As college students, many of us have worked in some aspect of the food service industry during our young adult years. Whether we stood behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts or spent our nights shuffling from table to table at a five-star restaurant, we’ve all had experiences with people eating out. Poor tippers, however, are the most memorable.
But on Sept. 10, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his support for a statewide minimum wage of $15, The Atlantic reported. He aims to “add fairness to our economy” and bring 2.2 million full time workers out of poverty.
Then on Tuesday, Chef Tom Colicchio became one of many restaurant owners to back Cuomo’s policy and hop on the bandwagon. Best known for co-founding Gramercy Tavern and for acting as head judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” Colicchio told Eater he will be raising wages and eliminating tips from lunch hours at his New York restaurant, Craft. Menus at the a la carte restaurant will now read, “prices are inclusive of service.” Colicchio won’t stop patrons from tipping, but customers’ bills will no longer include a tip line.
It seems logical: servers work just as hard as others who receive minimum wage for their jobs, but they often walk out with little to no money to put towards their family, their student loans or their mortgages. And while students may not have houses or children on the line, other servers are relying on tips as their singular form of income.
One would think that this is common knowledge — if you haven’t worked in the food service industry yourself, it’s likely you know someone who has or does. But even still, so many people in this country go out to eat with a preset notion that they will not be tipping, no matter how positive their experience is. Servers have to go the extra mile to make you feel welcome, make sure your food is satisfactory, get your side of ketchup, clean up your spilled drink and wipe down the smears of chocolate cake on the table when you’re finished, just to receive a few dollars extra toward their modest pay.
That being said, this minimum wage offering seems on the surface as if it could only be beneficial. After all, most people do leave generous tips, and some will continue to do so even if their receipts don’t prompt them to. It’s almost an unwritten rule: if someone is serving you and giving you a pleasant experience, you tip him or her. It’s an exchange of services — a human being is bending to your will, and you should show them gratitude for that.
Some would argue the opposite, though, and those people aren’t wrong. Tipping is a custom of the United States, after all. In most European countries, tipping is unheard of. A job is a job. If someone is being paid to serve you food and give you a pleasant experience, then they should do it. Food prices include service, and that’s that.
But what happens when tips do disappear? Here in the U.S., we are so accustomed to being patted on the back for our good work that taking the blatant rewards away may make us less inclined to do it well. The incentive disappears and we are faced with the challenge of doing good service without being rewarded.
It’s okay to think that this mentality is shallow, because it is. We shouldn’t necessarily expect a high-five and a kiss every time we do our jobs well. Other workers don’t. But sometimes it takes a lot of muster to swallow your pride and take heat from disrespectful customers, and having some hope that you might receive a tip at the end of the tunnel makes sucking up to them worth it. Without that to look forward to, it may be harder to take the blow.
That being said, workers in the food service industry are some of the most dedicated and hard-working people out there. By all means, they deserved to be valued for their work. Perhaps giving these workers better wages will prove that patrons respect their service. That seems to be what Colicchio is trying to do with his new policy. He said in the Eater interview, “Waiters don’t want to work lunch shifts because they don’t make as much money. So in a way, we’re saying you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to make tip-wise and you’ll be fine. So I think this will be positive for the service staff.”
New York does seem like the best place to begin a trend such as this. Patrons of restaurants in New York City are more inclined to spend larger amounts of money when they eat out. Here in Boston, though, the disappearance of tips may result in a lack of patronage at eateries — much of Boston is populated by students, and a rise in prices may turn many away, even if they had initially planned on spending the same amount on a tip. All in all, paying servers more seems to be a step in the right direction, but the change will obviously take some getting used to.
