You want extra money for just doing your job?
I am tired of this social stigma that if you don’t tip, you’re a tightwad jerk. When I don’t feel like tipping while in a group, people squint and squirm their faces at me like I enjoy recreationally slitting
puppies’ throats in front of children.
Yes, I don’t always tip, and I never feel bad about it.
First of all, I don’t enjoy the prospect of not tipping someone. I’m 19 years old, money is tight and I just don’t have the cash to give out to those who are just doing their job. And I know all the arguments against not tipping.
“But Danny, they have a hard job.” You want to hear about a hard job that’s also in the service industry? Caretakers. Those workers take care of people for a living – mostly cranky old people. They also have to clean them. Not just their clothes – their bodies – all of it. These are people who don’t get paid much for cleaning wrinkly old private parts, and they probably get crap (or crapped on) while they do it. And you never hear about them getting tipped.
This is one of many jobs that are just as hard, if not more difficult, than being a food server, who never get special treatment.
“But they don’t make that much compared to other jobs.” Most make minimum wage, which puts them in the company of almost every entry-level job in the country. I understand that a business can legally account for tips as a form of payment, but if the tips do not bring the server’s paycheck up to minimum wage, than the employer has to make up the difference (required by the U.S. Department of Labor). And Oregon restaurants aren’t allowed to use tips as a paycheck.
“But I know some servers who really do live on their tips.” Okay, let’s get hypothetical and say they don’t live in Oregon, they don’t get reimbursed and they get paid $2.13 an hour. Yes, that would be a pretty bad job. But, if you actually accepted a job that pays $2.13 with no extra reimbursement, you’re an idiot. I am not going to tip you for making a dumb life decision. My money should not be a supplement for your stupidity.
“But there aren’t any other jobs.” I just went on craigslist.org and found 10 jobs that all pay minimum wage or greater. And that was just in the service section. There are jobs out there, you just have to look, keep your options open and be persistent.
“But it’s a nice thing to do.” I totally agree. Tipping is a very kind gesture. But it should not be seen as a moral requirement, and you shouldn’t demonize those who don’t because they didn’t have the cash or didn’t like their service.
Now let’s get one thing clear, I will tip if someone has gone outside the parameters of their paycheck and improved my eating experience. But servers should never automatically expect a tip.
If you are in the food service industry and you honestly feel like you deserve extra money, on top of your paycheck, for just doing your job, you don’t really deserve your job at all. You shouldn’t expect a tip. You should do your job well and treat everyone equally because you’re paid to do so.
There is nothing special or particularly hard about being a server. And if you have ever tampered with a return costumer’s order because he didn’t tip before, you are worse than the people who you feel wronged you.
Due to cutbacks and changes in administrative policies, my stepson lost his job after working dutifully and exceptionally for over ten years as a bell man at a large hotel in downtown Portland. He was out of work for nearly six months before he was able to find another bell man job at another hotel that is several miles from downtown. A bell man makes minimum wage and relies on tips to supplement his living expenses. The hotel where he works now offers little opportunity for him to earn tips, so he is attempting to support himself, his wife, and his 2 year-old daughter on essentially minimum wages. He and his family have been forced to move in with my wife and myself in order to survive until he can find another job that pays better wages. Recently, he found another part-time job at another hotel, and is now working 7 days per week. I was somewhat offended by some of the remarks that the author of this opinion article made about how, if someone takes a low-paying job that makes it difficult to survive, he is an idiot for doing so. My stepson and millions of others struggling to make a living in these times of economic uncertainty are far from being idiots. They are doing what they can to survive. Tipping is one way to help these people in service industries to help maintain financial stability a sense of pride and dignity.
Thank you for commenting and I’m sorry about replying to this so late. I am also sorry to hear about your stepson. I don’t wish that upon anyone and hope things turn up for him. However, I never referred to people like you stepson as idiots. What I said was that,”If you actually accepted a job that pays $2.13 with no extra reimbursement, you’re an idiot.” note that I talk about a job paying under half the minimum-wage, of which your stepson does not apply because he has a job that pays minimum wage. I was not dogging people who live on minimum wage, I was dogging the notion that people in the service industry are more special than every other minimum-wage job, or any job in general. I understand times are tough, and this may sound harsh, but there are plenty of people in your stepson’s situation who live on an equally low-paying job that don’t get any tips. My cousin works his butt off at Safeway, going late nights, seven days a week to supply his wife and child, and he never sees a tip.
-DANNY PEREZ-CROUSE
OPINION EDITOR