beingcoreybayless

Yeah, take that title in and marinate on it for a minute…

I know this is going to rub a lot of the entitled, privileged Americans the wrong way but this needas to be said…

I had a friend who drove for Pizza Hut for years and couldn’t make himself quit because he said the money was just way to good and too easy to let go of… Hmmm…. Interesting…
I, myself, was a head cook for a restaurant for a few years and even took a shot at waiting tables on my day off until the management said they needed me in the kitchen instead of the floor… Well, while on the floor, I realized that I made more in four hours on the floor than I did in 10 in the kitchen even being the head cook… With all that being said, there are things that people whom have never worked in the food industry know about. For instance, it is true that wait staff only get paid $2.13 an hour plus tips, which many know and this is why many feel obligated to tip regardless of service or experience. The truth is that it is against federal law for people to be paid less than minimum wage therefor when a server doesn’t make enough tips to hit minimum wage, it is required for the restaurant to pay them minimum wage instead of the $2.13 an hour…. Most do not realize this. Now, in all the years I worked in the food industry and all the different people I worked with, there was only one girl that I have ever known to not hit the mark. She was terrible and she knew she was… She completely did not care. She worked graveyard and avoided all the customers if she could and they replaced her as soon as they could but it did take a few months to get someone to fill this shift out in Oak Hill…

I was even working at a restaurant when it was audited because all the wait staff was lying about how little their tips were and they fell under the mark that drew a red flag to the IRS. It was crazy, they came in a watched the servers count their tips at any given moment for a few weeks…. IT was nuts.

One of the waitresses drove a new mustang and the another a corvette… All of them were far better off than the management. None of this is a problem… Don’t get me wrong. They worked hard deserved it.

The problem is that we are getting to the point that tips are expected not earned… So sad.

In the age of technology and smart phones, we can now order anything with an app and for convenience, you can add the tip in before anything has even happened. That tip isn’t gratuity. It isn’t based on any merit. What about the people who go above and beyond; don’t they deserve a little something extra??
What about the people who show up late and have a foul demeanor?? Do they not deserve less??

Now, I know that there are many people who base none of it on any merit at all… They simply give everyone 10, 15, or 20% …no matter what. On the surface, this may seem generous, but to me as someone who has worked for tips and having known many people who worked for them, it seems unjust that someone can do crappy work and get the same tip as the person who will go after everything with all they’ve got and be joyful about it the entire time.

What has truly brought this to my attention is the other day, I ordered Domino’s Pizza on my smartphone for me and the boys and when I went to submit my order, it popped up a message box that read, “Giving gratuity now will ensure our staff does the best possible job”
What the hell is that??? I have to tip you to get you to do your job? If I don’t tip you, I may not get my order promptly or correctly??

Our society has become a bunch of people who are owed things they haven’t earned. It is ridiculous and I’ve had enough. I’m just tired of all the nonsense and how people can’t just work hard for what they get. We are building a society of privileged, entitled individuals who expect everything and want to work for little. And then continue to criticize everyone else who has more than them…but that’s another complaint for another day.

In closing. be kind to the people who bring your food or anything else these days but also tip them appropriately… Let’s encourage more people to actually earn it instead of continuing to hand them things they haven’t earned.