aem wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> [snip preceding]
> > Huh? Employers are not required to pay waitstaff minimum wage now.
> > Many restaurants pay no wage at all yet highly experienced wait
> > people line up at the door for those jobs...
>
> Yes, it would be nice if industry practices rewarded those highly
> experienced people enough so they wouldn't have to line up for
another
> job.
>
> > a good wait person in many four
> > star restaurants can easily earn six figures just from tips...
>
> Yes, but there are only 1 or 2 four star restaurants in Los Angeles,
a
> county of more than 10 million people and thousands of eating places.
>
> > a good drink server in Vegas can easly do better than many CEOs,
> > and I mean from legitimate tips, not on their knees.
>
> Yes, many small businesses fail and their CEOs make no money -- oh
no,
> that's not you meant -- well, in the casinos in Vegas and many of the
> clubs, drink servers pool their tips so the good servers make no more
> than the bad servers, and it certainly isn't as much as you seem to
> think it is.
>
> The less than minimum wage + tips system results in good compensation
> for a few very skillful servers at high-priced eating and drinking
> places. The trouble with stingy federal legislation is that it
applies
> to the vast majority who do not do so well. 99% or so of new
> restaurant ventures fail in less than a year, but it's not because
> paying $2.13/hour tipped them into red ink.
>
> -aem

Nothing you claim is true. Wait people don't share their tips with
other wait people, they often share a small percentage with the
bussers... you must be posting from North Korea.

And wait staff definitely does make good bucks, unless they're
incompetent, and then they're canned their first day on the job anyway.
I don't know where you live but the waitstaff at an average (so-so)
NYC restaurant often takes home more than the cooks, often a lot more.

I lived in LA during the 1960s, and yes, Angelenos gotta be the
cheapest tippers on the planet. However, I had a good friend who
during the warm months worked valet parking at Harrahs, Lake Tahoe...
even back then he netted better than a Grand a week in tips... just
jockying cars. Those willing to hustle their butts and have a pleasant
disposition can make a very good living just from tips.... but a lot
depends on location... I'm probably the only one in this hillybilly
burg who tips my barber $5 for a $12 haircut... but in NYC a haircut
can easily cost $30+ and for a $5 tip they'd spit on you. You must
live in some cave in North Dakota.