Why You Should Always Tip -- Especially During a Pandemic

Tears no longer came to my eyes but smoke from my ears. I was frantically throwing trays, bottles of whip cream and cursing every swear that exists. My apron was covered in ketchup, syrup, and powdered sugar. It was Valentine’s day night and I was the only server in a crowded restaurant. It was my worst nightmare.

When I first started serving I cried frequently. In that moment the easiest way to hold back the tears was to get angry.

That was one of the worst nights of my life but I will remember it as one of the most impactful and that made me truly understand the food industry and why you should always tip -- especially during a pandemic.

The national minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 per hour. In Illinois it’s $6.60.

That night some people were kind, patient and tipped. Others were rude and didn’t. To the people who didn’t tip — I essentially paid for your meal.

My co-worker Charlene started serving when she was 16-years-old. If anyone can explain why one should always tip, she can. When I asked her how long she had been a waitress she chuckled and said, “Just say a lot longer than 20 years peanut.”

She explained to me that servers get taxed for every table we take. The government taxes the table based on the assumption that everyone tips. This is not the case. So when a table stiffs a server, that server will later pay taxes based on that meal when they received nothing for serving it.

“At that point you’re already behind. That $6.60 you make per hour? That’s just supposed to cover the side work we do. The real pay we’re supposed to get is from the tables.” Charlene explains.

(“Something’s gotta be fair.”)

Conversations to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour have frequently left tipped workers out of the discussion.

Tips added onto the hourly wage are supposed to reach at least the state minimum. In Illinois it’s $11 per hour and federal is $7.25. If a server makes less, then the employer is required to pay the difference.

This does not happen often, as many servers are not aware of this rule.

Our manager M explained further that, “It’s supposed to be a balance for the week [it’s not on a day to day basis], because some days you make more than others, and sometimes less.”

Her explanation raises a point. Many who oppose the $15 per hour for servers believe they will be losing money. Tips can bring in substantial amounts of money. Sometimes a server will come home with more than $200. In an 8 hour shift that can equate to making around $25 per hour -- a lot better than $15.

Charlene believes these opposers haven’t “sat and thought it through.”

(“At the end no one is going to stay where they're not making money, I’m not saying we don’t, I do make money but we are barely making minimum wage.”)

Let’s say a server works full time, working up to 40 hours a week, 8 hour shifts for 6 days a week. On a weekend this server makes $300. In a close up lens that seems amazing.

Charlene asks people to widen their lens.

The next 4 days the server makes $60 a day. In total the server has made $11.25 per hour in tips for the week. If you add the federal hourly wage, not including what is taken out by taxes, that server has made $13.50 per hour.

Opposers of the federal wage increase believe it will cause an increase in prices and uproot the economy. Valid concerns, however the price of living in America has gone up significantly and yet the minimum wage hasn’t risen.

If the minimum wage kept pace with productivity then it should be over $24 per hour. At the moment minimum wage has not even kept pace with inflation. This then raises the question: is the minimum wage even livable? And is it even livable to be a server when the tipped wage is even less?

“It's hard to make this a living. But you should [be able to]. Everybody, if you have a job you should be able to live from that job. It is ridiculous that you're going to work and do

(Waitlist on a Sunday)

slave labor and -- we’re not compensated fairly.”

Charlene believes there should be a mandatory tip or to eliminate the two tier pay system and pay the 15. “Something’s gotta be fair” she states.

The pandemic has further highlighted the topic, as servers have risked their lives to make a living.

Restaurant workers all over America have struggled to stay afloat due to mass shutdowns and few customers. Tips have become more essential than ever.

My co-workers believe at this moment customers are ruder than they have ever been.

Charlene added “I don't think people see any value in the work we do. They started to feel the value when it all began to shut down but they've forgotten it already.”

The belief is that it’s because of all the COVID regulations set in place and the pandemics effects. Customers are frustrated having to wait to be sat due to limited capacity among other things.

“They think it’s our fault that we have to bring everything in packets. We’re doing it for your safety.” Manager M said shaking her head.

My co-worker Patricia added, “I think a lot of people that come out to eat think that you are there to do a job and that's to serve them” -- she slams her hand down on the table, "to be their servant -- and I am not a servant to anybody. I am here to provide for my family.”

Servers are pessimistic about the possibility of raising the minimum wage to $15 for them. Charlene herself holds little hope for change in American tipping culture and yet I do. Maybe it’s naivety but I hold onto the hope that there will be change.

Charlene’s final thoughts for people reading are: “The customer is not always right. Be respectful. Tip.”