“What’s the cheapest thing here?”
“We’ll just have water, thanks.”
“Can I have ranch dressing to dip these free crackers in?”
To a waiter, these are three red flags that alert you to an approaching 10 percent tip. Just to inform all of the Mormons who read these editorials, tithing is ten percent; a tip should be 15 percent or more … and round up!
Let me relay a few informational tidbits that you may not know of. The life of a waiter is not all fun and games. In fact, being a servant has never been on “The Top Ten List” to my knowledge.
Not only is our job description similar to that of plantation workers in the 19th century, our pay scales may also be comparable. A whopping $2.13 an hour is the minimum wage for servers in the great state of Utah. If we calculate this out, that means that our salary alone for a part-time job, 20 hour week, is somewhere around $42.00. Take away taxes and uniform costs, and now you might understand why we get antsy about that extra dollar which you decided to pocket instead of leaving on the table.
I don’t want to whine about my job, because I enjoy making people’s dining experience pleasurable. I do, however, want to make it very clear to every Cougar that although this may seem blasphemous: 10 percent goes to God … 15 percent goes to your waiter. Exceptions are few and far between.
Dave Pringle
Vestal, N.Y.
