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BacardiJim · 01-31-2004, 04:49 AM

It is also expected to tip bartenders, despite their being "behind a counter."

In every state except California and Nevada, servers (waiters or waitresses) and bartenders make less than the national minimum wage. The government expects that they will get tipped, and therefore allows employers to pay them less than the minimum wage. This group of service personnel must pay income taxes on 10% of their total sales. That is, the federal and state governments have decided that even the world's cheapest bastard is going to tip at least 10% of their bill to the server/bartender. Undertipping actually loses money for your server.

I want to thank SerialFreak for bothering to ask about this. I have spent my life in the food/beverage service industry (I currently manage a bar.) I have dealt with many foreigners from all around the world, and it is more than a little frustrating how many of them don't bother to learn or grasp the American system of tipping servers. Most frustrating of all, however, are certain nationalities who do know about it and still refuse to tip. In the USA, Germans are notorious for their lousy tipping. And no offense intended to our Fearless Leader, but I used to manage a hotel bar where we got a busload of Dutch tourists every six weeks. This was a regularly scheduled tour of the US that started in Florida and ended in San Francisco, making my hotel about the halfway point. By the time the tourists got to my hotel, they had been lectured by their tour guide a half-dozen times about tipping in America. Yet they still would tip a quarter on a $10 check and somehow make it look like they were doing you a great favor.

Then there's the Quebecois, who will cheerfully tip... exactly 10% and not a penny more, no matter what. I could have a Quebecois customer choking to death at one of my tables, run over to him, perform the Heimlich Maneuver, pull an oxygen tank out of my pocket to ease his breathing, and the whole time be entertaining his kids with finger puppets on my toes... and still get a 10% tip.

01-31-2004, 04:49 AM	#12
BacardiJim Banned User Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 1,346	It is also expected to tip bartenders, despite their being "behind a counter." In every state except California and Nevada, servers (waiters or waitresses) and bartenders make less than the national minimum wage. The government expects that they will get tipped, and therefore allows employers to pay them less than the minimum wage. This group of service personnel must pay income taxes on 10% of their total sales. That is, the federal and state governments have decided that even the world's cheapest bastard is going to tip at least 10% of their bill to the server/bartender. Undertipping actually loses money for your server. I want to thank SerialFreak for bothering to ask about this. I have spent my life in the food/beverage service industry (I currently manage a bar.) I have dealt with many foreigners from all around the world, and it is more than a little frustrating how many of them don't bother to learn or grasp the American system of tipping servers. Most frustrating of all, however, are certain nationalities who do know about it and still refuse to tip. In the USA, Germans are notorious for their lousy tipping. And no offense intended to our Fearless Leader, but I used to manage a hotel bar where we got a busload of Dutch tourists every six weeks. This was a regularly scheduled tour of the US that started in Florida and ended in San Francisco, making my hotel about the halfway point. By the time the tourists got to my hotel, they had been lectured by their tour guide a half-dozen times about tipping in America. Yet they still would tip a quarter on a $10 check and somehow make it look like they were doing you a great favor. Then there's the Quebecois, who will cheerfully tip... exactly 10% and not a penny more, no matter what. I could have a Quebecois customer choking to death at one of my tables, run over to him, perform the Heimlich Maneuver, pull an oxygen tank out of my pocket to ease his breathing, and the whole time be entertaining his kids with finger puppets on my toes... and still get a 10% tip. __________________ Time flies like the wind; Fruit flies like bananas.