1) So why don't the prices go up so people are made to pay up on the front end instead of 85% paying on the back end? It's the same with any business, prices would go down if the employer didn't pay the employee and customers just handed them $.

2)3) Since grocery bagging has a different "skillset" then you would have to learn that too. You can't just put on a Kroger's shirt and throw items into random bags. There's order of items, certain items go in different bags by standard, etc. I think anyone could take 1 week and learn either position easily. Asking people for drinks and carrying food doesn't encompass a huge "skillset" to me. So then waiting earns an automatic entitled 20% of whatever the customer purchases for that slightly higher skillset?

4) Well other people have. I wouldn't be scared to send something back to get fixed, but some people are intimidated, scared by the notion.

5) Really mentally demanding huh. Probably 30% of the last 20 orders at restaurants have been wrong for me. But I just take the pickles off and shrug I guess. It's not always dinner/lunch time and you said before that there's downtime wiping down tables, etc. I'd say being air traffic controller is VERY mentally demanding and stressful, do you tip them everytime you fly?

6) It's just the way it goes. Great argument. The world would still be flat right now if everyone thought like that. Not saying this is some groundbreaking struggle against societal norms, but people have different perceptions. You should provide a good service anyways since you were hired to do so. If I didn't like it, I could stiff the waiter every meal if I wanted and there's nothing you could do. How's that sound? Even though I disagree with some of the finer points, I still tip.

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How many tables did you have on a busy friday night?

I would if they set it up.

Can you provide any one significant reason why waiting tables specifically deserves to be a customer burden expense over any other service industry other than "that's just how it is".

I guess it's just how it is.

Kroger has people bag groceries to get more people in and out, not so you have an awesome service provided to you.

Tipping a bag boy who helps you with stuff to your car is standard, though.

Well, like I said, you're an idiot

And restaurants have people that bring the food from the cook to the customer to get more people in and out, with less confusion. Maybe some restaurants do it to 1 up their competition.

Why wouldn't they pay these positions the same then?

Great logic. Totally argued those points well.

I just think you're biased since you were a waiter, won't think for yourself into any of the points I laid out, and had becomes reliant on tips for your living. When something interferes with the notion that your livelihood is anything but automatic, then that notion is automatically ******ed/stupid, just because.

It's pretty simple. You go to work to make money. No matter what job you have, that's why you go. With scarce time, you prioritize what you have to do, and quite frankly, scratching my ass is more important than dealing with your cheap ass.

Really? Is that why Fast Food does not have waiters?

The difference between a bad bagboy and the best one is minimal where the difference between a bad waiter and a great one is significant. Tips are the best way to reward that difference.

Sounds pretty selfish that you would put your personal goals of maybe a quick buck off a customer over the overall experience to provide better service for your employer. I hope your employer might realize how an awful employee might be destroying the company reputation over a few selfish actions.

In it for yourself huh.

I mentioned that I do tip btw, might get some reading comprehension classes or glasses for that matter with some of the generous tips you might have received.

If I could sit down at a fast food restaurant and had my food brought to me, then I'm sure there would be less confusion. Ok, so they higher them for the social atmosphere and interaction. Baggers talk to the customers and ask preferences on plastic/paper, etc also.

When you get a plastic bag where your egg carton acts as the base loaded with a bag of chips, cantaloupe and cans of pop sitting on everything crushing it, then you'll realize the significance.

Or maybe a leaky bottle of laundry detergent bagged with some filet mignon cuts and fresh produce. A+ bagging.

Sounds like you just encourage performance-based wages or bonuses. Still don't see how this ties specifically to waiting tables.

check out the minimum wage in Kansas
oops, I guess they just changed this law
I'm not sure how much they pay waitresses now as their base pay. But in the past I knew waitresses here to make $3 or less per hour and the majority of their pay was from tips.

Kansas $7.25 Increased to $7.25 on January 1, 2010.[14] For many years, the minimum wage was set to $2.65, the lowest in the nation.

Sounds like it used to be more of a state problem. So if you chose to wait tables for $2.65/hr, then be my guest. But you can't 100% guarantee without a doubt depend on higher. Variance.

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Hey, I'll make my job surfing internet forums and apply minimum wage to myself. Then I'll claim that the majority of my money to be made is from tips, so you guys should tip me if you read my posts.

So they happen to make most of their money from tips. They aren't guaranteed that or entitled to that.

As long as the bagger isn't a ******, it's fine. It is not rocket science. If a bagger sucks, customers will complain and he will be fired (unless he has a Kroger grocery baggers union, I suppose). A bagger only needs to be competent as one should not even notice one. They don't even need to know how to spell. Managers can figure out if a bagger is too slow, packs poorly, or does any other of the skills needed that only a 14 year old could deliver very easily. Hell, plenty of places use rahtards as bagboys. That shows you how much skill is needed right there.

Waiters can vary tremendously. Management will have a hard time determining who is doing anything above poor or below outstanding job. However, the range in the middle still has a significant impact on the customer experience. It also motivates the waiters to overachieve as well.

hmm, I bet 20% of the people pay 80% of the tips

Tipping is to encourage people -- most of us would like to discourage people like you from posting so it doesn't work the same way.

They are not guaranteed. Entitled depends on how you use the term. Most people though are not cheap nits like yourself so they are typically expected.

lol, just because you say it does not true it make.

Writing 3 letter initials for meals or asking if they want another coke isn't exactly rocket science either.

Again, it seems like you just support a performance-based salary/pay which is totally fine and I agree with that too. I just don't think customers should be the ones socially required to reward the employees and it's the employers job.

I'm also pretty sure a lot of places pool their tips, so any crappy waiter would just have to do their share to not get fired so they can collect their portion.

That is a common nature law/ratio, so I wouldn't be suprised.

I would like to be "encouraged" then.

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All I do is come into this thread with my certain viewpoint/opinion and I get personal attacks.

I guess with your sick forum soul reading abilities can tell that I'm some cheap nit huh.

$2 for a fountain soda is close to cost, lol.

taxi home cost $9.50. i paid via debit card, when the "enter tip amount" popped up on the pinpad, guy pressed OK past that and handed it to me. what? does he think i'm cheap?? no tip for u guy!

See, I don't think you've ever waited tables. There are a lot of time management type things, a lot of optimization skills, and a lot of knowledge required for the job. They need to be able to keep an eye on all their tables, coordinate with the kitchen when to get meals ready, and have information about the menu.

Bag boys need to know what **** is heavy and what **** is crushable. Again, I've never seen a ******ed waiter, but I've seen plenty of ******ed bagboys.

Some places may pool their tips, and they tend to be the ones with crap service. How do you propose waiters are evaluated based on performance? Have the manager send in a fake customer? Try to make every customer fill out a survey afterward? All of these methods are time consuming, expensive, and will still tend to only get the best and the worst responses.

Customers will be paying that bill. Where do you think your bagboy salary comes from? It's already included in the prices of the items your store sells. If we got rid of tips, prices on the food would just go up to cover the cost of a waiter.

Probably wanted his tip in cash.

Fountain soda = food? Strange, I always considered it a drink.

I haven't waited tables, you are correct. Seeing as there are vast difference in the type of responsibilities waiters undertake depending on the restaurant, it would be hard to blanket statement everything. I'm sure some restaurants are very demanding and others not so much.

However, there are more service industry jobs that require a VERY specialized and more mentally challenging skillset than waiting tables. So if the basis for tipping waiters is that their job is "hard", then I'm sure 1/2 the jobs in the country would be getting tipped.

Waiters should be evaluated like any other employee. Their manager receives complaints/comments and can oversee things like any other business.

This is laughably bad, but it's pretty much an industry standard to try and keep you food cost at about 33%. If they sold food at cost, they wouldn't be able to pay the gas bill to cook it.

DUCY?