"Cindy Hamilton" > wrote in message
...
> You can thank the federal government for that. The federal
> minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13.

Restaurant workers here in WA must be paid the state minimum wage. Can't
remember exactly what that is but somewhere around $9 or $10 an hour. I
have a friend in TX who is not so lucky. The restaurant that she works for
does catering and they like her to do the catering so most of the time that
is what she does. She also has to wait tables once in a while in the
restaurant. She gets tips for that. But no tips while working catering.
Amazingly enough, she and her husband were able to buy their first house a
few years ago.

Another thing I have noticed is that it seems in the areas where the pay is
the lowest, people tend to give the lowest tips. I always tip at least 20%.
I will give a little more, usually rounding it up to the nearest dollar if
anyone in our party has asked for a special order. Such as something added
or left off of their meal. And we generally do. But some people I know in
other states think that I am massively overtipping. I disagree.