Being a Waiter and Being Stiffed: The Joy of Waiting Tables

This is a true story.

I was waiting tables at a casual dining restaurant in my early twenties, trying desperately to make it by on approximately $30 a day. I was brand new, so I was generally only scheduled lunch shifts, which meant around $200 in sales.

Now for those who aren't aware, servers have to "tip-out" some of their co-workers. For example, at this particular restuarant, 2% of one's total sales went to the food runners and 5% of liquor sales went to the bartender. Other restaurants where I've worked have had bussers or hosts who also take a certain percentage of those sales.

That's right, it's based on sales. Not tips. That means if you sell $100 worth of food and drink and only receive a mere 10% tip ($10), you will tip-out more than half of what you made.

Taxes are typically based on sales as well, so sometimes those poor tips pull money from your paychecks. Keep in mind, many states only pay two or three dollars an hour to tipped employees (and to be considered a "tipped employee" one only needs to make a meager $30 a month in tips). This means that if you have a table tip you poorly, you may actually end up paying to wait on them.

Wait a minute... don't people usually get jobs to make money? Who in their right mind pays to do work? Who would honestly pay money out of their own pocket to bring some stranger food and drinks, and clean up after the mess they leave behind?

Okay, let's get to the story.

So it was my first week, and I was working my usual lunch shift. I had a table of five in the middle of the restaurant sucking down drinks and on their third refill.

It was then that I was informed that I was to take a table in the corner. It was another group of five.

I happily skipped over and greeted the table, laughing and joking along with them as they pondered whether or not to order alcohol.

There were four ladies and one gentleman, and all the women coerced him into ordering a beer. I uttered a genuine giggle and retreated to enter their drinks into the computer.