[Sca-cooks] food manners/tipping

[Sue Clemenger]

I'd also like to point out that there's a huge, vast chasm of difference
between the "minimum" wage and an actual "living" wage.  I live in a state
that usually ranks in the bottom 5, if not actual last place, for per capita
wages, and at that, that number is still several thousand above what my
salary is (and I'm not doing too badly, relative to others in the area).
The only reason I make what my city calls a "living wage" is because I'm
single and have no dependents.
Otherwise, I agree with you both, having also done my stint in the food
service industry ;o).  I can understand (and share) the frustration of being
expected to voluntarily cough up a significant surcharge to support
employees of a restaurant or delivery service who *should* be given a living
wage from their employer.  I'd never be so crass as to say it at dinner,
though!
--Maire, who lives in a city (Missoula) that supports living wages, if only
for those in businesses with city/county connections, and in a state
(Montana) that does no such thing.  And yes, I do tip, and none of the silly
penny business.  If the service were actually that bad, I'd probably be
speaking to the manager.  Otherwise, I relax and have a good time, and
accept the free bottle of wine they send our way when they mix up the orders
;o)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Celia des Archier" <celiadesarchier at cox.net>
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2006 2:43 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] food manners/tipping


> Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise passed on the following:
>
>
> >>And never ever say some stupid crap like, .The restaurant should pay the
> >>servers a living wage so that I don.t have to tip,. and then use that as
> >>an excuse not to leave a tip, because that is a crass bullshit excuse to
> >>just be a tightwad. If you go out with me and say such a thing, guess
> >>what? I won.t go out with you again. End of story.
>
> Presumably you wouldn't go out with me anyway ;-)
>
> Of course, you are entitled to your opinion.  However, My Personal Opinion
> is that a restaurants *should* pay their waitstaff a living wage and a
> gratuity *should* be just that... a gratuity.  Thanks for a job performed
> well.  Otherwise it should not be considered a gratuity or "tip" but
should
> instead be mandatory and added to the bill as a "service charge" (as they
do
> in many European countries.)  Which is one of the reasons I'm happy to be
> living in California, one of the states which does require that "tip
> earners" be paid minimum wage rather than having their wages adjusted to
> *assume* that the tip earner's tips are part of that minimum instead of
the
> supplement that it *should* be.
>
> And I say this not because I'm a "tightwad" ... indeed I have a habit of
> overtipping when service is good both because I'm from a state where tip
> earners do *not* make minimum wage (and thus I'm used to trying to
> compensate for that fact) and because I, my husband and both of my parents
> have all been waitservers at one point or another. I say this because I
> believe that a gratuity, which gets it's name because it is a show of
> gratitude for a service performed well, and beyond what is required,
should
> not be conscripted out of one because the employer is too cheap to pay
their
> employees a living wage.  Such a symbolic gesture looses it's meaning when
> it becomes mandatory.
>
> Of course, if I went out with someone and the service was poor enough for
me
> to not tip (or to leave the symbolic 1 penny that signals to the server
that
> the service was so poor that they had earned chastisement rather than a
> gratuity) and that person took umbrage to the fact, then we wouldn't be
> going out again either, as I would take our sensibilities to be too far
> apart for polite companionship.
>
> Celia
>
>
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