Tips

It's how I survive. Without em' I wouldn't be able to support myself. With em' I can pay for school, car stuff, food, and dates with the ladies ;). I am a server at a restaurant and find myself not leaving for a long time and with $2.33 an hour pay, it kills you when you don't get tipped correctly. It's my only job and a perfect one with me being a college student but if people aren't generous or educated on the world of tipping it can leave you digging out the couch cushions so I can make my monthly bills on time.

Years ago the standard was %15 when folks went out to eat. Now a days it is %20. Why did it go up? I have no idea and frankly don't care, but %20 it is. It thought a couple of "rule of thumbs" would be appropriate for some of you that don't know much about the world of tipping at the restaurant... First off - it's always %18-%20 standard tip. If the waiter sucked tell the manager, and if they were awesome tell the manager. Second off - Verbalize tips are nice but we can't pay the cell phone bill with them. Thirdly - If you want to make the table your living room, leave a bit extra money as that table could've been sat and we as waiters are missing out on cliental....

Now I don't take my job for granted or expect people just to tip me well as I can act and work as I please, as a matter of fact I make sure I do well as a server and I always respect my tables as they come and go. I treat all tables the same with efficiency and respect but I do read my tables to find what is appropriate to discuss with my customers. I have found I have received many compliments and great tips in my career as a waiter so far. I love what I do and it shows.

I think in everyone's life time we all should hold some sort of customer service job. It helps us all to multi-task, deal with issues unexpectedly, and be able to communicate well to others. They are all skills we all should have down well and quite frankly I have learned a lot so far from being a waiter in those fields. So next time your at a restaurant don't just tip %20, also see if they are hiring.