I am writing this bitch in support of the folks who serve your/my ass everyday. From your local coffee shop to the fanciest restaurant in the city, these workers do the same repetitive task of getting you what you want whether you treat them like garbage or not. Not all people that work at the local doughnut hole are stupid, 90% of them are very intelligent people. Many are struggling through to pay for school, and some are trying to keep a roof over their head by being your little bitch for 8hrs a day, 5 days a week. Some have children, some come from hard lives, and some are going to be doctors someday. At many of these work places these employees are treated like children by management, have no real rights in defense of their employment, and make the most minimum wage that an employer is legally allowed to pay. (With no benefits)
The most disrespectful thing you can say to the person serving you your morning fix is “here is the exact change”. Everyday! If you don’t like the service mention that to the management so the issue can be fixed. For the other 9 people working in the restaurant, those nickles and dimes, quarters etc.. do add up. And to those who don’t tip, even though the person serving you maintains a smile and wishes you a great day, you are still known as the cheep ass dick/bitch that is too good to tip. I’m poor as shit, but always leave a little something extra for the one serving me. At least they aren’t the guy standing out front with a cup and an arsenal of insults.
And god please, don’t make an order at the counter when you are on the phone. The host/hostess is a human being not f*cking order box at the drive through.
In all, please treat those who serve you with respect. A little “change” can make a difference. —Have a Great Day
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2012.
Fuck ’em
I went to college and graduated with a diploma that got me into a very respectable career, and I expected to make the appropriate amount of money. My roommate recently informed me that his first promotion at McDonald’s had him in a higher wage bracket than me. So, do you really think I’ll be tipping every person behind the counter of the service industry?
I always tip waiters or waitresses, but the last person getting my cash is the one standing behind the counter of a coffee shop chain looking bored as hell and not even making eye contact with me.
Tips are for great service not just service…
The skilled waiters/waitresses usually get a great tip but if you are just pouring me a cup of coffee and handing it to me I don’t feel that warrants extra money out of my pocket.
I don’t think we should be expected to top up employees pays for them just doing their job…that is the responsibility of the employer.
A “little change” can make a difference and the change needs to start by setting a higher standard of living for yourself and family ….. why work in a slush job with no benefits and poor wages? You need to look further ahead than the end of the month ….. earning enough to pay rent/bills and struggling to keep a few bucks between pays …….. fuck, this is your life and you are relying on the generosity of strangers to offset your meagre income from a job YOU applied for and YOU accepted? FUCK ME!
It’s the first tipping bitch of the year! 😛
I don’t tip the cashiers at the grocery store who do more than the Tim’s folk. I don’t tip the mailman. I don’t get tipped at my corporate job every time I send an email.
Working in a shitty industry is shitty, that won’t likely disappear. If you cant even say hi how are you, why the hell would I give you more than I have to. More often than not I receive disinterested customer service, and guess what, I’m too disinterested to open my wallet after. It all works out!
Lots of people work for minimum wage and DON’T earn any tips. Some people who work for minimum wage, even had to go to college to get that pittance. This is a RECESSION. A tip should be a bonus, not expected. I used to be a secretary…and made the same amount as someone who burns burgers for a living. Only I didn’t get a tip for every person I served. People in food/beverage service have the right idea. They get to show up in the same uni every day…. no clothing expenses, minimal stress, free or discounted food while there there and tips?…I got a pink slip and a picture frame for my 5 years of dedication!
How long, and how much effort does it take to pour a coffee in a takeout cup and chuck it through the drivethru window? Considering that one person takes the order and passes it out the window while a different person actually makes the coffee, not fucking much effort at all. The whole principle of take out coffee is an assembly line, making the best and quickest use of all employees, getting you out the door as quickly as possible for faster turnover profit. Personal service is not in the equation, although after years of getting my morning coffee at the same place, where I get a smiley face on my cup every morning, I do leave the change from my toonie. I don’t think 27 cents a day split between 9 people will make much of a difference, but it saves me from having a car door full of change that spills everywhere when I shut it to hard.
Waiters/waitresses deserve tips if they give good service, a server on NYD rolled her eyes at me for returning a coffee with grounds floating on the top. Needless to say, busy or not, she did not receive much of a tip from me.
Your overblown sense of entitlement is one good reason to stay home and cook a meal. Expectations are planned disappointments, sweetcakes.
Yeah, the Tim’s people should be thankful they don’t work at McD’s or other places that work you harder and don’t allow you to accept tips.
I worked at Subway, which is notoriously understaffed and won’t pay overtime. By that I mean, it was my responsibility to do a list of tasks, like putting away all the ingredients, clean, sweep, mop etc. If that took me past 9:30 any time after that was me working for free. We did get tips, it was like maybe a total of like $15 bucks a month. Tim’s people can take home at least that on a daily basis. No one wants to tip the person making you a sandwich but think nothing of tipping someone who takes literally 15 seconds to pour a cup of coffee, or the person who relays your order to the kitchen and brings it back for you. Riddle me that.
(I’m not saying working as a waitress or at Tim’s is easy but neither are a ton of other jobs that don’t get tips and work for the same rate)
If the service is bad, I don’t tip. Period.
No.. not period.. more like semicolon. There is an exception to this and that would be Tim Hortons. Those guys pool tips at the end of the day and if there is one shitty employee serving me and four others who seem to be doing their jobs well, I’ll tip because i know it helps the good ones.
Oh sweet jaysus! Here we go again. OP: tipping is not mandatory, ‘specially for counter ordering. Service is when someone comes to your table, takes your order and waits upon you. Going to the counter to place my own order so I can bring it to my table by myself is not actually service, more like self-service…so, (in my best Soup Nazi accent) no tip for you!
OB, I’ll give you two cents worth…..those servers can go fuck a knot in a tree. THEY chose to take that job. I CHOOSE not to give them a fuck cent of a tip. If they don’t like the wages they are making, maybe they should get a real job. Now go get me my fucking coffee dumbas.
THANK YOU for writing this!!! I work at a cafe. I can relate to everything you said. It’s nice to know there are people like you in the world. GOD LOVE YA xo
I put myself through college working at a restaurant. The tips were always appreciated, but I never expected them. We were taught to give every customer the best service possible.
To earn a tip, please be cheerful, polite, provide every customer prompt service, make sure their order is correct, check on them often so that if there are any problems they can be corrected quickly.
If you do all that, then if the customer doesn’t leave you a tip – you know not to take it personally. Perhaps the customer doesn’t believe in tipping, perhaps they are on a tight budget, perhaps they didn’t have as much cash on hand as they thought they did – they need that last $5 for the cab ride home. It doesn’t matter. You were a professional and can hold your head high.
Tipping is voluntary. ‘Nuff said.
a tip is really a compliment to the server. and if service is extremely good, the bigger the tip. and then, you have your cheap fucking pieces of shit.
I tip you guys all the time OP. Mainly because the Tims I go to have girls that are very friendly and the places are very busy. Just a token of my appreciation.
Do you even go here?
The tip is not just a piece of skin, it is a covenant with Jehovah.
La c’haim!
Can I get a “shalom” up in this bitch?
Wpaulstein
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_hlMK7tCks
Servers in restuarants should get tips although i think a buck or 2 is more than enough. People in fast food should not, Period. For all the people talking about getting a real job, if i could do it again i would skip college all together and just stay at mcdonalds where i worked threw college. I figured it out i would have the same amount of time waiting for promotions and very very similar wage increases (ive been out of school 2 years now and if i was still at mcdonalds id be making more than i am atm). The only difference is i wouldn’t have that 30 thousand dollar debt from education. People need to get off their high horses about college and university and look at the real numbers.
In Canada, do tipped employees earn a lower wage than non-tipped? That’s the way it is in the states-I just looked it up and it is currently $2.63/hour-In this scenario, a waiter earns $2.63, while the counter worker earns $8/hr. In the states, gratuities form the major part of a tipped employee’s wage.
Years ago, when I was in the food and bev. business, I know that Canadians did not have a tipped minimum wage, it was the same rate. This was the reason, I explained to my American co-workers, why Canadians tended to tip at a lower rate (about 10%) vs. Americans (15-20%). (Old joke: what’s the difference between a canoe and a Canuck? A canoe tips) It wasn’t because Canadians were cheap, I explained, it was because Canadian servers were paid a decent wage, and the tip was just a little extra, much like you would throw the change in a jar at a counter…
Xeno, nope all minimum wage people here get the same amount regardless. It is $9.50 for inexperienced people and $10.00 for experienced. The exceptions are as follows:
Who Is Not Covered by the General Minimum Wage Order
certain farm workers,
apprentices employed under the terms of an apprenticeship agreement under the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act,
anyone receiving training under government-sponsored and government-approved plans,
anyone employed at a non-profit playground or summer camp,
real estate and car salespeople,
commissioned salespeople who work outside the employer’s premises, but not those on established routes,
insurance agents licensed under the Insurance Act,
anyone working on a fishing boat,
anyone who comes under the Minimum Wage Orders concerning Logging and Forest Operations and Construction and Property Maintenance,
anyone employed in a private home by the householder to provide domestic service for a member of the employee’s immediate family or for 24 hours or less per week
Here’s the link:
http://www.gov.ns.ca/lae/employmentrights/…
You are paying for a product made and sold by a company. Staff are hired and paid to deliver that product. Part of your job is to deliver it with a smile. You shouldn’t expect anything for that except your paycheck, just like everyone else gets paid for the work they do. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to join the rest of us in our shitty, underpaid jobs, where tips don’t exist.
You just described the whole retail industry and yet they (WE) don’t expect, get, or are allowed to receive tips! I work above and beyond at my job, spend a lot of time with customers, but the product I turn out is ALL that is paid for, which may even be a few cents. I don’t complain, so GO FUCK YOURSELF!
Thanks for the skinny, Tim. My dsl was out for 24 hours, so just reading this now…
Also, can you help me with this? none of my Ontarionian cousins ever worked in a restaurant, and my mum intimated it was considered very low class to wait on table. (even more ironic when you consider they make a living wage!) IN contrast, where I grew up, tourism is a big part of the economy, and restaurant work is/was pretty much the norm if you are/were a kid looking for a job. I met lots of great servers, cooks, etc. when I lived in Hali, but the subject never came up…Is this just more of that Ontario snobbishness I keep hearing about?
and BTW, JYO, many’s the time I *wished* retail employees counted on gratuities! If they did the service would be much better! When I think of the times I’ve been ignored at the register while employees discussed next week’s schedule, or the times I’ve asked a floor salesperson a question only to hear “I have no idea” or “I don’t know” (A question they should know, like does this European size equal a size 14?) or the times I’ve been ignored in a lingerie store if a man happens to be browsing at the same time, never mind that I spend much more money there than he does.
Sorry to dump on you, JYO, but retail service has gotten worse and worse, and your post just reminded me of the many times in my life I have stood in a store, irritated and ignored, and wished that retail workers depended on tips. If they did, “I don’t know” would be replaced with “I’ll find out,” which is the answer any food service employee would give if asked a question they should know. If I am not describing you, J’Yo, then good on you. I hope you own your own place where you train your employees to be aware, knowledgeable and friendly.
Why should retail employees get gratuities? If their attitudes are shitty, they’re not doing their job. They are paid to help customers. If they’re not doing that or doing it with an attitude, they should be fired. Customers shouldn’t have to pay more for something that is included in the cost of shopping somewhere.
Xeno, always glad to help a lady.
What a lot of people don’t understand about the service industry is that we actually have to tip out a percentage of what we sell in food to the management at the end of every shift. So if your meal comes to $9.75 and you ask for your quarter back after you pay with a ten dollar bill, it means that the person just lost money for serving you. It is true that people who waitress chose it as a job, and yes tipping is VOLUNTARY and a bonus. At times it’s an acception as people don’t always have money to spare. But when it becomes repetitive and the same people come back on a regular basis and don’t leave anything, ever, it becomes a hassle and believe it or not, the people working who know your face automatically think “f*%k, not this person again” as soon as you walk in the door. Also, in certain cultures it isn’t customary to tip to begin with. But if you go out to bars and can afford to drink and eat, it doesn’t hurt to leave a little something extra so that the server doesn’t actually lose money by bringing you your meal.
Too fucking bad. Just like you get the odd customer that DOESN’T tip, don’t MOST people tip? So shut the fuck up. I bet the dishwasher is a hell of a lot more appreciative that you for the measly buck or whatever extra hour he gets on top of his wage from the tip pool than you’ll ever be.
It’s thanks to cocksuckers like you posting up that I tip VERY well when it’s appropriate, and not at all when it isn’t. Which one will you be?
Holy, who pissed in your cornflakes? No need for the swearing…. I did not post anything saying I think the world should agree with me, I posted my opinion. I see now why your profile is Mr. Cranky. It’s people like you who make me feel like Halifax isn’t such a nice place to live after all. Opinion is appreciated but not when you put it like that!