Monday, October 27, 2008

Spreading the Wealth

A fellow blogger out there that I found posed an interesting question about those that do not want to "spread the wealth around in America." Not sure it completely had to deal with actual political ideal, e.g. socialism, but I thought that the question she posed was nonetheless interesting.

Apparently, the blogger must be one of our beloved food servers/waitress or a friend of a server, as many of us have been throughout our lives. From her question I believe she must have felt the economic pinch of not receiving a rightful "tip" for service. It still shocks me to this day that people do not understand that food servers only make $2.15 an hour, plus tips. Anyhow, the question posed was: if people are so against spreading the wealth throughout America (even though it has been shown to work in the past, i.e. Roosevelt's New Deal), why can't the food servers' tip amounts get melded into the cost of the food at a restaurant?

Not sure I completely agree with the suggestion, as I have had many bad food service experiences. Even my own experience of being a server has not made me think that this concept is entirely a good idea, as I enjoy paying my 15% for "bad" service and 20+% for "good" service.
On second thought,...other peoples' ideas of awarding good or bad service are not at the same levels of tip percentages, as I award.

For some, mediocre service can involve giving only a 5% tip. Perhaps, the melding of service cost into food cost at restaurants could be a good idea and could better yet, possibly help those whose skills excel in the food service industry or even help those who use food serving as a supplemental income.

What do you think?

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