November 13, 2002
The Clackamas Print
★ THE CLACKAMAS PRINT*
To lip or not to tip? That is the question
Con
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Daisy Bain
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ext. 2578
A few weeks ago I had dinner with
a friend who said he wasn’t going to
tip the waitress. “It’s her job to wait
on me,” he said. I was in an outrage.
This is true; our job is to wait on the
customer. But before you decided to.
stop tipping too, consider the aches
and pains your server goes through,
just to make a five-table section
happy.
In a typical section, each server
waits on about 15-20 people at a time.
If a customer isn’t greeted within 60 seconds, the poor server can sud
denly become the customer’s vital enemy. The drink tastes a little weak
er, the food a little colder. if the server seems a little rushed, she needs an
attitude check. ,;L have seen this all firsthand ' ft wouldn’t matter how
much the server smiles. She is done for before she even reaches the
table. . .
,
S''
I
lib.
How about at the bar. Imagine being a female bartender at a sports
bar. I get the luxury of waiting on middle-aged men who think they have
a chance at taking me home; A short one-liner here, a comment there.
They can spend two hours talking about my chest, not admitting to them
that I can hear every word they are saying. I am expected to smile and
bring them there next round of drinks so they can continue their drunken
talk about how they can take me home. Then they can leave me that 50-
cent tip on their credit card, and go home.
"
The argument has been brought to my attention that a lot of people
work for minimum wage and put up with a lot of gruff. They don’t get
upped, so why should servers? As soon as the McDonald’s worker gets
taxed on every burger they sell, I will tip them
The way Oregon’s tax system is set up, people in the industry actual
ly live on the tips they make per night. The government assumes that
every customer is going to tip us according to the price of his or her bill,
not the quality of service. They assume that for every 40-dollar check,
the customer will leave four dollars. For every person that leaves four
dollars, there is a person who leaves two, or none at all, because they
think I am just doing my job. Did they know my check for two weeks is
only seventy dollars? The government takes it all because they think I
made five hundred dollars a week in tips.
Everyone should remind himself or herself we have feelings and there
is a limit to how much a person can take. If your server truly does need
an attitude check, by simply not tipping them, you just make them believe
that customers suck even more. Try talking to them. Let them know why
you are considering not tipping them. This way they can let you know
why something has happened. Maybe they had an accident and dropped
your food. Maybe that’s why your food took 25 minutes instead of 20.
If there is no excuse, go to the manager. If the service was that bad, this
person shouldn’t be in the industry.
But if the service was good, why not let them know as well. The aver
age service worker is a single parent, or a starving college student. We
should all take care of our own. If you can’t bring yourself to tip, don’t
go out to eat. Make your own dinner at home.
Chivalry isn't dead but
it must be sleeping
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So there I was, sitting in my favorite
restaurant on a Wednesday night after
work, enjoying a meal and a few adult
beverages, when my waitress saunters
over and asks if everything is all right. I
tell her that everything is perfect except
for one thing. She forgot the salad that
was supposed to go with my meal.
Frank Jordan
Embarrassed, she apologizes for this obvi
ous blunder on her part, asks me if I would
Copy Editor
now like my salad, and I proceed to polite
ly tell her no. I have already eaten my
entrée and have had my plates cleared. I ask her for my bill and she lays it on
the table without saying a word.
My dilemma is this: The food, as always, is excellent. The drinks were as
they always are, satisfying àrida little strong. The restaurant is bustling with
activity, yet the service was not quite up to par. The dilemma is what kind of tip
to leave?
•?
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The American dining-out culture is one of the things that make this country
what it is. We are a nation of doers and thinkers, and we have grown accustomed
to our got-to-have-it-now-and will-do-whatever-it-takes mentality. This is why
the service industry is the fastest-growing sector of the economy in the United
States today. Americans don’t have time to go to the grocery store and grab food
to fix for the family, like 20 and 30 years ago. Many Americans, neh and poor,
go to their favorite restaurant and eat, because it is quick, simple and doesn’t
require setting the table and washing the dishes.
=
Having worked in the restaurant industry far most of the last 13 years, I have
seen both sides of the fence. I have been a waiter and a bartender, have worked
at a fast-food counter on several occasions, and have managed in both full-sen -
ice and quick-sen ice (fast-food) restaurants. I have also eaten at many fine din
ing establishments and taken many, many trips to the local fast-food joint: So, I
have intimate knowledge of this facet of American society.
■
Tipping is as commonplace as the meal itself; We, as Americans, have had
it ground into our psyche that in order to get good, if not great, service, we have
to tip in order to get it. This is wrong. Good service begets ripping, not the other
way around. Many servers' and bartenders that I know, including the bartender
writing the other opinion on this page, Will tell you that, yes, if a person tips well,
they will receive better service. They won’t admit this to their employer, but this
is basic American human nature. We are all out for the almighty buck, so if you
want everything that your heart desires, from the .salad that goes with your meal,
to a little bit more alcohol in your adult beverage, then you had better show
him/her the money. Sad, isn’t it.
;*
Owners of small businesses will tell you that word-of-mouth advertising is.
the most powerful form of advertising iri tlre marketplace. Ifone customer gives
a bad review of a business, that person may be so upset that they tell their friends
not to frequent this particular business. The mouth can be a very powerful tool.
To resolve my dilemma, I left a tip to the cook who prepared my meal. The
steak was excellent, the potato was cooked just right. I had to leave the tip with
the floor manager to make sure it went to the right person. I’m positive that thè
server cursed me out of the door, but I didn’t care. She may even wait on me in
the future, but she needs to realize that it is my money, and I should be the one
who decides who receives the tip, if any at all.
Problem: Boy and girl come to a
closed door. How do they get through
to the other side? Answer: Boy extends
arm, grabs handle, pulls door open and
lets girl through first It’s not rocket sci
ence.
I realize that it’s the 21st century
and chivalry is supposed to be dead.
But that’s just it; it’s the 21st century,
guys should know these rules by now!
Recently, I went out on a date with
a guy that I met at a restaurant I left
him my number, and a few days later he
called and asked me out. He seemed
really nice, and besides the tiny bit of
awkwardness, it seemed like maybe
something could work out between the
two of us. What happened, you ask?
Well, on the evening of the date, he
called at about 5:30 p.m. Turns out this
guy does not even have a car (28 and if she has to truck your sorry ass
doesn’t have a car?!?!), so he asked if I around. Secondly, always open the
wouldn’t mind driving. Now, he asked doors. All doors, any door. It’s a tiny
me out; I do sort of have a problem thing, but in the end it measures up to
driving on a first date, but I had to quite a bit. And finally, if you ask a girl
nonetheless.
out, you are expected to pay. Now, if
We head out to go to dinner at a lit the girl calls and asks you out, it’s up in
tle Chinese place. We arrive at the door the air. It would be nice to offer to pay,
of this fine establishment, and he makes but it’s not expected.
absolutely no move to open it for me.
Other tips to keep in mind include:
Now seriously, it’s the smallest, sim In order to take out a girl on the week
plest thing a guy can do for a girl. It end, the latest a call to heir should be
should honestly be second nature. But made is the Wednesday prior. This is
all too often I come across guys that simple common courtesy. Girls are,
don’t even think about it. This is horri well, girls. We need time to prepare.
ble. My brother even opens doors for
Also, don’t expect a girl to automat
me! So this is strike number two.
ically say yes to going out with you if
Conversation throughout dinner is you call on a Friday night wanting to
fairly sporadic, but there’s still a bit hang out Girls, you should not accept
there; Finally the check comes; Now an offer to go out with a guy a few
keep in mind that he called and asked hours in advance. It looks a bit pathetic.
me out. Well, the check sits there for a Furthermore, do not by any means,
few minutes, and I feel like he’s waiting place your hand in her back pocket and
for me to offer up some money. Finally - keep it there. A) It’s a bit too “Kevin
he puts the money down, looks at me Amold/Winnie Cooper” and B) it’s
and says “Uhm, so, I’ll get the dinner obnoxious as all hell.
and you can pay for the movie.” Strike
Finally, and quite possibly most
number three buddy. You’re out!
importantly, NEVER, and I mean
So let’s recap. First off, guys need to never, slap, touch, or hit a girl in the
drive on a> least the first couple of butt. It is vile and degrading, and
dates. It makes a girl feel less like a girl frankly, we all hate it
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