I want to preface this by saying I was a cocktail waitress throughout University. It was stressful because when I got the good shifts I could be set for weeks off of one weekend, but if I got the bad shifts I was eating top ramen and frozen presidents choice veggies. Those shifts were decided by a scumbag manager on the whim of if he liked you or not.
Tipping should be ON TOP. Every fucking time I see servers in here bitching about tips I get so mad because when you go to USA (and Canada) server subreddits they will tell you they LOVE tips and say they would rather have tips over a living wage.
In Canada where I live (in Alberta) they make minimum wage which is 15.00 (2,040/month after taxes) is it a living wage? No not really, but you can still find a studio apartment in a downtown area in one of our major cities for:
$900 in Edmonton with utilities included
$700 in Calgary with utilities included
Cheaper if you want a basement/ roommates or live outside of these giant cities. Does that suck ass? 100%. Half of your pay check going to leech of a landlord is never good.
But here in Canada we ALSO have to tip 15% – 28% (The prompt on most machines now) and are considered a giant asshole for leaving 10%. My husband and I like to go to Europe and Asia, where tipping is either a few bucks or not done at all (even in some places seen as rude or looking down on someone) and it baffles us that the food in other places isn’t only cheaper, but the servers get paid better and the food is better.
We go out to eat maybe 3 times a year now because of this (birthdays and our anniversary) and do takeout if we want food out. Even then there was one waitress here a few weeks ago throwing a hissy fit over someone not leaving her 20% on a take out order! I’ve worked takeout! It takes less than two minutes to put everything in a bag! I’m not paying you $15-$28 dollars for that!
Servers shouldn’t feel like they deserve tips and instead should be paid properly. If the restaurant can’t stay afloat, it doesn’t deserve to be open! Servers shouldn’t be worried or at the whims of an asshat manager about getting good shifts or not! And rent shouldn’t be this fucking high!
Ban tip bitching from this subreddit. If servers wanna come in here and bitch about their bosses? I’ll welcome them with open arms. But the customers didn’t hire you, your boss did. We shouldn’t be paying 20% of your fucking rent.