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If you enjoy restaurants, why not just stay? I also question whether you're really working fine dining. Fine dining is isn't a cash business, ime. My dh was a fine dining waiter for ~15 years. It's probably 80% credit cards, where servers must pay taxes. Fine dining servers have to be careful since taxes aren't normally taken out every night, but they are reported to the IRS.
No, it is not like that at all. There is no "must" as not all restaurants pay in checks. Some, like mine, pay the servers five dollars and hour with tips factored in as a average, and we are only taxed at an average rate out or our pay checks, which end up being about thirty dollars. The rest is in cash, as in, at the end of the night, after a shift report is run, we hand that into the manager who gives us the cash that we are owed (from the charge tips) at the end of the night.
Hence, because the tips we actually make are allot larger than the average we are estimated to make in tips, we end up paying allot less taxes. Many restaurants are "cash out at the end of the shift" as opposed to "declare each charge tip and get a check with EVERY LITTLE DIME" taxed out, and it's perfectly legal.
Unless the IRS wants to send in an auditor to stand over every server's shoulder for a week and count how much they are making, there is no way they, or even the restaurant it's self, could know that the average is allot less than the actual average.
I took the lowest most basic algebra class in college that I could get into, and it was pretty easy I have to admit. Even for me, who did not do well in math in high school. I thought other classes were way harder. They had a student assistant to help out. You should do it, and get a tutor if you need one. No way out of it.
It's one thing to major in the social sciences. Sure it's generally useless regurgitation of what a random professor deems noteworthy/time better spent googling these things on your own, but at least it's easy. It takes a special kind of stupid, like, me, to major in physics-a degree that is not only borderline useless to employers, but also exceedingly difficult.
Seems to me like the OP is okay with being a server for the rest of his life, working until the day he dies.
Being a server the rest of my life, no...but working until the day I die? That is my goal: a job that I do not have to retire from, hence, that is why I do not want to work at a restaurant my entire life. I mean, behind a desk at a school or a psychologist is something one can do until they are in their 80s (since social security is no longer going to exist soon enough, older workers will be the norm by the time I'm that old) but running around a restaurant? I would have to stop at age sixty maybe and from there, what? Just sit around and wait to die, that is exactly what retirement is.
That is why I HAVE to get a job I can enjoy that will not have too much tool on my body. Because retirement scares me only slightly less than death it's self. I am a workaholic, and need to work. Without it, I don't know what I would do, no matter how much money I had.
There are plenty of alternatives besides a cube. Go find an adjunct or lecturer in your field and see where they are sitting. Chances are it's a cube. I'm not telling you what to do either way. That is your choice. You should know what you're getting into though.
No, it is not like that at all. There is no "must" as not all restaurants pay in checks. Some, like mine, pay the servers five dollars and hour with tips factored in as a average, and we are only taxed at an average rate out or our pay checks, which end up being about thirty dollars. The rest is in cash, as in, at the end of the night, after a shift report is run, we hand that into the manager who gives us the cash that we are owed (from the charge tips) at the end of the night.
Hence, because the tips we actually make are allot larger than the average we are estimated to make in tips, we end up paying allot less taxes. Many restaurants are "cash out at the end of the shift" as opposed to "declare each charge tip and get a check with EVERY LITTLE DIME" taxed out, and it's perfectly legal.
Unless the IRS wants to send in an auditor to stand over every server's shoulder for a week and count how much they are making, there is no way they, or even the restaurant it's self, could know that the average is allot less than the actual average.
Again, this sounds odd to me. Who walks around with a couple of hundred dollars for dinner? A two top is between $100-200. A 4-5 top would go into several hundred dollars. Tho, I suppose it depends on on where you are. Boston/Cambridge is pretty expensive, but I figure most metropolitan areas are. I went to my husband's restaurant on Valentines day once when he working, and while I was comped, between the wine, appetizer, dinner, and dessert, my bill was close to $100. Even when we go to a 2-3 star restaurants, we'll drop $200 (in the past, not any more) Plus, his restaurant catered to a lot of business clientele being so close to Harvard. Of course, that is all done with CC's.
The servers also pooled their tips; tipped out the food runners, bar tenders, bussers, etc. They were given cash at the end of the night, but it was tallied primarily from CC receipts. And since it was mostly on CC's, the restaurant has to report that income due to the paper trail. That's the key point in my concern for fine dining servers. No way would would the restaurant pay the taxes on that (meals and room tax as well as income). It's left up to the servers, and that's where they get the screw if they're not organized. Servers earning more than $50k are paying taxes on that. If they're smart, they pay quarterly, if not, they're left with a tax bill at the end of the year.
It's one thing to major in the social sciences. Sure it's generally useless regurgitation of what a random professor deems noteworthy/time better spent googling these things on your own, but at least it's easy. It takes a special kind of stupid, like, me, to major in physics-a degree that is not only borderline useless to employers, but also exceedingly difficult.
The TA for my physics lab ended up going into cancer research. I would imagine a physics degree, while more difficult than other science degrees imo, provides the same opportunities as any other science degree. Where I work, while not a prized industry, we have a range of backgrounds (physics, chem, one woman has an ecology degree, etc). I suppose it is a matter of selling out, but the need to survive kicks in as we get older. A buddy of mine who has a physics degree is now teaching HS, but prior he was at Nasa.
Quote:
Originally Posted by victorianpunk
... but running around a restaurant? I would have to stop at age sixty maybe and from there, what? Just sit around and wait to die, that is exactly what retirement is.
That's exactly why I encouraged my dh to finish his degree. OTOH, you could look into management. I think it would be pretty cool to be a wine steward. They don't earn as much, but there are a lot of perks from what I understand (travelling to vineyards and the like).
It's one thing to major in the social sciences. Sure it's generally useless regurgitation of what a random professor deems noteworthy/time better spent googling these things on your own, but at least it's easy. It takes a special kind of stupid, like, me, to major in physics-a degree that is not only borderline useless to employers, but also exceedingly difficult.
Said by someone who has obviously never taken a social science class.
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