While various topics spark debates, tipping takes the spotlight more often than others in the news. This is because waitstaff often vent their frustrations online when things don't go as planned.
In the U.S., the tipping system has faced its fair share of grievances. It's not just a concern for regular restaurant-goers but also for folks in other countries who work in the food service industry and face different treatment.
In Australia and England, servers get a decent wage, so if they do get a tip, it's a nice extra, usually given for really good service. But in the U.S., servers often make less than the minimum wage, and they rely on tips to make up the rest.
So, there's this waitress who hopped on TikTok to break down how tipping works in the US, and let me tell you, she got people talking with her explanation.
Savannah, a waitress in Tennessee, took to TikTok to share how getting a low tip at a table could actually mean she ends up losing money. This got a bunch of folks feeling frustrated, prompting her to jump back on and give more details about her work situation.
She said: "Off of my gross sales, I have to pay six percent of that to the host, bartenders, kitchen staff, other support staff, food runners, like people in the restaurant that are helping to make the restaurant happen, I pay them."
"Why the restaurant doesn't pay them? Why restaurants don't pay all of their staff appropriately? I don't have the answer to that."
She mentioned that if she made sales of $100 to a table, she'd end up forking over six bucks to her fellow restaurant staff. Then she continued, saying: "So hopefully on that $100 bill I get a $20 tip (that's 20 percent) and then I would actually only make $14 because the $6 goes towards the rest of the team."
"If I had a table that I served and their check was $100 and they do not tip me at all. […] I have to reach into my own pocket, money that I've already made that day or money that I have yet to make, and still give it back to the restaurant to pay the rest of the staff."
Folks from other places were pretty puzzled and maybe a bit miffed about the whole thing. One person in the comments mentioned that tipping wasn't the issue, but it seemed off for restaurants not to pay their staff and instead make the staff foot the bill. She was from Britain and just couldn't wrap her head around it.
A bunch of folks chimed in with their thoughts on the matter too. It doesn't seem like this is getting sorted out anytime soon, so the discussion will keep on going.
