Why the Tipped Minimum Wage Forces Me to Endure Harassment

[eridani]

https://talkpoverty.org/2016/05/26/tippedminimum-wage-forces-me-endure-harassment/

I was recently harassed while working as a server at Olive Garden.

It was a very busy weekend, and I was told to pick up a table outside of my section. A few minutes later I greeted the group of white, well-dressed guests seated at the table. One of them, an older gentleman, grabbed my arm and said, “There goes your tip! I guess we’ll take you out back and give you 30 lashes.”

I felt my blood begin to boil. I walked away, declining to wait the table. I knew that this refusal would cost me money—but I didn’t want to accept harassment in order to earn a living.

I had a similar experience while working at Denny’s on Christmas Day. The restaurant was completely dead, and the one table I served gave off an impression that they had just had an altercation at a family get-together. The father asked for a steak so rare it was bleeding. When I served it, he took one look and bellowed, “This steak is frozen! How am I supposed to eat that?” He then threw it at my head.
I didn’t want to accept harassment in order to earn a living.

These experiences haven’t happened in isolation. Incidents like these are the kinds of things servers endure to receive a good tip—or any tip at all. Because the federal tipped minimum wage has remained at $2.13 an hour for the past 25 years, servers are more likely than other workers to live in poverty and rely on some form of public assistance to make ends meet. All the while, multi-billion dollar corporations like Darden (the parent company of Olive Garden) get away with their customers or the government making up the difference through tips or public assistance.

[braddy]

1. Why is it important to tell us what race the people at the table were? Why "older"? older than what?

[yeoman6987]

4. My thought exactly. The stories seem outrageous

Too outrageous.

[Melurkyoulongtime]

9. Outrageous, you say?

I've been in the restaurant industry, on and off, for about 25 years. The story in the OP is the least of the crap servers, bartenders, delivery drivers, etc have to put up with from the general public. At a former employer I once saw a "guest" throw a steak knife across the smoking section at our head bartender to "get his attention" as he told the manager shortly thereafter. Thank dog our manager also witnessed it herself AND the bartender was quick on his feet and ducked because the guy really was aiming for his face, with a steak knife.

Our manager hustled him and his (grown) son out of there in less than 2 minutes and banned him (but not his son, who hadn't done anything) from the property.

Later that night the cops show up at our place of business and question me, my manager and the bartender about this same "guest" and his behavior that night. Long story short the officer was gathering evidence against the guy as right after he left the restaurant he got into an argument with his son and shot him. Luckily, the son survived.

Also, last week at my current employer one of our drivers got shortchanged. After he knocked on the customer's door to sort it out the guy opened the door again and sicced his dog on the driver. Said dog chased the driver and bit him on the leg. The driver is a long term employee, trustworthy, creditable, does his job and followed company protocol to a T.

Good customer service skills will only get you so far as some people are just assholes. Yes, they DO exist.

[Freddie]

11. Degradation and harassment

Are everyday working conditions of a female server. I waitressed in college when I was a cute young thing and the guys would NOT stop hitting on me no matter what I did or said, and I had to smile and be nice for my boss (also hitting on me) and the tip $$. Get another job? The hours worked with my schedule and the $$ was good. Then there were the guys who tried to impress their date by showing her how much he could boss the waitress around. The old saying is so true, the person who is not nice to the server is not a good person, period. When I was finally able to quit I vowed I would pick up dog turds before ever waitressing again.
Tip well (I do 20%). They deserve it.

[Silver_Witch]

2. I am sorry for your suffering.

I was a waitress for a short while - well through my pregnancy (until I started to show) in the mid-70's. I think I made .50 an hour and had a full church group come in and left me one nickle tip - one nickle. I marched out to the lot stopped the preacher and gave him four pennies and told him he forgot his change.

I never waited another table after that...move to the dishwashing position they made more and didn't have to take crap from people eating out at a place I could never afford.

Tip wage is wrong - pure and simple.

[eridani]

5. OP was an article about somene else n/t

[Silver_Witch]

6. Okay then I am sorry for the "someone elses" suffering

It is late and I am tired having worked 60 hours so far this week....thank you for making sure I was aware.

[bluestateguy]

3. I'm for a 15$ m/w and abolishing tipping

Until that happens, though, I'll keep tipping 18%.

[Journeyman]

7. My mother raised 4 children and paid for a live-in sitter all while working as a waitress . . .

I can't imagine what the minimum wage was in 1958, or what it was when she remarried in '67 and could leave food service for good, but she was adamant she could never have succeeded had it not been for tips. She worked two and three jobs at times, to pay for the extras she wanted us to have (new clothes for school, a day at Disneyland, Christmas toys), and even when she held but one job she worked multiple shifts and served cocktails until 2 after the kitchen closed.

It was a harsh life, but the War and its aftermath destroyed my Father and their marriage, and she had no options.

We were never on public assistance. She told me she started to apply once but the process was so demeaning, and the benefit so low, she left the aid office with her papers unfinished and never returned.

People do what they must. She was a child of Okies, had known grinding poverty most of her life, yet always kept her eyes focused intently on the future.

I can only imagine what indignities she endured. She never discussed those. I only remember the love, security and hope with which she infused us. Of that, there was no need to discuss. It was evident in everything she did.

[KT2000]

8. Lovely tribute to you mother

thank you for posting it.

[trixicopper]

10. I've said it before and I'll say it again...

Tip credit laws are an abomination. They are the reason that employers are able to pay tipped employees less than the federal minimum wage. They are state laws not federal.

Tipping isn't the problem. Tips are what allowed me to be able to work 25 hours a week as a single mother when my kids were growing up. At 15 dollars an hour I would have had to work 40 hours a week and I would have made less money.

[marble falls]

12. I've never, ever had any the experiances described above nor do I knew anybody who's had ...

any of those experiences. I've only had three check skippers, all three I caught - I caught the first in '73 one at the door and sat on him until the cops showed up, caught the second on at the "beach" on Lake Powell with a Park Ranger the next day and the third one didn't get a way from the table - I caught him and his friend trying to charge a member's account.

I've always made a very good living and I'd recommend it as a living to anyone.