Modern-Day Tip Culture
By: N. Rizzo
In the upcoming months, as the weather transitions to beautiful sunny days, blooming flowers, and lush trees, CSI freshman, Julia Dwikat, prepares to start her second year of summer serving from mid-May until early September at the scenic Grand Oaks Golf Course.
“I like my job, receiving tips, and speaking to people, but it gets draining with the long hours and keeping up with the stories from customers I meet,” said Dwikat. “Older men flirt all the time, it’s just the way it goes, and if you want money, you got to put on a show, tell them what they want to hear to keep the money flowing.”
In Julia’s experience, men, especially older men, give the most tips when you listen to them since most have seen and experienced many things, and want to share that. In a survey published by West Texas A&M University (Source 1), Centenary College students with wait-staff experience were asked what they thought affected the size of their income. 58% of all the respondents reported that men are better tippers.
It’s a power trip dynamic that since you are serving them, they can flirt with you, causing more tips, said Dwikat.
A fellow CSI, Grand Oaks coworker who will be working this summer with Dwikat and has worked with her in the past is Gianna Corselli. She recalls such an event where this dynamic took place.
“Dwikat was serving a group of guys, who were clearly into her attention and ended up tipping her more than usual,” said Corselli. “It wasn’t anything inappropriate, just her being playful and laughing with them.”
Daily tips are contingent on different assignments ranging from basic serving of food and drinks to servicing the golf beverage cart to golf outing events. Her intended schedule will consist of double shifts of roughly twelve hours a day. Tip ranges usually fluctuate on a bad day as minimal as $40 to a good day of earning upwards of $400.
The job salary is minimum wage with tips, but the downside is the more credit card tips earned, the lower the wage goes. Required work attire can potentially influence a greater tip. According to Source 1, 38% of respondents report some tip influence due to a server’s looks.
Dwikat’s uniform will consist of either black cargo pants or a mid-thigh tennis skirt paired with a polo shirt. She likes the outfit because it fits the vibe of the place. The skirt seems to be more enticing to customers, causing them to buy more drinks.
A popular drink served at the golf course is a transfusion. The drink is a mix of one to two ounces of Tito’s vodka, and grape juice, topped off with ginger ale.
Serving alcohol has proven to factor in greater tips. The more people drink, the more people give. According to Source 1, 78% of respondents expected tables ordering alcohol to be better tippers.
Tip culture can be important for people in the service industry, especially when they depend on it solely as their income.
“I never tip, only my barber,” said Alessio Bejleri, CSI junior, who works part-time in a union job with benefits as a clerk at an emergency room while being a full-time student. “I don’t like tip culture because even with bad service, I am forced to tip.”
Although Bejleri considers the hospitality industry to consist of the best-natured people because they have to deal with difficult people at times without responding poorly, he does not tip.
“It’s cool to see different people’s perspectives,” said Dwikat. “I look forward to my job this summer.”
