Ar the country club, thr gratuity was added to the check. none of us ever saw a dime of it. we got paid, i don't know, 6 or 7 an hour, but still...
A few of the cooler members were onto the jig and tipped individually every now and then. Later, they worked in incentive bonuses...say if you served 10000 bucks in shit a month you got a 500 dollar bonus. (that 10 grand might be way off i don't remember the magic numbers) this was good incentive to push wine sales and the like. Not so good for a non-salesy person like me, who didnt want to juggle 5000 tables at a time and make everyone buy pricey wine (usually pushing them to show off to their other snooty friends...and I ated 'presenting' wine...what a crock) I was a slowere and steadier server...this gig was not my bag. And i rarely got even the lowest bonuses.
At the neighborhood bar where i worked we pooled tips and split if someone went on or off the clock. This was so no one got screwed if they ended up cooking or whatnot. This worked out nicely. There were probably a couple cheaters but on a busy night we could really bank. Plus we also made a decent hourly.
So in conclusion i agree with sharing tips, but don't so much agree with a required gratuity. I have always been happy to overtip, but i would like to retain the right to give a lesser tip for lousy service. If I knew the tips were being divvied up to cookstaff i would have trouble remembering that crap food doesn't always feflect on the server.
Most of all, tips or not, 2-something an hour should be illegal wages
Of course, i think if we paid the more 'menial' labor (as dictated by society not byme) then we'd take care of some social ills. Not everyone can claw their way to the top as the rich types often suggest, and the world needs those ditch diggers and street cleaners and bartenders (god YES the bartenders) so why can't they make a living wage (please don't argue my examples...they're probably not the best.)
Well damn, would you look at that, I'm a socialist.
