Reader: Cafe Society is becoming the service industry's Yelp

By Patricia Calhoun Wed., Dec. 22 2010 at 6:56 AM

Categories: Comment of the Day

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The comments keep coming in response to Kyle Garratt's initial In the Weeds: A Waiter's Rant.

Yesterday, B2 posted this:

Cafe Society is becoming the service industries yelp. Its an avenue for waiters, cooks and chefs to bitch and moan about paying customers, much like yelp is that means for the consumer. Since I am not a service industry employee any longer, I suppose I am no longer welcome.

Oh, you're definitely welcome, B2 -- and with your experience, in a unique spot to comment on these posts. Share your tips below.

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In the Weeds, service industry employees, tip

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Where did I say our country is exclusively in debt because waiters don't declare all their tips? I do eat out all the time and I always tip 20%. My point is simply that a poor tip here and there is offset by the fact that servers don't pay taxes on part of their income. Furthermore, I'd prefer to have a robot as a server than some ungrateful jerk-off who holds a grudge because I ONLY tip them 20%. According to Kyle's original rant, he was in a huff because he didn't receive a 30% tip. Therefore, I'd rather have a robot as my server than Kyle.
1. I'm not a server and I pay taxes on 100% of my income, and have for my entire life. 2. This country is in debt because of wasteful military spending, a messed up farm policy that has produced the most destructive monopoly since Standard Oil (translation: Monsanto and ConAgra), corrupt lobbyists advocating for special interest, and a broken welfare system, NOT because waiters don't declare all their tips. 3. Stay at home and cook your own goddam meals if you don't want to tip...enjoy all that ramen.
Most servers I know brag how they report 50% or less of their tips to the IRS. Therefore, the money you keep that you should be paying in taxes should be enough to shut you up when someone tips you poorly. As a W2's taxpayer that pays taxes on 100% of my income to our country that is in debt during a time of war: You're welcome, servers. BTW, I just read an article about how restaurants in China are implementing robots instead of servers. Sounds like a great idea seeing how ungrateful many of you servers are.
With one big difference: On Yelp, users call out a restaurant by name and 'service industry folks' don't get that privilege. I, for one, would love it if waiters or chefs could call out customers by name, address, and even credit card number....so next time Joe Smith of 123 Elm St leaves a bad tip because he's just a cheapskate (and the kitchen and waitstaff bent over backward to fulfill all his asinine requests), everyone in the industry could know and be forewarned. And yes, I'm aware this is going to incite arguments, so I leave you with this: until you've worked for tips, you're not allowed to tell waiters to just 'deal with it'...how many people would be a doctor or a lawyer if your entire paycheck was based on tips? God knows cancer would be cured by now if that were the case.
Personally, I think that Westword and Yelp should figure how to work together. You know, get in bed with each other.

TotalComments: 5