"Colin W Kingsbury" wrote in message
k.net...
[...]
FWIW, the "system" does make some sense. First, it clearly connects pay to
volume of work. On a busy night you work harder and get paid more. This is
fairer to the staff and simpler for management.

True. However, management could simply either pay waitstaff on commission,
or even easier for management, just prorate their pay based on gross
receipts.

Second, it connects pay to
quality very directly. The waitress is essentially paid by the customer
after the service has been delivered, allowing you to vote with your
wallet.

That's the theory. However, in reality you have a wide variety of customers
with a wide variety of tipping styles. You never know which guy you've
worked your ass off for is going to stiff you, and you never know which fat
cat is going to drop a load of cash even though you let his water glass sit
empty for three minutes.

Now whether waitstaff generally are in favor of this little game of
roulette, I don't know. A lot of waiters I know get paid handsomely, mostly
through tips, and they like their jobs. But as a customer, I have to say
that I find tipping to be an archaic, inefficient custom.

I am one of those who feels tipping is getting a little out of hand- more
and more people expect it and the percentage people think they're entitled
to keeps going up. But, I have no doubt that the alternative would lead to
much worse service.

I have a HUGE doubt that the alternative would lead to much worse service.
A food service business will only do as well as their waitstaff performs.
We may tip low for poor service, but more importantly, we just don't go
back.

A local Italian restaurant was our favorite for several years, but there was
only one good waiter there. We always made sure we sat in his section when
we went there, and we got the five-star treatment every visit. We tipped
him well. But, when he had a falling out with the management and went to
work somewhere else, we only gave the restaurant a couple more tries before
deciding that there was no hope of ensuring that we got good service there.

Our response would have been exactly the same had service charges been
included in the bill. With or without tipping, service quality depends a
LOT more on repeat business and management's ability to train and keep
competent waitstaff around.

And as far as tipping "getting a little out of hand", don't even get me
started on the recent (last 5-10 years) tradition of people in what are
really production jobs (behind-the-counter positions, primarily) expecting
tips too. It's one thing if you're really a waiter who just happens to work
behind a lunch counter instead of cruising the tables. But when you're just
serving ice cream to a steady queue of people who walk right up to you?
Forget it.

Someone tell me again what all this flying stuff is doing in a food service
newsgroup? I seem to be a bit confused...

Pete