Damn, I am old as you.

I don't go out to eat much, generally know the owner. What am I going to do, stiff Mike's kid, or the guy that has been working there forever, that is a sit down restaurant type place though. There are a couple places I go for burgers where I tip them. Tiny's looks to me like a single wide trailer with a tin awning attached, picnic tables but nothing inside. It works out to be on my way a lot of the time, fairly stellar burger and fries, been too long since I ate there.

Hagen's in Carmichael has inside or outside seating. Trust and believe if it is July and the sun is up, Hagen's gets the nod. They also have these Italian ice things. Whatever fruit is in season is the one you want, that or coconut. Directly in a line between my house and my parents, I am the king if I show up with one of those Italian ice things at their house. Those are all high school kids working there, toss a few bucks in the cup every time. I doubt if it is going for a college fund, beer maybe. Go on the right Saturday evening and you will see some fine old motor vehicles at that place. There was a guy there once had a black 1956 Olds coupe with an LS swap, it was astounding.

One time I was at a band fundraiser for my grandson. It was on March 14, 3/14, so naturally they were selling pie, because band people are sort of geeks. I give this guy $20 for a piece of pie, tell him to keep it, and he is trying to make change. "You can't give me twenty bucks for a piece of pecan pie." It is a fundraiser for the band, I gave you guys that pie. Then the light bulb goes on and he thanks me. Gave me two pieces, which was nice.

I always tipped pizza delivery guys. I always tip them when I get take out, 10% because it is easy to figure and close enough to 8%, which is what California used to make you declare on your charges, when I waited tables anyway. I don't want them to have to pay to hand me my food. When I was paid an hourly wage, people who earned tips were paid less than the regular minimum wage. I can't recall what it was exactly, half of minimum for people not earning tips maybe. I think minimum wage is minimum wage now, which is $14 or $15 in California, and why all the restaurants started hurting. Their hourly labor costs are up, if that expense doubles suddenly, it is going to hurt, and that pain gets passed along.

I tip, well when warranted, which is more often than you would think, especially in a nice place. I am of the opinion that working as a waiter or waitress is a good job for a young person. It develops the ability to interact with people and learn to read them. Public speaking is a useful talent, many find it difficult to talk to someone they don't know, do that all day long waiting tables. It is a job you can do while attending school. Depending on the place, you can make good money. During Jazz Festival in Old Sacramento, I would make thousands of dollars over a three day weekend.

My daughter worked at an ice cream place last summer. Pay was below minimum wage because of tips. The tips never got to the point of her making minimum wage. Pretty sweet racket as an employer if you can pull it off. So yeah, when the kids come out to get my order at the ice cream place, I tip. I also tend to get more ice cream on the cone or in the cup as a result so there's that.

My wife was craving a burger from Sonic last night... Seeing the young lady's eyes light up when I tipped her a $20 was such a joy.

getting thru college, i worked at my parents restaurant.

packing up chinese food to go was a lot of work!! i rarely got tipped. i got hardened to it and quit caring. i didnt expect any. but when i got one, it would blow my mind. if any waitstaff helped me, i just gave it to them. it was so little anyways, since it was so rare it was better in their pocket than mine.

what it showed me was that some togo food sucks to pack up. a tiny elderly korean woman just gave me togo dinner last week. there were boxes within boxes full of banchan, and sauces, etc. i tipped her like i was sitting at her table eating. she earned it. it was so tidy that i had no worries of it blowing up in our new car. she had it down to a science. its a lot of work.

I'm going to "up my game" with regards to "who" and "how much" when it comes to tipping thanks to this thread. And I know Chick-Fil-A doesn't allow their employees to accept tips because I've tried a few times. As they say there when ya tell them "thank you" .... it will be "my pleasure". The $$$ are totally insignificant in my life... mebbe I can make someone's day :)

Or try too....

Thanks....

Have a good friend from high school, who in school took a position at McDonald's. He never left, and has just finalized his third franchise.

People need to let go of their preconceptions of what is a respectable job and not. Teachers have threatened for decades that fail to learn and you will end up a garbage man, few if any every further explain that a garbage man out earns them by a pretty wide margin quite often. My wife took a part time gig with The Bay in high school, seasonal help through xmas, has had two employers in her life and now runs 16 stores for GAP Inc., out earning me healthily in the process.

"Marketable skill" is a widely misused term. When will knowledge of customer service, and food sales ever not be a marketable skill?

I snipped some stuff but your overall point is terrific.

My daughter has a business degree from ASU and interned at a event planning company in Scottsdale her sophomore year on. They hired her when she graduated. She has done some really neat stuff.

She started bartending at the Phoenix Open when she turned 21 making huge money for the week.

She owns her own business now but returns to the Open every year to bartend: She still has clients in AZ and makes about 5k in tips for the week while she meets with her folks early in the week. Networking is a skill and she learned it early.

She is also very financially adept, as is my son. It is not a "skill", it is learned behavior.

The notion that that "servers" are not worthy is preposterous: I can guarantee her yearly income far exceeds most of the the chuckle heads she is "serving".