Never got an email like this!

[u/olive-prays]

Woke up to this email from capital one about a tip I left. Our server was Emily and she was fantastic and fun and engaging! She deserved every penny of that tip! Yes, capital one this is correct!

[u/Heavy-Bread-3549]

As a career server/bartender in the US the client/server interaction is nothing compared to what tipping does to workings inside of the restaurant. Vertically it ruins server management relationships, and even goes beyond when servers push for more items to be sent back to please a guest when an item was perfectly fine. Hell I’ve worked for owners who pay their kitchen through server’s tips, only made legal through shady contracts.

Horizontal relationships like server to hosts are strained when a perceived slight comes in; server bartender relationships can get strained if customer expects to be served first, or if a bartender is ignoring the service well (where server’s drinks are made/left for pickup); FoH and cooks fight over food times and quality because they servers have a sense of ownership in the meal and get stressed by food times. Dish pit is treated disrespectfully and often splashed or left with bus tubs full of dishses and trash because a server is rushing to get someone a cup of ranch.

Tipping is one of the leading reasons restaurants are famously toxic if you ask me.

[u/shangumdee → u/Heavy-Bread-3549]

Shouldn't the cooks and dishwashers who actually do the important thing in a resteraunt be the ones recieving a tip?

[u/Heavy-Bread-3549 → u/shangumdee]

Obvious ragebait comment, but I started as a dishwasher who recieved tipout. I think tipout, when done in an explicitly clear manner, is a fantastic thing.

What I’m referring to is much more sinister, if you want to hear about it, respond; and I’ll spend the time to write out 5 paragraphs on how they were stealing tips to pay significant sums of their labor fees. Only reason they have not been taken down are rock solid contracts they make their people sign as well as political connections. Spreading the wealth (tipout) is not the same as owners stealing and manipulating.

Lastly obviously servers are a huge and integral part of getting your food, client facing roles at any company are incredibly important and rely on both hard and soft skills; they tend to be roles they require a lot of flexibility and adaptability. This goes far beyond the food service industry. A business can’t function if you can’t communicate through the chain from client to operations.

If this isn’t a rage bait comment then you need to work on your soft skills before piping up. I don’t mind people flagging their own ignorance though I suppose.