Students debate tipping customs
Some people think having to leave a gratuity after paying the price of a meal should not be necessary and that it is just a way for restaurants to make more money and cut the cost of paying employees.
“I think it’s kind of silly because places that you tip at are already more expensive than fast food places, so I think it should be the employer’s job to give them a wage,” said Sean Collins, a freshman majoring in biology. “It just makes it so the employer can charge more because he doesn’t have to pay his employees as much money, so he is making more. It’s just a way for the employer to get extra money.”
Collins said the financial circumstances of college students makes eating out a bigger sacrifice than it would be otherwise.
“It’s a bigger sacrifice,” he said. “It makes people less likely to eat because it raises the price of eating out. I know waiters don’t get paid as much though, and that is why I always tip.”
Despite his distaste for tipping, Collins said servers should have to earn it.
“I know they need money, so I will tip unless they do a bad job,” he said. “It’s just annoying I think. I don’t think it should be given though – I think the waitress or waiter should have to earn it.”
Tucker Cottrell, a freshman majoring in pre-physical therapy and nutrition, has worked in the restaurant industry for a year and a half and said his employment has caused him to be more aware of what a server is doing, allowing him to gauge how much to tip.
“No matter how bad your service is, you very rarely should ever stiff somebody,” he said. “If you got stiffed every single table, you would actually owe the restaurant money.”
Cottrell said receiving no gratuity when he has done his job can be very frustrating.
“I’ve gotten stiffed a few times, and there is nothing more frustrating when you feel like you’ve done your job, and come to find out there’s a big fat zero or a line through the tip column,” he said. “You’re just like, ‘Oh man, I’m never doing that to somebody.’ That’s so rude.”
Morgan Quigley, a junior majoring in business administration, has worked in several restaurants during the last few years and currently works at The Beehive Grill. He said before working in the restaurant industry, his tipping habits were very different than they are now.
“I remember going out on dates when I was in high school, and I was probably one of the worst tippers ever,” Quigley said. “I was a pretty standard high school kid – like three bucks for me and my date on $25 or $30 dollar meal.”
Quigley said he would now leave a five to six dollar gratuity for a similarly priced meal.
“If they did their best to take care of me, I’ll still take care of them,” he said. “That’s just if it’s a mediocre server. I mean nothing outstanding, but nothing terrible. Even if it was terrible, I think that would probably still be my minimum.”
According to Quigley, appropriate tips range from 18 to 30 percent depending on the quality of service, yet most college students leave between 10 and 18 percent gratuities.
“They just don’t know,” he said. “They haven’t been on the other side of the table.”
Quigley said the minimum wage for the majority of servers is $2.25 per hour, creating biweekly paychecks which barely cover the cost of taxes. Quigley said for this reason, servers rely heavily on their tips for income.
“You’ll get a paycheck and you’ll have worked sixty hours, but your paycheck will be 15 to 20 dollars,” he said. “All of that goes to cover the taxes on the tips that you’ve made as well. You really don’t get paid to be an employee of a restaurant. They essentially cover the taxes for you. We rely on our tips. We rely on them a lot. That is the only source of cash inflow that we have, unless $15 to $20 dollars is pretty significant. That’s half my grocery bill at Walmart every week.”
Leaving no gratuity can lead to a significant loss in wages and can cost a server important time to recover, according to Quigley.
“It kind of puts a damper on your day,” he said. “It’s always frustrating and kind of throws you off of your game. I feel that I after I have gotten stiffed, I don’t present myself as well at my other tables. It influences your other tables as well. It kind of hits you in a lot more ways that just missing a tip on one table.”
Quigley said servers are doing the best they can and asked students eating out to do the same for their servers.
“Servers are doing everything they can,” he said. “Please take care of us the same way we try and take care of you.”
Camille Smart, a junior majoring in pre physical therapy, said from a waitresses perspective, if a student has enough money to go out to eat, they should also be able to leave an appropriate tip.
“If you’re willing to go out to eat and have people wait on you, I feel like you should have enough money that you can leave a good tip for the person that’s doing everything for you,” Smart said. “Be aware of the low wage and just try and leave betters tips. Us poor people are trying to work.”
– calewp@gmail.com