From another perspective

According to World Health organizations, America’s top health problem is stress.

Several Americans participated in a recent job stress survey. Air traffic controller was rated most stressful job. I spent my holiday break working a job that placed runner-up.

I worked 40 hours a week as a waitress for Applebee’s Grill and Bar in Marietta, Ga. Food service employees receive little respect for their hard work. Most of them receive two days off a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Waitresses and waiters in the state of Georgia make $2.13 per hour plus tips. Therefore, tips are their income. They are relying on their guests to feed families, pay for college and afford living expenses.

I have worked for Applebee’s for almost five years. Based on my experience, most of a server’s hard work goes unappreciated. A server deals with not only their own guests, but the kitchen, other workers and managers. During most of the shifts I worked, many of the misunderstandings happened in the kitchen. On a busy night, a cook deals with at least 20 orders at once. Any human being would have trouble handling that many orders without making a simple mistake on at least one of them, so next time your order comes out slightly wrong, consider that it might have been someone else’s fault and still leave your server a good tip.

A good tip is considered 20 percent or more of the bill. Every guest should leave their server no less then 15 percent. Based on math calculations, it is much easier to calculate a 20 percent tip then a 15 percent one. You might as well save yourself the trouble and just leave the server 20 percent and reduce his or her stress level.

The most popular reason for leaving less then 15 percent is lack of cash. Imagine after serving a table for an hour without any problems and then being insulted. A low tip is considered an insult. Insults lower self-esteem, which heightens a person’s level of stress. A good tip is an encouragement and will cause more guests to receive good service.

A good tip also puts a smile on the server’s face and causes her or him to have a positive outlook throughout the rest of his or her shift. Food service employees take very few breaks, so they can serve their guests effectively. With the state of the economy, most restaurants are under-staffed, causing most food service employees to be overworked.

Stress causes heart attacks, viral disorders and several types of addictions. Waiters and Waitresses are just human like you and I, who work hard every day to accommodate their guests’ every need, so brighten their day and lighten their stress level, say thank you and leave a good tip to show your appreciation for their dedication.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 17 2003. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry