Via the Customers Suck LJ community (in itself quite an amusing read, and cathartic to boot - I give it the Sammich-Maker Seal of Approval), I found The Stained Apron. Some of the rants don't come across as particularly well-thought-out or intelligent, but there's something in there for everyone and, once in a while, a nugget of truth that most people will agree on.
And here's my $0.02 (heh) on tips: I come from a culture that doesn't really nurture the concept and execution of the tip. This is mostly because our food service people are paid fairly well for their work. I once waitressed and washed dishes at a theatre restaurant and on weekends I got $12.00 an hour - damn good money and well-deserved for the kind of treatment we had to put up with at times. Here in the U.S, though, it seems like wait-service people get crap-all wages and rely on tips to pay the bills. Some people ask, then why can't the restaurants pay them more? You would think that's a great solution, except - from what I've seen - franchise owners can put restaurant managers in a bit of a bind. I know a woman who manages a restaurant in a popular chain, and she gets paid a salary instead of an hourly wage. She has to make do with as little hired help as possible because most of her money comes from bonuses - if she saves enough on food costs and labour costs and passes every random inspection, then she'll come close to being paid well. In order to keep her labour costs down she often works 50 - 60 hours a week, and then the franchise owners still screw her out of bonuses based on ridiculous claims (often fabricated, IMHO). I could say more but it would make for a looong rant. This is the sort of back-room thing that leads to crap wages for the everyperson just trying to make a living in the food-service industry, and the need for tips. (I was honestly shocked to realise that my favourite waitress at a certain pancake restaurant was earning somewhere under $3.00 an hour... she did an awesome job and we always made sure to tip her extremely well.) Anyway, just a thought or two...
And here's my $0.02 (heh) on tips: I come from a culture that doesn't really nurture the concept and execution of the tip. This is mostly because our food service people are paid fairly well for their work. I once waitressed and washed dishes at a theatre restaurant and on weekends I got $12.00 an hour - damn good money and well-deserved for the kind of treatment we had to put up with at times. Here in the U.S, though, it seems like wait-service people get crap-all wages and rely on tips to pay the bills. Some people ask, then why can't the restaurants pay them more? You would think that's a great solution, except - from what I've seen - franchise owners can put restaurant managers in a bit of a bind. I know a woman who manages a restaurant in a popular chain, and she gets paid a salary instead of an hourly wage. She has to make do with as little hired help as possible because most of her money comes from bonuses - if she saves enough on food costs and labour costs and passes every random inspection, then she'll come close to being paid well. In order to keep her labour costs down she often works 50 - 60 hours a week, and then the franchise owners still screw her out of bonuses based on ridiculous claims (often fabricated, IMHO). I could say more but it would make for a looong rant. This is the sort of back-room thing that leads to crap wages for the everyperson just trying to make a living in the food-service industry, and the need for tips. (I was honestly shocked to realise that my favourite waitress at a certain pancake restaurant was earning somewhere under $3.00 an hour... she did an awesome job and we always made sure to tip her extremely well.) Anyway, just a thought or two...
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