by Helena Stone

Created on: November 15, 2007

Lets be fair about this. Yes, minimum wage should be in place for the service industry employee. Off and on in my career as a waitress for over 29 years I have suffered the in humane wage that servers get by their employer. Why should we be discriminated against. It is a cop out for employers. All the other employees of restaurants, cooks, dishwashers all get minimum wage or more. When I used to serve food, I had the impression that a tip was directly from the customers. A bit extra for the appreciation of service they have received.

In Webster's New World Dictionary for the second definition for the word TIP it states "To give a small present of money to a waitress or waiter for some service." Exactly that a PRESENT or GIFT. that has nothing to do with whether or not the employer has the right to treat that employee any differently than his or her co-workers because the waitress gets a gift. To be honest it should not be any of their business whether or not waiters or waitress employees get a gift or not they hired us to do their job that needs to be done for the business. Sometimes, in most circumstances servers might not get a tip, maybe because the customer does not have it or they don't believe in it because they already have to pay for the food. If it isn't for the server taking the order, getting drinks, serving the food, making sure the customers are happy through out the whole meal, and the side word of cleaning up the mess, resetting the tables, the management would have to do it on top of their work for the pay they get. Or what about the dishwasher doing all of that work on top of their duties or for that matter what about the cook. Are they going to do all that extra work on top of cooking. It think not, especially if they only got MINIMUM WAGE or lower.

The server puts their self personally in front of the public. They have to deal with all the needs and wants of the customers, after all they are not in a fast food place. What about bartenders, which I had been one of those too, I was paid a regular wage plus tips, the Owner did not reduce my wage or tax my tips for getting the "GIFT". What makes it any different for the restaurant server. Management for restaurants get bonuses on top of their wage if the restaurant is run correctly, did they minimize their pay or tax their bonus, No. I have seen cooks get tips for excellent food, did they have to suffer getting a lower wage when they got tips, No! Dishwashers or bus-persons get at least a minimum

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