We eat food prepared by others every day. Some people do it occasionally, while others do it daily and sometimes several times a day. How often do you think about the person who brings you the food? Not often I would bet. Many diners look past the server or the delivery person as if they are trained monkeys or irritating children. They often think that the person bringing their food is too lazy or too stupid to get any other kind of job. It is a true service these people provide and they should be rewarded for that service.
When you order food in a restaurant, you sit at a table, tell someone what you want to eat, how you want it cooked and what you want to drink with it. You sit there in your own little world and wait for them to bring you what you asked for. When all goes well, you are polite to the server and treat them as if they are real human beings. But if things don’t go as planned, boy are things different! You will scream at them, sometimes curse at them, make a scene to return food and then tell them that they are idiots! You then get up and leave and don’t leave a tip. Maybe you don’t leave a tip even if things go right. I have heard many people say, “Why should I tip, that’s their job!” While it is their job, do you realize that a restaurant waitress sometimes only makes $3.00 per hour? They depend on tips to make their wages.
If you order food to be delivered at home or work, you call the restaurant, tell someone what you want, where you want it and then sit and wait for it to be delivered. When it arrives, you get up off the couch and answer the door. Sometimes you have your children answer the door because you don’t feel like getting up off the couch. You give the delivery person the money or check and take your food and go back to the couch and eat. Did you think to tip the delivery person? Once again, yes that is their job, but even if they make minimum wage, the are using THEIR gas to bring you YOUR food. They have struggled to find your address which you have never got around to putting on your house or mailbox. Maybe you have put it there but you used dark letters against a dark house or you forgot to put your porch light on for them. Maybe your children have left their toys or bikes in the walkway so they have to maneuver around them.
You may not think much of the job they have, but think how much more difficult your life would be without them. If they don’t make tips, they cannot afford to do these jobs and you would have to either cook for yourself or go and pick it up.
In this tight economy we often think we can’t afford to tip, but actually we should think, if I can’t afford to tip, then I can’t afford to order or eat out.
When I say tip, I don’t mean telling them to keep the change when it is only a few cents. I mean making an effort to chuck in a few extra dollars to show them you appreciate the service and the treatment you get. You won’t ever be thought badly of if you tip well and you certainly will make someone’s day!