Well Done Fillet, what is it good for it?

All this talk of tipping has been getting me down. It's been all consuming over the last week or so. From taxi drivers to guests to the guy in the shop to newspapers to radio and tv, everybody has been talking about tips. I've been defending waiters and tipping 'til I'm blue in the face. Do you have to defend the money you earn on a daily basis? I very much hope not. It's a fucking bore.

So this is the last I'll say about it.

If you want to tip, then tip. If you don't want to tip, then don't. It's no skin off my nose.

I'm a trained waiter, like my colleagues too. We know what we are talking about. We know about wine, we know about food, we know about service and we work hard to bring all this knowledge together to ensure you have a great time. Hey don't get me wrong from time to time we aren't all we can be. But we try hard to do a great job everyday.

I do well out of tips. It affords me a good lifestyle, I've not got the Porsche yet (wouldn't want one) but I can get through life quite well. I appreciate the money I earn and like most waiters I work hard for it. I'm not asking people to tip more. I'm not asking people to tip at all. You do what you you feel is right. What waiters want is fairness and the closing of shady loopholes that let disreputable employers take advantage of not only their staff but you the guest. And this week we got, part, of what we had been asking for.

I do believe that a tip is to be earned and not expected just as you should believe that great service deserves a reward. Yes from time to time I get pissed when I get shafted out of my tip when I know I deserved it. But I get more pissed and the red rage will descend quicker when I'm treated badly, when you're rude to me.

And finally over my nineteen years in this industry I have come to the belief that people like to tip. It makes them feel good. So make yourself feel good the next time you go out and tip the waiter. They will appreciate it.

This blog wasn't started and isn't about tips. Well Done Fillet is about people. It's about the good, the bad, the dramatic, the finger clickers, the bed wetters, amongst others. It's about the laughs, the tears, the barely controlled rage. It is observations on life in the context of a restaurant. Well that's what I aim for.

So lets draw a line and move on.

Eh that is after you listen to this radio phone in. (Requires Real Player) One of the callers is WDF reader and commenter Belfast Plate Carrier (Shane). Well said fella!

So lets draw another line, here.........