Poll of the Day > So i really like this waitress

(+) Yeah! (+)

But she's been a waitress at the same location for 3 years. That to me means a lack of ambition. I can understand an older lady continuing to be a waitress, but i feel like someone my age should strive for better.
---

How old are you buddy
---

Stop right there! We all know how this is going to end
---

MrMelodramatic posted...

How old are you buddy

23!

-Komaiko54- posted...

Stop right there! We all know how this is going to end

Where? O.o
---

Are you kidding? Where does she work? Many waitresses make a ton in tips. If you like her, she's probably fairly attractive, and more then likely friendly as well. This would mean she is a good waitress and probably gets good tips.

Good tips as a waitress, a bartender etc can often net you far more then 95% of the jobs out there, and what is more, depending on the place you work, you might not even end up paying taxes on most of it.

Also, 3 years isn't exactly that long, what if she is working as a waitress while going to school at night? That could easily take 6+ years depending on the degree she is going for.

Finally, is ambition really something you want your SO to have alot of.....she may decide to be ambitious and upgrade from you in the future as well!!
---

Are you her coworker
---

thecolorgreen posted...

But she's been a waitress at the same location for 3 years. That to me means a lack of ambition. I can understand an older lady continuing to be a waitress, but i feel like someone my age should strive for better.

Unless she's been in college all that time? At any rate, unless you're planning on marrying her, it doesn't matter that much.

wolfy42 posted...

Are you kidding? Where does she work? Many waitresses make a ton in tips. If you like her, she's probably fairly attractive, and more then likely friendly as well. This would mean she is a good waitress and probably gets good tips.

Good tips as a waitress, a bartender etc can often net you far more then 95% of the jobs out there, and what is more, depending on the place you work, you might not even end up paying taxes on most of it.

That's not really factually accurate. Even with tips, waiters/waitresses generally earn less than most non-retail jobs

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-much-do-waiters-really-earn-in-tips/385515/
---

Yes and I like the chick at who's the cashier at the cafe at work. Doesn't mean I did anything about it.
---

Going for the jealously route.

Good luck
---

Zeus posted...

thecolorgreen posted...

But she's been a waitress at the same location for 3 years. That to me means a lack of ambition. I can understand an older lady continuing to be a waitress, but i feel like someone my age should strive for better.

Unless she's been in college all that time? At any rate, unless you're planning on marrying her, it doesn't matter that much.

wolfy42 posted...

Are you kidding? Where does she work? Many waitresses make a ton in tips. If you like her, she's probably fairly attractive, and more then likely friendly as well. This would mean she is a good waitress and probably gets good tips.

Good tips as a waitress, a bartender etc can often net you far more then 95% of the jobs out there, and what is more, depending on the place you work, you might not even end up paying taxes on most of it.

That's not really factually accurate. Even with tips, waiters/waitresses generally earn less than most non-retail jobs

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-much-do-waiters-really-earn-in-tips/385515/

Don't believe that article for a second. Seriously, I've known people who worked for tips, even in states where you can get paid almost nothing base and work just for tips, that make serious money.

I mean, yeah, if you work at a olive garden or a red robbin, you may make less then $20 an hour average (certainly not the $13 they claim is average in that article lol...in fact in WA the min wage is $11 before tips are even factored in).

But lets look at this objectively for a second.

There are people who don't tip, and people who tip low, but on average you should get about 15% in tips (and that is usually after taxes as many like me don't try and subtract taxes.

18% is supposed to be the norm, I aim for 20% and round down personally, unless my waiter/waitress is exceptional.

Lets just use 15%, and say an average waiter serves 10 people total per hour only. Obviously the number will vary greatly, as will the cost depending on where you work.

Lowest tier places, Applebees, Red lobster, Olive Garden, Burger joints etc, will get the smallest tips, probably averaging only 20$ a person at most. So 15% of 10 people would only be 30$ an hour in tips.

Just like any other job though, if your good at something, you probably won't keep working at the cheapest/lowest tipping places long. You can, and will start working at a quality restaurant where the average cost per person is more like $30 and pretty much everyone tips. You will also probably have more then 10 people on average per hour, due to families, groups going, special occasions, company meals, anniversaries/birthdays etc being far more common. You may even hit 20 people waited on average per hour.

This could lead you to making $100 an hour in tips, and your still not even working at a high end place, just not the bottom of the ladder (high end being 40$+ per person or more).

I have eaten at many places that cost a good 70-80$ min per person, and the wait staff there has to be making well over $100 even on a slow hour.

Meanwhile bartenders can make bank. My friend was a baretender for along time and made serious money. Another who I worked for stated he used to bring home $400-$600 a night as recently as a few years ago.

So yeah, no way the "average" for a waiter/waitress is $13 an hour, even in places where they get $2 base pay.
---

get over it, charlie.
---

wolfy42 posted...

I mean, yeah, if you work at a olive garden or a red robbin, you may make less then $20 an hour average (certainly not the $13 they claim is average in that article lol...in fact in WA the min wage is $11 before tips are even factored in).

Calling bullshit on that. No waiter/waitress I've known has averaged even $16/hr with tips on a good day. And minimum wage for waiters/waitresses is LESS than the minimum wage for other sectors because it assumes you get tips. In Washington, the minimum wage is $9.47 for waiters and they average $13.25 with tips.

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm
---

-Komaiko54- posted...

Stop right there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPMMitJDYg&t=4m27s


---

Zeus posted...

wolfy42 posted...

I mean, yeah, if you work at a olive garden or a red robbin, you may make less then $20 an hour average (certainly not the $13 they claim is average in that article lol...in fact in WA the min wage is $11 before tips are even factored in).

Calling bullshit on that. No waiter/waitress I've known has averaged even $16/hr with tips on a good day. And minimum wage for waiters/waitresses is LESS than the minimum wage for other sectors because it assumes you get tips. In Washington, the minimum wage is $9.47 for waiters and they average $13.25 with tips.

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes353031.htm

I just don't think they are reporting how much they actually make, not from what I have heard at least from actual people working those jobs.

Then again, it's just a small number of people, so maybe the average is really that low. Honestly though, it just does not make sense. I eat out often, and I don't see waiters getting stiffed, the pure amount of cash alone I see them getting leads me to think they make at LEAST $10 more then base pay.

Base pay in my area at least is $11 btw, not sure where the 9$ and change came from, unless it was from before the min wage was boosted to $11. It may not be universal to all of Washington I guess.

My point is, usually when I ate out with just my wife, the waiter/waitress with just our tip made almost $20....just from us...and trust me, they always had other tables they where working at.

Now, some places make them split tips with other staff, cooks etc...in which case that would change. I'm talking about if the waiter/waitress gets to keep all the tips themselves. If it's split between multiple people that would change things drastically.

But yeah, sorry, it's $40 min for just me and my wife to eat at a low tier place (not even mentioning all the times I paid for 4 of use..where it was usually $100 or close for low tier places due to drinks).

That, from just one table is $8 for me and my wife and $20 for all 4 of us, just from one table. Add that to 11$ an hour and that is $31 an hour right there...and that is just from me.

So how does that translate into $13 an hour in any world? I'm talking about min cost meals of $15, with say $5 for drinks/appetizers etc per person (again low end places, not the expensive ones we often went to as well).

It just doesn't make sense. The "surveys" etc don't actually track tips, because even the website you posted stated that most tips go un-reported.
---

MrMelodramatic posted...

Are you her coworker

^^^Please clarify^^^
---

Ahh I see where you got that.

Washington is one of seven states that does not allow a lower minimum wage for tipped workers. Waiters, hairdressers, valets and other service workers must be paid a base hourly rate of at least $9.32, regardless of how much they make in tips.

That was the old min wage, it's now 11$ an hour and you still have the law saying they have to be paid min wage (as stated above).

So min pay is $11 an hour (here, it's actually higher in some areas. I think in seatle right now it's $15).
---

Btw, I'm not a super generous tipper, I am for 20% or 5$ (whichever is higher). I know plenty who tip more then that (I'm not rich, never have been, but if I was, I probably wouln't tip much more anyway, I'd just round up to the nearest whole number instead of down).

There are also tons of really bad waiters/waitresses....who I can see getting tipped far less, or not tipped at all by other people who actually don't tip for bad service (or just normal service).

A good waiter/waitress though was what I am talking about, not a drudge, who just performs the service but doesn't interact, and barely does their job.

The more you put into your job, the more you get out, almost universally, and i'm sure that is the same with waiters. My friends were both highly motivated people who went on to very high paying jobs (one makes about 200k a year now, and the other only 100k (but he loves his job...he opperates construction of a Salmon Ranch or something like that). The 100k guy is the one who was recently a bartender, and he's still pretty young, and motivated, so I doubt he's hit his cap in salary yet.
---

thecolorgreen posted...

That to me means a lack of ambition.

She'll need that to go anywhere near you though.
---