The Gratuity.

A gratuity or tip is something the Oxford Dictionary describes as a sum of money given to someone as a reward for a service. 


Tipping is a practice that has been around for centuries, or so I've read on Wikipedia. It is amazing that such a long standing practice is so inconsistent. One would think tipping has been around long enough that it would be perfected by now, kinda like baseball. 


Generally speaking, a good tip is somewhere between 15% to 20%, at least it used to be. I have learned in the past six months at my restaurant that if I walk out with 10% in tips that means I've had a good night. 


Let's get personal here for a moment. As a server, I make minimum wage: $9.00/hour ($9.50/hr come October 1 when minimum wage increases) and tops on top of that. Tips can be lucrative or just plain shit or anywhere in between. 


Most restaurants have a tip pool or tip share, in fact it's extremely rare if one doesn't. Tip shares are for the other restaurant employees; bartenders, hosts, cooks. In my experience the amount we tip out to the rest of the staff is based on a percentage of our sales: 3%. 


So basically for every $100 worth of food and beverage a table orders I give out $3. At the end of the night if my sales are $900 I pay out $27 from my tips. You get the idea, I hope. The tip out percentage varies from restaurant to restaurant. 


Now in the event that a table doesn't tip, I still have to give some money to all of the other people who helped me get the meal out to the table. I still have to give the bartender some dough for whipping up those Bahama Mamas and extra spicy Caesars. The broil cook who grilled your steak and the fry side cook who dressed your salad are still expecting me to give them a couple bucks for doing so. 


Essentially, I have to pay to serve you your food.