sby KELLI FONTENOT
Published Nov. 12, 2008 by The Current Sauce
Tipping is subjective, not a science.
The constantly changing U.S. economy has affected the way people spend, splurge and save. Some people have pinched their pennies in areas that they feel will benefit their wallets instead of others' incomes - like tipping their servers at restaurants.
In past years, a widely accepted gratuity standard has been 15 percent of a bill. Some cell phones even include a convenient "tip calculator" that use the 15 percent rule.
Many people stick to the 15 percent minimum. Others consider the server's personality, the quality of the food and the time it took for the server to bring it to the table.
It can be a challenge for a college student to tip on a regular basis, but it can be even tougher for the students who depend on those tips. Servers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, take customers' orders, serve food and sometimes work as cashiers, depending on the restaurant at which they work.
Amy Fain, a senior music education major at NSU, has worked at Sonic Drive-In on Keyser Avenue as a carhop for about a year - full time in the summer and part time during school.
She said her job at Sonic is rewarding, and that her tips are an essential part of her income.
"My tips pay for my food, and my checks pay for my rent and bills, so I do depend on tips from Sonic," Fain said.
A general shift is about six hours, and Fain said she can make anywhere from $20 to $30 in tips in a shift.
"Some days you won't even get any tips, but it just depends, like, I usually make anywhere from $80 to $100 in tips a week," Fain said.
Fain said she has seen customers tip based on a server's demeanor. She said she tries to keep a pleasant attitude while she's at work. She also tries to avoid giving customers the cold shoulder or "getting in their face." Some customers put money back in their purses when servers are rude, Fain said.
"Sometimes I've seen people even get money back out and go, 'Well, you were very nice and you smiled and you made my day,' and they give you money. It depends on you. You are your tip," Fain said.
A number of issues can affect a server's behavior. A server might end up handling several customers in one evening, and if there are problems within a restaurant - miscommunication between the kitchen staff and the server, a shortage of products or even a manager's bad mood - the customer sometimes gets neglected and takes it out on the server.
The U.S. Department of Labor reports a mean hourly wage of $8.93 for waiters and waitresses, but most servers interviewed said their wages are between $2 and $3 per hour.
Fain said she tries to tip well when she goes out to eat regardless of how good the service is. Lillian Hare, a senior psychology major, share's Fain's perspective. Even when her server makes a mistake or seems to be having a rough night, she still tips because she doesn't know what's going on in the kitchen or how many tables they have.
Hare advised people who don't tip to realize that their servers are not making the minimum wage they would at any other job.
"They're making below what's expected. A lot of people assume that you're making 5.15, 5.85, 6, whatever the amount is - but really, you're making barely enough to get by," Hare explained. "At the end of the week, your paycheck is the tables that you're working on. So, if you have a slow week and you don't have tables, you don't have rent."
Hare worked as a barista at Mr. Johnny's Café and Bistro on Front Street last semester.
Hare said her tips at Mr. Johnny's ranged from $0.20 to $10 a day, even though she made drinks according to customers' specifications.
She pointed out that a bartender can hand an open bottle of Bud Light to a customer and get a $1 tip, but a barista might make a coffee drink according to the customer's detailed requests and get nothing in return.
"If you're already paying $1.99 for coffee, why not spend another dollar?" Hare asked.
It may simply be a matter of ignorance.
Hare said one customer even reached into the tip jar when she was a few cents short of paying her bill, though the word "tips" was clearly displayed on the front of the container.
Hare said she also worked at the local restaurant Chuck Wagon for about a year before working at Mr. Johnny's. She said her work sometimes affected her studies. At Mr. Johnny's, she said she worked around 30 hours a week and tutored on campus in addition to her course load as a full-time student.
Even students who deliver pizza are not immune. Fain delivered pizza for a Domino's in Bossier City while she was in high school.She said most of her tips were only about $1 or $2, despite the gas expenses that most delivery workers have to pay for themselves.
Fain said she loves her job at Sonic and hopes to continue working there.
Hare, though, seems to have had her share of life as a server, and she said she doesn't want to work in the industry again if she can help it.
