals. I paid for a large chunk of my college and graduate school thanks, in part, to jobs in the service industry.
You name the job, I’ve probably done it. Housekeeper, waitress, bartender, dishwasher etc etc. From those experiences, I can tell you that it’s not easy work. In fact, it’s often back breaking, gross and physically exhausting work. There’s no such thing as an easy, or quiet, day when you’re working in the service industry (and you wouldn’t want there to be because if it’s slow you’re not making any money).
In most cases, your tips literally make up your salary. So if you get a few tables of non-tippers, or have a really slow day, you could end up making less than minimum wage. Because I know how hard the work is, and I know that service professionals aren’t making an actual salary I’m an excellent tipper (probably too generous in some cases). I look at my teenage waitress and think to myself, “That was me, trying to pay my way through school”.
So when I hear that people aren’t tipping because they’re trying to save money it really makes me angry. If you have the money to pay for your food, you better have the money to tip your waitress. Otherwise buy fast food, or stay at home.
Have You Ever Worked in the Service Industry? Have You Ever Seen Someone, “Save Money” By Not Tipping?
Image: BradleyGee