The festivities and specials began on Friday evening and continued through lunch and dinner Saturday, all day today, and will end tomorrow night when the kitchen closes.
So, I have had firsthand look at the guest checks and the amount of gratuity left by each party - of 1 to 20 or more. And I must say that I have been shocked by what I've seen. Think about it, the gratuity was left on the original total check, NOT the discounted one they would actually pay. Apalled, doesn't even come close.
Sadly, I discovered that there are certain ethnic groups who work the server to the bone and leave very little, sometimes nothing, for service. The worst offending groups are Asians, Indians, African Americans, and Lesbians. A family of 6 African Americans ran up an $85.00 bill and awarded their server $5.00, while a party of 4 Lesbians ran up a food and drink tab of $140.00 and left their server nothing. Not. One. Penny.
Another group ran up a $65.00 tab for burgers and drinks, paid with small bills, and as the server was counting to see if they overpaid, they left. Turns out they left $55.00, which meant that not only didn't she receive compensation, but had to pay the extra $10.00 out of her own pocket. Mind you, this is service on "discounted" meals and drinks. How cheap can human beings get?
The best group all round to leave generous tips was gay men. My guess is that many work, or have worked in the business and know how hard the job is and compensate for the crappy rewards they received. I know that's what I've always done, and still do.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I had heard stories from servers about these issues, but I thought it was more prejudice than truth. I've learned this weekend that, sadly, the stories are true.
And so it goes.
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This theme is very common on Maddog's blog. He serves in a NYC restaurant.
ReplyDeleteI can give some foreigners a break. In many other cultures (including European ones) wait staff is more appropriately compensated by management and tipping is discouraged or even a no-no. When they come here, they do not understand our ways (even as many Americans when they travel abroad do not understand or appreciate the cultures of others).
But that does not excuse the others. They know how things work. It's too bad that the wait person who got stiffed on the $65 bill cannot go to the customers' places of work and stiff them of their hard earned wages. I'll bet if their bosses shorted them on their pay, you would hear them howl from here to next week.
Happy Valentine's Day to you !
ReplyDeleteOOXX
Even when tipping is included in European prices I still leave some money behind for our server.
ReplyDeleteWhen in the States I know I have to add an extra 15 percent to the bill. It's rude to do not do so.
I agree with Lemuel, you should hear them when they get stiffed on their pay-check.
Other waiter stories can be found here: http://maddoginthecity.wordpress.com/
and here: http://welldonefillet.com/
@Lem & Peter: I have no problem understanding the customs of other cultures, or races, but these people are living in America - not visiting - and ought to know better, and probably do.
ReplyDeleteAnd like you, Peter, I have always left a little extra and the only place a server told me he was insulted was - guess? - Paris.
@Spo: Happy Valentine's Day to you too. Glad you're getting this down-time. Enjoy.
Thanks for the comments, guys.
True, true, true. Our group of old gay geezers left a tip of well over 20% on our total bill before the discount (at MIXX). Are we suckers?
ReplyDeleteMake that "Old, gay white men." The twinks don't leave tips either. Just this past Saturday night as our group dined at MIXX, we got a 20% discount on our total bill because he dined early (5:30 to we could catch the show). As I was calculating the tip on the discounted total of the bill, one of my dining friends pointed out to me that the tip is on the bill BEFORE THE 20% DISCOUNT. You are so right, with few exceptions (Terry), us old geezers know the right thing to do....PAY THE HELP! Thanks for posting your blog. This is information everyone should know except perhaps the lesbians, they'll never change. It's a "who has the biggest balls" thing with them.
ReplyDelete