I'm curious of you have ever worked in a restaurant before? You state that servers only make $2.13 an hour and could make more at McDonalds. I have been a server or bartender all my life and have never made $2.13, yea that is what my employer pays me but i really make $15-$20 an hour. When you are provided a service in any situation you should tip, if they was no tip you would get average service everywhere, you are receiving the service and should pay for it. The tip is directly related to the service you would not expect the same service at a Dennys as you would a 5 star restaurant but without a tipping policy that is what you would receive. If you don't want to tip, cook your own meal or get carryout, if you want to be waited on there needs to be a tipping policy.

I am a restaurant worker and do have a backbone, i make a great living do you really think so many people would do it if we didnt. FYI all restaurants will work around a school schedule. Your plan to tip GM, and banks is asinine its not like you can go find everyone who contributed to making a car and tip them but you are paying alot more for the car than your dinner, the bank pays YOU intrest because you are allowing them to hold your money. Alot of things you purchase a commission is added in without you even knowing, i'm sure restaurants could raise their prices add in the tip, so they can pay the servers more, and than you would have the option to determine if your service was good or bad and adjust your tip accordingly. I personally like to be able to decided on my own tip, and prefer to receive a appropriate tip for the service i provided.

With your logic, why not tip the bank tellers for giving you your money? With your logic why not tip the factory worker for making your car to your order? With your logic we should tip Doctors and Nurses for drawing our blood, for being prompt for their appointments instead of having their paitents wait when they have arrived on time.

You make $15-$20 an hour from the consumer not from your employer. It is not the consumers job to pay you $15-$20 an hour, it is your employer's job to pay you.

I have stopped going out to eat, I am boycotting restaurants all together until restaurant owners start paying their own employees. I have gained a lot of followers in my home town, and I hope it catches on throughout our nation.

Without customers, who would you be getting your tips from? Who will be paying you $15-$20 an hour?

I know restaurants will work around school schedules so will Wal Mart, so will McDonalds, so will K Marts, so will grocery stores and you don't have to worry about not getting enough tips and having to split them with the other employees.

How much money is your employer racking in, after all they don't have to pay you.

It is a scam, tipping is a scam.

Restaurant servers need to stop their whinning and just either find another job or just live with the choices that they made. Nobody is forcing them to work for tips, nobody is forcing them to split their tips. They chose to work as restaurant servers.

I myself have boycotted restaurants and am hoping the rest of consumers will also boycott restaurants, until the restaurants pay their own employees properly themselves.

I don't believe this is some sort of "scam" restaurants are trying to get away with. I don't think it is a secret that restaurants pay servers less, as customers tips offset the difference to bring servers wages up to and above minimun wage. And restaurants could raise server wages to the same minimun wage that is required by min wage for all other employees. But then you would complain because the price of all menu items is also going to increase. That's just how it works.(this can be seen when you raise min wage a couple of times, then poof, new menus printed and prices are increased.) The restaurant won't, and often can't afford to eat the loss, so you are still going to be paying in the end. By leaving a tip, or paying more for the food. Wouldn't you rather be the one to choose how much more you pay? And wouldn't you be willing to pay a little more for good service then bad?

I would rather everyone to receive better wages for all the hard working people out there, not just restaurant servers. There are so many struggling single moms working two, three jobs just to provide for their families.

I know I was one of them. My two sons are old enough to provide for themselves now.

It is so shameful that so many hard working parents have to make saccrifices of being able to stay at home with their children or working several jobs to make ends meet.

Why is this issue of "Tipping Servers" such the issue that has truly over grown?

Why do they feel they are the only ones to deserve that kind of money. Do they honestly think they are the hardest working people? There are a lot of hard working people, not just servers.

It is shameful that a single parent who works as a cashier, fast food worker, only to still struggle with the bills, struggle to put food on the table, and their children to be cared for other then their parents.

I think it is shameful that those who have worked hard all their lives, only to grow too old to work, and not have enough money to pay for their medical needs.

I use to work as a cashier and I can't tell you how many elderly would come through my line with a small basket barely filled with food only to have to put some of it back because their Social Security check was not deposited into their account properly. I tried to make sure I had extra money in my pockets just incase there was an elderly person in my line who needed it.

I think servers who beg for tips are the most shameful people and selfish people on the planet.

With all their complaints that they don't get enough tip money, SO WHAT! GET A LIFE!!!

There are a lot of hard working people out there struggling to survive.

There should never be a homeless person, there should never be a hungry child going to bed without eating. There should never be a parent having to choose pay a utility bill or buy food for their family.

There should never be an elderly person to choose, buy their medications or buy food to eat.

We all struggle, not just servers.

We all deserver proper wages.

Sure, restaurants could pay servers more...but now your $30 bill for two people becomes $50 to cover the increased expense. Something to think about...just do servers all a favor and don't dine out.

so basically ur a crappy tip? good for you. u choose to do whatever job you do as well, and apparently they arent paying enough for you to afford a tip. that's not my problem. feeding my child is. and i shouldnt have to get another job bc ur cheap. catch-22 either way huh. and who will wait on u hand and foot as you participate in gluttony? Thank god for your hometown servers uve stopped eating out.

First of all if you had any idea of what it costs to open and operate a restaurant you would know that there's no killing being made by the customers paying most of a servers wages. There are days that after rent,utilities, and payroll the day is a net loss. The government has allowed a servers wages to be under minimum wage, not the owners or the servers. Realize this, get rid of tipping and make owners pay the servers a flat hourly or salary and menu prices will go up at least 20% just to keep the doors open. Bottom line is you will be paying the same anyway. As a server, and consider myself a very good and sucessfull one, I do not feel that everyone deserves 15%-20% and that is an advantage to the consumer to pay for what they recieve. I can truthfully say that most of the services rendered by fixed fee professions are far from satisfactory. Everyone from servers to doctors to actors to athletes to office workers to teachers and so on should have their wages depend on their performance more. Restaurants are amongst the only places where the consumer has the ability to chose how much they pay pending on how satisfied they are with what they got. This whole structure is no different than any other business. The difference is that service (ie. 20%) is already included in the price of everything else you buy to cover operating costs. That price is not negotiable in most circumstances either. I'm not WHINING because if I didn't do well enough at what I do to support my family I would change jobs. I would love to see the change in peoples attitudes if everybody's pay pended on their services and customers satisfaction. For you to take this stance is just showing your ignorance on the real world, cost of running a business, and simple math. If I wait on you and suck, tip me appropriately, if I make your evening special then show me in the form of a nice tip. I'm willing to guess that you have no idea how great of an experience dining out can be when both parties show appreciation for each other. People rely on restaurants to feed them and serve them. If you don't agree with policies eat at home and your problem is solved. There are also many concepts that don't require tipping for food, so if your willing to sacrifice the quality of service then enjoy that. My wife and I eat at home quite often due to the cost of eating out, but we would never screw a server working hard because we couldn't afford the tip. I'm sure your familiar with two wrongs don't make a right. If you feel that owners not paying more is wrong, stiffing the server doesn't make it right.

If tipping is a scam. Stay home!

You can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out. Servers are people too. We work hard too!

Can i take the conclusion from this that a lot of servers rather have the 'idea' of making good money, than steady hourly pay? The idea that IF people tip big, they make a good wage over the fact of a steady income + any extra tipping they earn. Which makes them totaly depend on any outside factor like busy or still days, the income of those who eat, etc. Instead of depend on those who hired them.

I get the idea that depending of tipping doesn't make for good service. Servers who think that customer A will tip poorly, will treat customer A poorly and spend more time on customer B. In that way customer A will definetly go and tip poorly and the server will think (s)he was right in thinking so!

I agree with Lifegetter: everybody should get fair wages. Nobody should get hired without proper payment and just the idea of earning some money.

I agree with lifegetter, I hate the practice of tipping. It doesn't ensure better service. The thing that really blows about tipping is that if you work at Steak -n- Shake in some small town your going to be barely making it. If you work at some fancy resteraunt in a city you're probably making money hand over fist. Those who work at the fancy resteraunt aren't any better at ther jobs than the small town Steak-n-Shake waiters, so it doesn't make sense to me. It's an outdated practice.

I am not afraid of the increase in prices as long as restaurant employees are paid a steady income instead of relying on the customers.