My experience was that I was taxed on the legal amount even if I didn’t make it.
I may have said this before, but I feel very icky about the way service industries work. It’s sort of a vestige of the class system where certain people served and others were waited upon. It’s important to me to make an effort to think of the person serving me as a human being who is offering their labor as a transaction, in exchange for me offering my labor to the world in my capacity as an accountant, and we are all just contributing to the economy in our own way. None of us is higher or lower than another, and human beings should not be treated as if that were the case.
So for me, while I tip generously, it’s less about the tip and more about the attitude, graciousness, gratitude, and patience we show to the people who are offering their service to us.
8 Likes
This is important. I was a server many moons ago and 2 of my adult kids are as well. It’s stressful and a job I promise not everyone can do. A nice customer can change your day!
3 Likes
Oh yeah I know it’s a job I cannot do.
I can barely corral my family to the table, no way smiles are part of that job description
3 Likes
I didn’t say I was any good at it 
I worked at Denny’s for a few years strictly for an over night schedule. Good thing half the people were late night drunken partiers or regulars. I can’t tell you how many times I convinced someone drunk they ordered something different bc I mixed up orders. I was a terrible waitress.
3 Likes
Uh, düde, that is exactly what many patrons of the current “system” (it’s nothing so organized that it deserves the name, but we’ll go with it) like about it.
Scratch the surface of anyone - including any number of people here - who harrumphs harrumphs about the service person’s wage not being the patron’s responsibility, not perpetuating an unjust system, not wanting to be extorted just to get good service, or any of a dozen other transparently disingenuous justifications, and you’ll find someone who loathes the idea of a mere service worker making a living wage. As in, it animates a deep sense of personal grievance. Having a direct effect over whether or not the service person makes that wage is probably downright enjoyable.
I didn’t read the whole thread. Because oh my goodness. Wow.
So, for me, I bring my bags to the bell hop stand. I usually have quite a few bags, and the receiving hop needs to make a tag for each one. Then they transfer to the receiving end. I will usually do about $10 for the bellhop at resort 1, and then $10 at bellhop at resort 2. If they bring the bags up to our room, I’ll give them a $20.
Easy peasy.
My son works in fast food, with a fixe wage, and people tip on the regular. His salary may be about $14 an hour but he usually gets around $21 after tips, for fast food. So yeah…
3 Likes
That’s actually pretty good for my neck of the woods. Fast food jobs start at 8-10. Cost of living around here is definitely not in the upper bracket across the country. 21 an hour pays better than some skilled positions here.
We’re in Hawaii so I don’t know… Not living wage but pretty sweet for a college kid nonetheless! Nice spending money.
2 Likes
This has actually been one of the most civil* threads on tipping I’ve ever seen.
*Or boring, depending on why one opens a tipping thread 
8 Likes
Now I better go look for the less civil threads haha. 
2 Likes
I think this is at the heart of a lot of arguments about wages. $14/hr is great for a college kids just earning spending money, but a lot of these jobs are real people’s careers. I think society finally got the wake up call with the pandemic about how important these jobs (service jobs, grocery workers, etc) are and that many Americans rely on them for their livelihood. The whole “great job for a college kid” is just a false trope we’ve been lured into over the years and it’s just not true.
2 Likes
She should do that more often 
3 Likes
I’m sure she would agree 
3 Likes
For college here $14 an hour for a fast food job will get you basic housing and a decent modest life if your not trying to raise a family on it. The thing with minimum hourly wage is that is should vary from state to state as cost of living varies. The cost of living in Hawaii HAS to be higher than the cost of living in Louisiana. So a federal minimum wage that is set for the average would disadvantage economic wise. Either it won’t be enough for a person to live or it would be too much for an employer to pay.
4 Likes
We are, and it’s great 
I love when people can disagree, have an active discussion but still be respectful and not berate another’s opinion. Because when it comes down to it, everything is just our opinion, not right or wrong, just an opinion. (Except for 10 people cutting the line, we can all agree, that’s cause for a brawl 
)
2 Likes
I was just trying to point out it’s not just kids working these jobs and for some it’s their whole livelihood.
4 Likes
This is the hard part that gets the conversation going when it comes to the position of minimum wage type jobs. They aren’t meant to support a family. There has to be a wage that is less than one that could support a family or there would be no jobs for teens, college aged kids and young adults that are just starting out without a specific skill set. It’s unfortunate that people with families find themselves in the position of trying to make ends meet on these jobs. But I truly believe this is the argument for significant improvements to our education system, at every level vs a wage issue. I envy making 21 an hour in college, Starting in my late teen years, I made 8 (20 years ago) and I was making above the minimums here. I was on my own and a single mom. I made it work, with 2 jobs. I do not begrudge the fact that I had to have 2 jobs. I begrudge the fact that I didn’t have my crap together before I had a baby. That one was on me. I’m lucky that we have a great community college in New Orleans. It has plenty of locations, online and in person classes with real life, usable degrees and certifications. A lot more places but not everywhere is that lucky. And that’s the part that gets me. In America we can figure how to support other countries but not everyone in our own… Ok, that may have been a bit much, thank you for listening and feel free to take my opinions with a grain of salt
7 Likes
We could not possibly be more American than we are right now. We both are agreeing to the same facts, but view them completely differently.
7 Likes