My Response to a Boston Globe Columnist About Why He Doesn't Tip
A Boston Globe Columnist recently wrote an article about why he doesn't like to tip. The article can be found here. I was shocked, so I actually wrote back. The article is here. My e-mail response is posted below. Yes, I embellished, but only a little bit. It was necessary.
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Hi there Alex.
My name is Steve, and I'm writing to share a few thoughts about your article, "The 15% Non-Solution." I'm sure your inbox is flooded and that this e-mail is only one in a thousand, but I'd greatly appreciate a few minutes of your time. I promise to be as concise and objective as possible.
First off, a little about me: I've been a bartender for going on 7 years now. I've had a lot of bartending jobs, and I'm one of those individuals who accepts NOTHING less than the best. I'm damn good at my job. That's it! There's much more to say about me but for the purposes of this e-mail, it is all irrelevant.
Now for the objective opinion: Alex, you're 100% right; servers, waiters, bartenders, etc., should be paid an appropriate rate by their employers. How that is done, upping the prices - as you pointed out, doesn't matter to me. But you're absolutely right. At minimum, I should expect my employer to pay me enough to keep up with the cost of living. As a mid-20 year old, I should be paid enough by my employer that I can afford to live on my own, in modest accommodations, transportation of some kind, pay necessary bills, and provid for myself. However, that simply doesn't happen over here. We're stuck with the tip system. That principle is established, so I'm moving on to the next.
Why tipping IS necessary. Alex, I'm a hard worker. I come in early, I run circles around everyone around me, and then I spend 2 hours cleaning up after everyone else's slobber. It becomes an 13-14 hour shift at times! Now this isn't the guest's fault, but consider the fact that I've barely had time to have more than 3 bites of food since I started my shift, I haven't even used the restroom, because I'm bartending at a full 25 person bar, making drinks for the people who aren't sitting at the bar (those who are being served by a waiter or waitress, how else do you think you get your drinks? Your waitress doesn't make them), and taking food orders and making drinks for 6 more tables around the bar. Now also consider that I'm personalizing the service for every single table. One table is full of "high-society better-than-thou's, one is filled with a group of woman who just want to have a good time, one is a family of 5 who are visiting for the first time and are potential returning guests if the service is good, another table is a couple on a date and who are clearly frustrated with the presence of anyone besides themselves. At all these tables, and at the full bar, I'm delivering customized, top-notch service. Save for the "bad egg" that occurs randomly at restaurants, every guest is leaving happy. Yes, guaranteed.
Now the reason I'm saying all this isn't to prove how good I am at my job or to illustrate that the service is so good that a little extra tip is warranted. I'm saying all this because it needs to be known that to provide that type of service to that many people at the same time is...A LOT OF WORK! I literally work my you-know-what off. Playing psychologist to the drunk with girl problems, while also turning my other cheek and asking for another slap to the face from the local politician because his chicken parm came out burned (I didn't make it, and I'm certainly not a jerk for walking over your table to help you fix the problem, so don't treat me that way) is a lot of work! Let alone the fact that I'm actually doing physical work, like clearing my own tables, cleaning the bar, and pouring and delivering drinks. Yes, this is a lot of work.
Now at the end of the night I sit down and see that I made a measly $120, but I had to work my you-know-what off for it. I played the psychologist to the troubled bar guest, I played the personal assistant to the businessman, the guide to the new customers, the comedian to the ladies, and silent servant to the "higher-than-thou's." I also cleaned up everything, delivered everything, rang in everything, and made sure everyone left happy. You can't ask much more from a bartender.
So now I come to my point, finally. At the end of the night I have a pay-to-work ratio, and guess what is always too high for the money I made: the work. I look back at the shift I just worked, remember the stress, the effort, the time, the sweat, the labor, and think, "I was really busy. I deserve way more than this." Don't get me wrong, I make enough money to pay my bills, but I don't live comfortably. I haven't taken a vacation in almost 4 years because I don't make enough money, and I refuse to say "F it!" and put it on a credit card and become what is wrong with this country. When did you take a vacation last?
Honestly, realistically, the work I do is worthy of at least $300/day. I make half of that, on average. So when I read someone saying they are skeptical of even a 15% tip, I'm saddened, because if you were being served by me, you'd leave happy, and you WOULD come back.
Sometimes, Alex, the work your servers do is out of this world. But most people would never notice. Try to take a second to notice. I don't care if you don't change your perspectives. I don't care if you never tip above 10% again in your life. What I do care about is that you at least understand that we're working ourselves ragged just for YOU to have a pleasant 2 hours of dining - but we've got 8 hours left.
Take care and happy dining.
Steve
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Hi there Alex.
My name is Steve, and I'm writing to share a few thoughts about your article, "The 15% Non-Solution." I'm sure your inbox is flooded and that this e-mail is only one in a thousand, but I'd greatly appreciate a few minutes of your time. I promise to be as concise and objective as possible.
First off, a little about me: I've been a bartender for going on 7 years now. I've had a lot of bartending jobs, and I'm one of those individuals who accepts NOTHING less than the best. I'm damn good at my job. That's it! There's much more to say about me but for the purposes of this e-mail, it is all irrelevant.
Now for the objective opinion: Alex, you're 100% right; servers, waiters, bartenders, etc., should be paid an appropriate rate by their employers. How that is done, upping the prices - as you pointed out, doesn't matter to me. But you're absolutely right. At minimum, I should expect my employer to pay me enough to keep up with the cost of living. As a mid-20 year old, I should be paid enough by my employer that I can afford to live on my own, in modest accommodations, transportation of some kind, pay necessary bills, and provid for myself. However, that simply doesn't happen over here. We're stuck with the tip system. That principle is established, so I'm moving on to the next.
Why tipping IS necessary. Alex, I'm a hard worker. I come in early, I run circles around everyone around me, and then I spend 2 hours cleaning up after everyone else's slobber. It becomes an 13-14 hour shift at times! Now this isn't the guest's fault, but consider the fact that I've barely had time to have more than 3 bites of food since I started my shift, I haven't even used the restroom, because I'm bartending at a full 25 person bar, making drinks for the people who aren't sitting at the bar (those who are being served by a waiter or waitress, how else do you think you get your drinks? Your waitress doesn't make them), and taking food orders and making drinks for 6 more tables around the bar. Now also consider that I'm personalizing the service for every single table. One table is full of "high-society better-than-thou's, one is filled with a group of woman who just want to have a good time, one is a family of 5 who are visiting for the first time and are potential returning guests if the service is good, another table is a couple on a date and who are clearly frustrated with the presence of anyone besides themselves. At all these tables, and at the full bar, I'm delivering customized, top-notch service. Save for the "bad egg" that occurs randomly at restaurants, every guest is leaving happy. Yes, guaranteed.
Now the reason I'm saying all this isn't to prove how good I am at my job or to illustrate that the service is so good that a little extra tip is warranted. I'm saying all this because it needs to be known that to provide that type of service to that many people at the same time is...A LOT OF WORK! I literally work my you-know-what off. Playing psychologist to the drunk with girl problems, while also turning my other cheek and asking for another slap to the face from the local politician because his chicken parm came out burned (I didn't make it, and I'm certainly not a jerk for walking over your table to help you fix the problem, so don't treat me that way) is a lot of work! Let alone the fact that I'm actually doing physical work, like clearing my own tables, cleaning the bar, and pouring and delivering drinks. Yes, this is a lot of work.
Now at the end of the night I sit down and see that I made a measly $120, but I had to work my you-know-what off for it. I played the psychologist to the troubled bar guest, I played the personal assistant to the businessman, the guide to the new customers, the comedian to the ladies, and silent servant to the "higher-than-thou's." I also cleaned up everything, delivered everything, rang in everything, and made sure everyone left happy. You can't ask much more from a bartender.
So now I come to my point, finally. At the end of the night I have a pay-to-work ratio, and guess what is always too high for the money I made: the work. I look back at the shift I just worked, remember the stress, the effort, the time, the sweat, the labor, and think, "I was really busy. I deserve way more than this." Don't get me wrong, I make enough money to pay my bills, but I don't live comfortably. I haven't taken a vacation in almost 4 years because I don't make enough money, and I refuse to say "F it!" and put it on a credit card and become what is wrong with this country. When did you take a vacation last?
Honestly, realistically, the work I do is worthy of at least $300/day. I make half of that, on average. So when I read someone saying they are skeptical of even a 15% tip, I'm saddened, because if you were being served by me, you'd leave happy, and you WOULD come back.
Sometimes, Alex, the work your servers do is out of this world. But most people would never notice. Try to take a second to notice. I don't care if you don't change your perspectives. I don't care if you never tip above 10% again in your life. What I do care about is that you at least understand that we're working ourselves ragged just for YOU to have a pleasant 2 hours of dining - but we've got 8 hours left.
Take care and happy dining.
Steve