A few things:

Actually, no, it does mean that you shouldn't be able to go out to eat. That is what I, and a great many other people on this board are, in fact, saying.

I hope you and everyone else who says if they don't like it they should just get a different job loses their job and finds out just how easy that isn't.

I think so too but I've seen too many otherwise intelligent people freeze over checks in restaurants. I think some people genuinely can't do any math involving numbers larger than 10 without a calculator.

In my experience, even if you think the employer would bump you up to minimum wage, nobody would dare ask, because, as someone else said, if your tips aren't bringing you up to that level, they are going to think you're a crappy waitress and fire you. Something else to keep in mind that I only saw one person mention…

Are you.....really suggesting that the whole idea of tipping is based around the erroneous belief that servers and bartenders are a precious commodity?

You clearly know nothing about most public pension recipients. And the thing that is bankrupting these cities and states is that they didn't live up to their side of the commitment, not paying into pension funds over decades, now the bills are coming due, and they're blaming it on the workers.

In my experience, a server who has the temerity to assert her legal rights in the workplace, especially with respect to wages, will usually find herself unemployed in short order. I once had a manager tell me, in talking about this exact issue, that a server who didn't earn enough in tips to make up the regular…

Mr. Seaward works for Coca Cola. Coke has a union.

They aren't a precious commodity at all, which is why employers get away with treating them like shit and paying them less than minimum wage even though they are legally obligated to make up the difference if tips aren't enough.

I finally stopped lurking because YAAAAAAAAAAAAS! I rarely see this pointed out on tipping threads. Pretty much all the large corporate chain restaurants handle tip out that way. Also most if not all have IRS agreements that state that if servers are not claiming 8-10% of TOTAL sales then that money will be allocated…

Neither, just spring and fall clean-ups for an ordinary garden/yard. It took four to six guys a few hours in New England, for a much bigger yard, and now it takes one or two guys all day in Santa Fe (we have a lot of invasive plants here) for a tiny tiny space. Base cost is about the same, maybe a little less here.

I have a step system:

But until that system exists, you are a jerk if you don't tip. Just tip 10-15% and tell the manager about the server. Otherwise, you are actually making the server pay for part of your meal, since they get taxed on their sales, and unless someone put a plate of food in your lap instead of on the table, they shouldn't…

It happens in some places. The thing is, if your paychecks have money on them, youre in rough shape as a server, because the labor of that job (as with all jobs, its important to note) is worth more than $7.25/hour. Its particularly bad for servers, too, because its rare for servers to actually work 40 hours per week;…

I love the Pants family! My lottery life plan dream includes leaving lots of large, amazing tips for servers...I worked retail, waited tables, etc all through college and it was ROUGH. Nothing like having to pull a double because someone didn't show up, then going home to study for a few hours, getting up at the crack…

Your kindness made his day/week/month/whathaveyou. You are pretty awesome.

Exactly what I was going to say! I took my sister to lunch yesterday for her birthday (and brought my niece along). The tab was $130. Therefore, 10% is $13, and 20% is $26. $130 + $26 is $156. I am no math whiz, but this is not hard. If you find it hard, you likely have a smartphone with a calculator function to do…

I always give a dollar for every 5 spent.

Adding, about my father: I think he also always wanted to double-check himself. Later, as an adult dining with him, I found that he had a real horror at the spectre of perhaps accidentally undertipping. He always added more to what his tip calculator told him.