Editorial

Money is a point of uncertainty in every American’s life right now. Even millionaires are worrying about their stock portfolios and their capitalist ventures. The economic crisis really affects the middle class, though. It affects the people that work for the millionaire’s corporations. It affects us, and it affects you. The fear of spending money at a time like this, can be seen everywhere from car sales to movie ticket sales. One industry that has not been greatly affected by this recession is the food and beverage industry. Sales have actually been up when it comes to dining out. However, the people that work in these restaurants are dependent on customers for their money. Coming back to the issue of fear. The fear of spending has caused Americans to withhold money in certain areas, while splurging in others. This goes back to a certain server’s saying, ‘if you can’t afford to tip, don’t go out to eat.’
Food and beverage servers work for some of the lowest wages in the United States. There are places that pay their servers $2.13/hour, with much of that going toward taxes. The I.R.S. assumes that servers make a certain amount, and they tax on that amount, regardless of what the server actually made. In the past this has not been a problem because for every patron that tips 10%, there are two that tip 20%. Now that money is getting tight for everyone though, people are still spending the money on the meal, they just aren’t paying for the service.
The food and beverage industry hasn’t been the only one to encounter this dilemma. Late last year, car dealerships face a similar problem with the majority of their employees being paid on commission only. The thing is, they did something about it. They paid their employees hourly to compensate for the lack of cars being sold. Restaurant owners and investors need to do something similar. No one can get by living on a taxable $2.13/hour. Minimum wage would at least keep servers on their feet through these hard times.
Enforcing a law that either paid servers hourly in addition to their tips, or made 15% a mandatory tip amount would help servers immensely. Being able to guarantee these hard workers a certain amount of money would secure restaurants with a hard-working wait staff. It would also help people prioritize their money, making them realize that when dining out, they must budget enough money for a tip. Everyone enjoys the feeling of going out for a nice meal, but the people serving the food must also be able to enjoy the security of going home without a paycheck, knowing that their customers will take good care of them.