First I want to clarify that I am a staunch supporter of a lot of the ideas we throw around on r/antiwork, I support this movement for better pay, pro-unions, and sticking it to your snobby HR reps.
BUT goodness me, I cannot ever get behind a lot of the ideas here when it comes to server wages.
Full transparency: I am a waiter at a rowdy, western-style sports bar. It’s in a crazy busy location and on a good night, I will walk out with $600 for 8 hours of work. On average I will make $250-$300.
On the lower end, this means I will make ~$30 an hour.
Here’s the deal. The job is incredibly stressful. Incredibly physical. Incredibly draining. My night life is non-existent, I will be running a few miles on a busy night just so I can get those drinks for my guests in a timely manner. Spend hours analyzing a new menu. Getting chewed out by a guest who proclaims they make “more than you do in a year” for a mistake that could very well take seconds to amend. My feet hurt constantly because of the uptime. And most of all I /hate/ associating with strangers.
But you know what? I put up with it. I put up with it because the pay is THAT good. As do a lot of servers.
Unfortunately guests in the states are very demanding and entitled, likely moreso than in other countries. But the money we make in comparison to the flat rate offered outside of the states makes up for this.
The bottom of the barrel wage of a server is $20 an hour, on a slow day. Talking Chili’s server on a Wednesday afternoon before dinner rush slow.
I can imagine a server, in that situation, wouldn’t take less than $30 an hour to make up for the moments when we get destroyed. Personally, me myself, I wouldn’t accept less than $40.
What r/antiwork has to understand, is that serving in the states is far different than serving elsewhere. People fuckin’ suck here. But we put in maximum effort irregardless. The reason why there are so many servers is because the pay is THAT good. There is no chance that even 2/3s of the servers in the united states, today, would accept a pay-rate of $25 an hour.
We work hard. We work SUPER fuckin’ hard. And I understand tipping has gotten out of control nowadays with even your local deli trying to push you for a 35% tip.
But the servers you got now. We do it for the absolutely amazing pay.
And until restaurants start paying at a rate that supplements my tips, I ask that you continue to tip your waiter 15-20%.
(Also, fuck Chili’s)