When people I know come to my restaurant I am filled with mixed emotions. I LOVE to see my peeps...but I also want my peeps to take care of my peeps...
For those of you that let that go right over your head...I want to make sure that my servers are getting tipped adequately.
The place I hail from is different from any other place in the world. I am sure of that all of you who know where this place is...you can agree. It is a place that does not have lots of options when it comes to how to make money and that has even less options when it comes to places to spend it.
If you are not in the mood for Mexican food...you better hit the road.
Today some people came in that I grew up with & around. They were all dolled up and ready for whatever was next for them.
Their server, AD, was NOT ready for them. He walked over to where I was knowing that I knew them and began to talk about them. I quickly informed AD that if those girls even thought that he was talking shit about them...they would quickly & loudly check him. And I would not be able to blame them...
When he thought he was going to crack he would ask to see me in the back. He then would let lose...I knew EXACTLY who he was dealing with.
At the end I helped him pay out the ladies before they left. After I had gotten them the change they needed they asked to see AD in front to give him his tip. They handed him $15 and thanked him for taking care of them.
$15...that was about a 10% tip...
This made him mad...and he fumed over every time they were rude...asked for something...or even spoke.
As a former server I would have been frustrated with the %10 tip...but today my eyes were opened a bit...
These ladies all work at the same place. They probably make minimum wage or better...the $15 that they left him was a good tip to them.
In his mind he was thinking...what is $15???
Let me tell you...
$15 = 2 hours of hard work...damn near 3 hours when you take taxes into account
$15 = 2 weeks pay in some places in the world
$15 = $17.35 for that hour of work that AD put in
$15 = PRICELESS when you think about it...
Sometimes servers need to learn to take the good with the bad...and remember that everyone in the world isn't making a potential $17.35 per hour. Appreciate it!!!
I have a story that I will share in parting.
I worked at Sonic when I was in high school. We would get tips all the time. Usually it was keep the change...but sometimes we got $1 or better. There was one family that would come on 99 cent burger night...and leave me a quarter...EVERYTIME!!!
I used to ask myself...what is a quarter...but now I get it...they were on a budget...and that quarter was not just 25 cents. It was a gesture of appreciation. It was them giving me something they did not have to in order to let me know that they appreciated me.
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2 comments:
You do get it. What is pocket change to some people could truly be a significant amount to others. In our current economy, it is possible that your friends had been saving for "their night" or that they would be doing without other things in order to enjoy "their night". Not everyone thinks in terms of 20%, maybe they've never been a server or lived on tips, never worked on commission, maybe they seriously live week to week on their paychecks. Whatever their issue, they deserve respect and courtesy. We all take the good with the bad and we learn this with life experiences. Maybe you'd better start singing our song to your staff - remember? Mick said it best, "you can't always get what you want". Luv
That is HILARIOUS that you bring up that song...bc I sang that to one of my servers yesterday. She got to the end part..."if you try sometimes, you get what you need..."
I told her we never got to that part of the song...
Until I was like 22...I didn't even know it existed!
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