What Tipping Actually Means For Your Waiter or Waitress

http://baloo-baloosnon-politicalcartoonblog.
blogspot.com/2014/09/restaurant-cartoon.html

I’ve never worked in the food service industry. In fact, I have avoided it at all costs. This summer, when I was applying for my first job, I applied to numerous places near my home—Target, HyVee, American Eagle. When it took longer than I expected to get an interview, I finally caved: I applied to McDonalds. Now, this is not exactly the kind of position I want to talk about today--I want to focus on tipped workers. And at McDonalds, I wouldn’t have had to wait tables or think about tips, but I think I would have experienced a similar type of stress when taking customers’ orders, remembering those orders, and having to work in that hustle and bustle kind of environment.

http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/mcdonalds_20131210

McDonalds called me back. My interview was Monday. It was the only interview I’d gotten.

So I went, dragging my feet, imagining what it would be like to work there, dreading it, thinking it would literally be the worst job ever.

I was relieved to get  a call from Dick’s Sporting Goods the next day, and after a successful interview, I was hired.

But more importantly: Why was I so afraid to work in the food service industry? With college approaching, I really did need a job. There were plenty of restaurants to which I could have applied. 

So why didn’t I?

http://www.occupy.com/article/keep-
tip-how-note-left-receipt-got-applebees-waitress-fired
To you Mr. or Ms. Bell I say: Jesus ain't about your hate.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing,
I was sick and you took care of me,
I was in prison and you visited me.'
Then the righteous will answer him...
'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to
one of the least of these who are members
of my family, you did it to me.'"
Matthew 25:35-40

I think I was afraid of being treated like a waitress. And that is the real problem—a problem that is the reflection of a problem that is way bigger than just me.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour; however, a loophole in legislation allows restaurants, hotels, and other businesses to pay their tipped workers less than minimum wage—and not just half of minimum wage, which would be a measly $3.63. Waitresses and other tipped workers can legally be paid as little as $2.13 per hour.

Just let that sink in.

Two Dollars and Thirteen Cents per Hour.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Okay, I know what you might be thinking at this point: But Hannah, what about tips?

Advocates for keeping the system of tipping argue that tipping is a way to reward workers for good service—essentially, like a bribe. Culturally, we have constructed a system that assumes that these workers will make up the difference—perhaps more than the difference—in tip money. Some costumers believe that tipped workers, who are friendly and skilled, make more money because of generous and impressed patrons.

This is simply false—not to mention, who are you to decide who gets to take home a fair wage, regardless of whether or not your waiter or waitress does what you consider to be a good job?

https://s3.amazonaws.com/i.seelio.com/5e/7e
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Tipped workers experience a disgusting level of discrimination based on body type, race, gender, sexual orientation, or age, rewarding the young and beautiful. Basically, instead of being paid minimum wage—as, by law, all workers are entitled—many workers are paid far less because of discrimination. The system does more harm than good—and the numbers show it: tipped workers are 2 times as likely to live in poverty, and restaurant workers have it the worst of all. The poverty rate for restaurantworkers is almost 3 times the overall rate.

Now some of you might be wondering: Wouldn’t eliminating tipping hurt small businesses?

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/46/4695a341e7962
b4d7417cf7e2634764a74aeb987910b4029e528c80618766896.jpg

And to that I say this: small businesses are important because they are made up of people. So those hardworking people deserve to be paid a fair wage. If that’s not happening, then that business is corrupt. Maybe that business could solve the “problem” of paying its workers a fair wage simply by raising the prices. 

http://www.heu.org/sites/default/files/imagecache
/campaign_featured_thumb/uploads/campaigns/images/LWC_0.jpg

Therefore, maybe we, as a society, should change the way we think about tipping. We should be advocating for the elimination the practice of tipping, which inevitably leads to many forms of oppression, such as exploitation, marginalization, and powerlessness. We should force businesses to pay their workers the minimum wage, instead of allowing them to take advantage of the situation.

But, in the mean time, tip your servers. Whether or not you think their service was top-notch, they deserve to be fairly paid a living wage—or minimum wage at the very least.