Does race play a role in the way we tip? (fast food, suspect)

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by blackandproud

Maybe its you that need to get the chip off your shoulder. When I go out to eat I expect good service. What I do not expect is to have food delivered to me cold or have the wrong order bought over. What I do not expect when I'm being served is a waiter who themselves have a chip on their shoulder. Every job requires coordination with another group or team, so that sounds like a training/staffing issues. If your feet hurt, wear different shoes, go see a dr, change professions, but you are providing a service, don't expect to be compensated outside of what your employer should pay you if you refuse to provide adequate if not excelent service. Bottom line.

Forget the customer chip on the shoulder, its the service people.

Exactly!

[miu]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal Wahine

LOL. Just come out and admit it, Chatteress - you hate tipping!














I mean, come on! You made it clear early on that tipping to you is simply the subsidizing of wages, and that subsidizing wages isn't your responsibility, that leaving a tip after paying a lot of money for a hairdo, taxi ride, or an expensive restaurant meal sucks and is unfair, that tipping is out of control, that you would rather get food to go than be forced to leave a server a few dollars for their assistance, that people don't work hard enough for you to receive your hand-outs, and that servers have huge egos and entitlement issues to begin with anyway.

I think people like you usually walk into a restaurant clutching their wallets tightly and begin manufacturing excuses to not leave a tip from the moment they sit down. With such an obvious premeditated attitude as that, it's likely that even the hardest-working efficient and friendly server will fail to meet their requirements for a tip. We have a family member just like this, and dining out with him (on the rare occasion that we do) can be excrutiatingly painful. Nothing is ever good enough. Something will always be sent back and the glass is never clean enough and the ambient noise is too loud and it's always either too hot or too cold inside or the waiter failed to stop and refill his water glass as he was hefting five meals to another table. It's torture to dine out with people like that!

Great post! I think that some people, like Chatteress, walk into a restaurant expecting full formal maid or butler service white glove as if they were the regents of England. But every restaurant is different in tone. And aside from the basics like bringing and clearing the dishes, beverage service and keeping the water glass full, the waiter's most important duty is to help the customer navigate through the menu and help them get a satisfying experience from the kitchen.

For instance, with all my black customers, I have to be able to discretely make sure that they understand a filet mignon is automatically served rare, because from personal experience I know the the majority of black people are horrified by the thought of eating rare cooked beef, and 10 time out of 10... I have to have the kitchen make their filet mignon well done.... which is a shame for such a nice cut of beef. And it's not like I say to my black customers "because you are black, I know that you won't eat rare beef..." but only blacks have this issue and they also don't realize that a filet mignon is supposed to be cooked rare. In the last year where I work, the only black person I know that will eat a filet mignon properly is the black chef. And one of the black girls I know won't eat any of the day old wrapped sandwiches from the cafe downstairs. And if I am eating one of those sandwiches for a snack and she makes a face, I joke and tell her to keep her negative thoughts to herself so as to not spoil my eating experience. She's a real germaphobe. She also only eats well done beef.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal Wahine

LOL. Just come out and admit it, Chatteress - you hate tipping!

I mean, come on! You made it clear early on that tipping to you is simply the subsidizing of wages, and that subsidizing wages isn't your responsibility, that leaving a tip after paying a lot of money for a hairdo, taxi ride, or an expensive restaurant meal sucks and is unfair, that tipping is out of control, that you would rather get food to go than be forced to leave a server a few dollars for their assistance, that people don't work hard enough for you to receive your hand-outs, and that servers have huge egos and entitlement issues to begin with anyway.

I think people like you usually walk into a restaurant clutching their wallets tightly and begin manufacturing excuses to not leave a tip from the moment they sit down. With such an obvious premeditated attitude as that, it's likely that even the hardest-working efficient and friendly server will fail to meet their requirements for a tip. We have a family member just like this, and dining out with him (on the rare occasion that we do) can be excrutiatingly painful. Nothing is ever good enough. Something will always be sent back and the glass is never clean enough and the ambient noise is too loud and it's always either too hot or too cold inside or the waiter failed to stop and refill his water glass as he was hefting five meals to another table. It's torture to dine out with people like that!

So ya think ya have me all sized up based upon my expressed opinions on this forum huh??? Sorry but I'm not a difficult diner. I've gone out to eat multiple times this past week and each time the waitstaff got their full tips as I felt they earned it. I rarely complain about anything and servers are always greeted in a friendly manner. Since it is a hassle to return food, I rarely send anything back to the kitchen unless it is the wrong order (I can only recall that happening twice). Those servers got their tips for promptly correcting the situations (Mixups can and do happen). Complaining about dirty silverware? I'm picky but fortunately I've never encountered that issue while dining out. One of my favorite restaurants is too loud but yet, nary a complaint comes from my mouth. I don't give servers reasons to give me poor service. If the service is outstanding, I may track down the manager to give the server a commendation if I have time. So again, you may think you have me pegged as a difficult customer but that is simply not the case.

As a diner, I do have certain expectations and if those expectations are not being met, then those servers will not be tipped or they will be under tipped. I do expect that my server will get my order correctly and if a mistake is made, promptly corrects the situation (most servers do in my experience). I do expect my beverage glass to be refilled without my having to hunt down the server as it is their job (1/2 servers do this in my experience). I do expect that my bill will arrive on my table in a timely manner and that I do not have to wait 20 minutes to pay when I'm ready to leave (I usually just ask for my bill when my food is delivered to avoid waiting). I do expect my server to check up on me periodically to see if I needed anything as that is part of their responsibility. I also expect that I will receive the same courteous service as other patrons in the restaurant as well. Essentially, I expect the server to at least do their darn job that they are paid to do. Restaurants are NOT social service agencies so I'm not going to tip someone who stiffs me in terms of service. If your wages are trully depended upon tips, then that should motivate you to exceed customer expectations.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by miu

Great post! I think that some people, like Chatteress, walk into a restaurant expecting full formal maid or butler service white glove as if they were the regents of England. But every restaurant is different in tone. And aside from the basics like bringing and clearing the dishes, beverage service and keeping the water glass full, the waiter's most important duty is to help the customer navigate through the menu and help them get a satisfying experience from the kitchen.

For instance, with all my black customers, I have to be able to discretely make sure that they understand a filet mignon is automatically served rare, because from personal experience I know the the majority of black people are horrified by the thought of eating rare cooked beef, and 10 time out of 10... I have to have the kitchen make their filet mignon well done.... which is a shame for such a nice cut of beef. And it's not like I say to my black customers "because you are black, I know that you won't eat rare beef..." but only blacks have this issue and they also don't realize that a filet mignon is supposed to be cooked rare. In the last year where I work, the only black person I know that will eat a filet mignon properly is the black chef. And one of the black girls I know won't eat any of the day old wrapped sandwiches from the cafe downstairs. And if I am eating one of those sandwiches for a snack and she makes a face, I joke and tell her to keep her negative thoughts to herself so as to not spoil my eating experience. She's a real germaphobe. She also only eats well done beef.

I'm not black and I don't eat rare meat. I also did not know that filet mignon is served rare so thanks for that info. Regarding your first paragraph, see my post above.

[RazorRob305]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

Although her Atlanta area restaurant is relatively young and most likely prone to new start-up headaches, one of the things that McGinnis never expected was the way that some of her African-American customers failed to leave behind a tip or gratuity. Almost right away McGinnis, a 38-year-old former social worker turned entrepreneur, noticed the difference between the tips she received from her African-American and white clientele.

Does race play a role in the way we tip?

i used to deliver pizzas so i know all about this....and when anyone that works for tips says their experience you should believe it and not think of it being racism....but yeah my experience was not that ALL black people didnt tip but the majority didnt.....we had this Black College Reunion in Orlando one week out of each year and i worked in an area where there were 80 percent hotels...so we got to serve the people who came to town for the Football game ....all black people....well during that week i experienced only a few decent tips and a couple nice tips from everyone, but the Majority didnt leave tips and alot of people complained about their food to get something free...it was bullcrap....

its not like we are stupid and cant see that every other week in the year was different as far as tips and complaints ....lol...i mean i would deliver to alot of these hotels and i got alot of people saying "that's my pizza that's my pizza" you know just trying to mess with me ...thing is ...i never really got that much flack until BCR week came to town...all the people i knew who worked in resturaunts and pizza places around there would always say we need to start adding an extra service fee so we can pay our bills from the money we would lose that week....no joke...that's just how it was....now in my private life i get along with people that are opposite of me "I'm white" usually instead of my own race....but i would dread working that week because of the wear and tear on my car and knowing the majority of these black people that visited wouldnt tip and would just mess with the drivers....but i did get a few good tips though and some decent ones

[ILUVOBAMA]

Well, I'm black and I've been on both sides. I hardly ever got a good tip from my white customers. I got very good tips from all other nationalities. I once had a white woman leave me a nickel! Whites were usually my rudest and most demeaning customers.

Now as a black customer, I always tip. However, I do expect good service. If you're rude and never around, you might only get $2 or $3.
If you do your job, you get 20%. If you go out of your way for me, you get a VERY good tip. I forgot, once I didn't leave a tip. She was so rude and racist! I left her a note why I was not leaving a tip.

My friends also tip. However, they do expect great service.

[penguin_kernel]

When I was younger and delivered pizzas the biggest tips I got were from Mexican guys. One time some dude gave me a 5 dollar tip on a 10 dollar order. Ever since then when I order Mexican food I give them good tips.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by zox

Certain races might be poor tippers but many waiters racially profile and provide poor service assuming you will not tip well based on your race. They are not rude but they do the least possible and are not really that friendly. I'm Asian Indian but was born and raised here. I know many Indians in my parents' generation are poor tippers but that is largely a cultural issue because in India, you are not asked to tip and thus my parents generation typically tip 10-15%. Our generation is obviously not like that because we are familiar with the custom of tipping 20% but we still get treated poorly because they just assume we are like our parents. In fact, I feel like I have to over tip at times to send a message that my generation does tip well and to provide good service the next time I come in to that restaurant.

Unless you are a minority, you don't really understand this concept.It's always a crapshoot with regards to receiving service. You just hope you don't get that racist server who is going to profile you. And I know this is somewhat true because I have white friends who are servers and they admitted that some of their fellow servers do harbor these attitudes. And I notice the difference in service if I'm dining with white people. I'm assuming that many of the waiters on this thread probably treat Black people differently assuming they won't tip well. All you are doing is reinforcing that stereotype because if you provide them with bad service, they probably won't tip well.

What comes first -- the chicken or the egg? Where I live, the blacks actually tip but another group is big here and is known not to tip or tip terribly.

What is revealing is that hispanic waitresses don't want the Spanish speaking customers and complain because of language, they get stuck with them, while the white waitresses get to have a better percentage of white customers.

No waiter or waitress wants to serve a table of people who isn't going to leave any kind of tip.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by natalayjones

Wasn't there already a thread telling everyone that black people don't tip? Nice to know I can take a couple weeks hiatus from this forum and not miss a beat

Some do -- and the ones who do get very good service. Waiters and waitresses are actually not racist at least when it comes to money and if the customer is known to be a good tipper, he or she will be given good service.

The problem is the stereotyping, some might assume that because over and over they were not left tips by certain people that anyone coming in is going to be the same way.

I've heard from some restaurant workers is that often black customers leave BIGGER tips than others maybe to offset this impression - but you can believe that the wait staff is fighting over who will get to serve them when they come back.

[blackandproud]

Originally Posted by malamute

Some do -- and the ones who do get very good service. Waiters and waitresses are actually not racist at least when it comes to money and if the customer is known to be a good tipper, he or she will be given good service.

The problem is the stereotyping, some might assume that because over and over they were not left tips by certain people that anyone coming in is going to be the same way.

I've heard from some restaurant workers is that often black customers leave BIGGER tips than others maybe to offset this impression - but you can believe that the wait staff is fighting over who will get to serve them when they come back.

You bet!