Patience is a virtue!
 

An important part of The Villages life style is to enjoy various activities. Of which eating out is probably at the top for most Villagers. We have different options as to where we go for food and drinks, country clubhouses and all the restaurants in the different Squares. In The Villages, despite some of the ravage caused by the Covid virus, we’ve been blessed with a return to much normalcy with the reopening of all of our restaurants. Yet, all restaurants had a tough time staying in business during the malevolence of Covid. More importantly, too many restaurants have barely recovered with employees shortage. As such, while being reopened, gaining back customers traffic, their service is often slower and hectic THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIRS. Here is where the Villagers have an important role to play while they enjoy their outings to restaurants - BE PATIENT! Most of the Villagers are retired so what is the freaking rush. We should all be appreciative for the restaurants employees who are choosing to return to work to serve us. They all deserves kudos. And by the way, most of us, as Villagers Retirees, could afford showing our appreciation to the restaurants workers with a more generous tips. Face the music, the old days, pre Covid, are gone so we must adapt or stay home.

That’s one of nicest posts I’ve seen on here and very wise advise about tipped I’ve always been an over tipper and have added more since they opened up again , I also gave all of stimulus money out in $100 bills to favorite wait staff , bar staff , gym employees and anyone else that I came in contact with in day to day living who lost there job and paid my cleaning person not to come during our initial lockdowns period , that’s what it was for , stimulus not to put into savings

My guess, eating out is not at the top for most Villagers, but I agree with "BE PATIENT!".

& "BE PATIENT!" every where......grocery store, golf course, driving, parking, over-priced Happy Hours, Dog Poop, etc.

Yes...service may be a bit slower but no that bad..nothing to really complain about..but...

WE ARE ENTITLED VILLAGERS. We demand everyting

Sounds great but people are only here for a few weeks no time to wait. Others are just too entitled to change. It’s really hard to be kind when you meet people like them. Seems to be a never ending line of them.

Resident vs. Vacationer.

:shocked:

I won't tip more or less than I ever have. It's between 15% and 20% depending on the service, regardless of the quality or pricing of the food. Most restaurants are now paying their employees more than they were a year ago, because of this shortage. The employees who left in protest, did the right thing. They have earned better pay, they should've been getting better pay in the first place. So thanks to Covid-19, the industry is finally starting to realize what the employees have always known: the people who deal directly with the customers are the #1 most important people in the store. Even moreso than the customers themselves.

A customer can be the best most awesome excellent regular high-tipping low-maintenance customer in the entire world. But if the service sucks, that customer will cease to be a customer.

Waiters, bartenders, hosts, all the front end people, those are the ones who should get paid the most. And that amount should reflect the value the owner has on his entire business. Servers shouldn't NEED tips to survive, but this country for some reason mandates it and even has laws revolving around hospitality workers who get tips. Some countries don't have any such thing, the whole concept of tipping a waiter is mindboggling to them.

We need to practice patience, within reason. If you want to be served your meal by 5:30 and it's a Friday Night and Rocky and the Rollers are playing in the town square, then get there by 4:30 and be prepared to either wait to be seated, or be served early. Either of these things can happen, so just accept it, if you choose to dine out in a popular spot on the most popular night of the month.

If you're just going to Darrel's on a random early Wednesday afternoon, you might be served within 20 minutes of sitting down, with no waiting for a table at all.

i've been tipping @ 20%, or more depending. it's my way of thanking the ones who DID show up to work, & my gratitude towards them. got to give them a break somehow

Most of them are earning $10/hour plus tips now. They are already getting a break. Minimum wage is still $8.65 until the end of the month. Federal minimum wage is still only $7.25/hour.

Minimum wage for SERVERS (waiters, waitresses, bartenders, etc) is $5.54/hour, as long as the server's ACTUAL hourly revenue equals or exceeds $8.65/hour after tips.

The breaks they should be getting is: 15 minute paid break during each shift, plus an unpaid 1/2 hour meal break for a 6 hour or longer shift on top of the 15 minute paid break. They should be able to earn 1 hour of paid personal time (sick, vacation, just feel like it, whatever) for every 40 hours worked. They should be getting the option to buy in to their employer's health insurance plan, whether at full group premium prices or if the company wants to kick in toward it. They should be entitled to a guaranteed minimum 4-hour shift; if they're only needed for less than 4, they should get paid for the full 4. If they choose to volunteer to leave early or ask to leave early, they get paid whatever they work.

They should get a boss who backs up their employees when needed, who isn't afraid of busing a table or bringing water and menus to guests if they're short-handed.

None of this is the diner's responsibility. And your 30% tip won't make up for the lack of any of the above. It'll just make the employer think "well they're getting tipped so well, we don't have to actually pay them what they're worth anymore."

Regardless, service without a smile is NO EXCUSE! Patience...yes. Acceptance of indifference or rudeness because they're having to work... absolutely not! That's what I've experienced lately and that means no tip. I start at 20%+...and I don't judge on things out of the wait staffs' control. But, service without a smile, rudeness, or inattentiveness....that 20% decreases rapidly.

I find your opinion hard to take, that people do not deserve more today than before. These people are coming into contact with vaccinated and unvaccinated people and are literally risking their lives to serve you for a few dollars a day. You can throw down on the table a extra few dollars to show some gratitude. I understand some of us can't afford it so don't go out

Does anyone really think $10 an hour is a good salary? The average rent for a one bedroom apartment is between $850 and $1,000 in our area. If you make the average and then you have to pay taxes, more than 50% of your income is going towards housing which is about 50% too much. I may not have the percentages exact but trust me it's a lot harder to live on 20,000 a year and being a villager with a paid off house getting social security and half a million in the bank. You can be a little generous , it won't cost you that much.

We pay too good not to work and the people working feel cheated for not getting the free money as they work their butt off.

Might be a matter of perspective. When I’m out, everyone is really nice.

If you are talking about service people in restaurants you do realize that $ 10 is only salary.

A good waiter or waitress will make several times that amount per hour

Confused
 

I'm confused you seem to be on the waitstaff side in everything except digging into your own pocket to tip a little better to the people with a good work ethic who brave the risk to provide you with a good dining experience. You think they should be paid more by the restaurant so as to not have to work harder to provide a good experience and earn a better tip. You know if that was the case your dinner would be way more expensive as costs are just passed along to the customer.

The real problem!!

Pay scale
 

You think $275.00 a week before taxes (that's the max unemployment in FL.) Is too much to work. ( the government stimulus has been gone in Florida for quite awhile) I bet you couldn't pay your monthly entertainment bill with that much less your bills and rent.

Your last line...I don't know, makes one think you really are cheap in the tipping department "inattentiveness ....20% decreases rapidly"
I get it, I want the good service also, I want the smile too, but if things behind the scenes are bad for the waitress...ie. coworker didn't show, coffee order not placed... who knows....well then, with your logic, there goes the tip. Maybe we all need to extend that branch...ask them about their day, life etc, maybe you should smile more, or be more attentive as a person. 20% is nothing to be proud of and then to tic away from that....is sad, and cheap.
I have been on both sides of that counter, trust me, you want to be that good customer, you want to be that person the wait staff wants in their section. It truly is a win- win.

What????
I never understand your post.

I've been on the waitstaff side. Right here in Florida, years ago, and back north where I spent most of my life, in two different states. Restaurant owners of common variety restaurants (not 5-star, just normal places like Darrell's) will pay ONLY the minimum they're required to pay, as long as they know their employees are making up the difference between that and minimum wage in tips.

The more you tip your waiter, the lower that waiter's actual non-tipped wage will be. If the boss sees that you're earning $15-25 per hour in tips in a state with an $8.65/hour minimum wage, why should HE pay you at all? You're making more than the average office worker, you don't need his money. But he's required to give you something, so he'll give you the minimum he's required to give you by law. That minimum, in the state of Florida, is LESS than $8.65/hour.

In the USA, a tip is intended to be an addition, a bonus, on top of the actual pay rate. If you want your waiter to actually and TRULY get paid more, you'll tip according to standard, because that's what his boss is basing the waiter's actual hourly wage on. "Standard" is not "what all the rich pretentious people you talk to who want to show off how generous they are claims they tip"

The standard is:

20% for over and above, stellar, amazing, impressive service, so good that you give them that 20% and tell the manager how wonderful they are.

18% for over and above, excellent, but not especially amazing or outstanding. Just really good solid service that you'd expect from the place you're in.

15% for "she did exactly what she's being paid to do, nothing more or less."

10% for "nothing impressive, I got my food, she gave me my check, filled my water glass, and said thank you at the end - could've been a robot but I'm tipping her because she's a person and not a robot."

Anything less than that, you don't tip at all, and you tell the manager.

But doesn't the wait staff at most restaurants pool their tips, which would mitigate that theory????

We did the same

It has to go both ways. Absolutely, the customer needs to be patient and understand the restaurant may be trying to get buy with limited staff. Heck, half the time I feel sorry for the servers and wonder if I shouldn't go elsewhere just to lighten their load. If service is slow because the server is slammed with tables I can be patient and may even tip more.

At the same time I expect to get my money's worth whether I'm eating at 5 guys or at the Chop House. If the restaurant expects me to pay the same amount that I paid before the pandemic (and sometimes more due to inflation) then I expect to receive the same experience I received before the pandemic. If it makes me "entitled" to feel I should get the same quality for the same price then so be it.

I think I am good to my servers, at least I try to be. I understand that things aren't great right now but if they are making an effort than I'll show my appreciation for the effort. But if they are not, if I'm treated like "all those entitled Villagers," then I'll show my appreciation for that too.

Tipped employee in fl must be payed at least $3.02 less then minimum wage which means right now an employer must pay $6.98 that will increase as minimum wage goes up to $15.00 , the logic used to justify not tipping much escapes me so I’m not going to bother speaking about it so as they say JUST THE FACTS

I also overtop waitstaff in cash , just in case they have to pool tips they can keep the money over whatever the estimate the business uses for collecting tips and I just write cash on my credit card slip for what I left

This is also why it is better to tip in cash.

A Really Nice Post ( for a change)
 

We are retired, should be grateful for service, and being waited on. How nice to go out for a meal. I regard it as something special, but those are attached to that dreaded word, ENTITLED, think they can act out as they go out to eat most days. Some always complain, its sad. Who would have the waiter or waitresses job, and what they put up with, think of that next time you eat out. Ask yourself this, even if you are getting $20 an hour would you put up with ENTITLED with attitude !!!!!

I agree with most of your reply, except 1) food prices post pandemic will not come down... so yes you will pay, at least, the same. 2) conditions or environment is not...less workers, less supply,poss higher overhead cost, more stress, more risk
So yeah, I think alittle more tip is better.

Ps...I've not been treated like an entitled villager...in fact sometimes it feels like better treatment...but that's OK too.

This is so true. I was in the restaurant distribution business for almost 50 years and visited restaurants daily. I always had respect for the cooks, waiters, and yes the owners also that worked hard, long hours at low pay.In order to compete the owner had to keep prices down so they couldn’t increase pay. I always thought instead of the government subsidizing those who refuse to work it would be much better to use that money to give tax breaks to either these workers or their employers as long as it was used to increase wages. Anyone working full time should receive a livable wage but instead of helping working people we are encouraging laziness and entitlement. This extra money would encourage people to work instead of waiting on a government check. It would increase employment, improve service, and reward those that work. No sympathy for a bum.

Smile, talk to me, check on my water, drink, food, show some interest and you'll get a good tip 30%, ignore me, be rude, make me get my own water refill and you'll get a bad tip and note explaining why, 5% or less. It's easy, treat me like you would want if you went out to dinner and you'll do well. I drink water so I can give you the $10.00 tip instead of ordering alcohol. I can't tell you how many times a waitress will assume I'm cheap because I drink water and then ignore me or be curt and rude. I have regular wait staff that know me and love having me in their sections. My point is treat people well and you'll be treated well with good tips. It isn't always the grumpy entitled Villagers fault the tip is bad, it often times is the servers attitude and preconceived idea of Viillagers.

"But doesn't the wait staff at most restaurants pool their tips, which would mitigate that theory???? "

if i get the same server i like, i will quietly ASK them if they do pool the tips, in which case my tip is cash discreetly hand delivered before leaving. i'm talking about the same waitstaff you see often & get really good service from. i've found the area diners & such do not pool them, as with Bob Evans. there is 1 gal there who does an excellent job & sweet personality.

The "Ole Boy" is also a generous tipper, and we both agree that we need to "amp it up" during this trying time.

Tipped employees in FL make less than $3 an hour!

Nope, almost double that... Once you add tips, it's much more...

"If a tipped employee does not make up the difference between the lower wage ($5.63/hour) and the state minimum wage ($8.65/hour) in tips, the employer is responsible for making up the difference."

Tipped Wages in Florida | Fort Lauderdale Wage & Hour Lawyers

Sorry, but keep trying.

Let's also consider being patient for those who appear impatient. You do not know what personal stresses they are experiencing.

From the tone of the OP's post, I wonder how much patience they have.