Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-02
SAYS TIPP|NG'S INCREASING
VIEW OF A DINER-OUT IN DIFF
FERENT CITY RESTAURANTS.
Gratuities More Generally Given to
Walters Than to Waitresses-How
the Latter Regard It.

despite all that has been said on the
subject of tipping and that it received ma
.tional recognition at the hands of Congress
by the introduction of a bill at the last ses-
sion making such an act misdemeanor in
the District" remarked a Washington trav-
eler, lit is my experience that the practice
is on the increase rather than otherwise.
I'm dining in the different local restau-
rants l find the result the same here as in
other cities-the usual tip is necessary to
get good service from both male and female
walters In the first instance it is prac-
tically imperative, and in the latter, al
though waitress Will continue to serve
you, tip or no tip, when you habitually sit
at one table, or change around, for that
matter you are served better and more
willingly If you remember her regularly or
occasionally, with a small gratuity. In
many instances the male walters will find
some reason for refusing to wait upon you,
if you become a regular customer, If you
fail to tip them
A brief study of the problem of tipping
as applied to the waitress productive
of some interesting results. There are men
who are reluctant to tip a woman for serv-
ing their meals, for various reasons, senti-
mental or otherwise, and not necessarily
from penurfousness, yet these men, when
they frequent restaurants employing male
walters have no hesitancy to tip the latter
An intelligent waitress in one of the larger
restaurants in town employing female help
put it this way in answer to the query of a
Star representative:
The waiter she said expects a tip
from the patron he serves a long exist
ing custom which he considers has now de-
veloped into a right and necessary part
of the function of eating; the waitress
would like a tip and is willing to accept it,
but if it is not Forthcoming she does not en-
terrain that curious feeling, amounting all
most to detestation of the customer, as does
the waiter.
Several years ago. when I began it was
the exception rather than the rule when a
man would pass me nickel or dime at
the close of the meal, now the practice is
much more general, and our lady custom
ers also are much more liberal in tips than
formerly We could not live on our wages
If it were not for the extra compensation,
for such we view these gratuites, from the
customers we serve. The wages of wait
resses vary from 81 to s. a week, with long
hours and very hard and combining work.
If waitress averages from 81 to So
week in tips 1t rounds out the pay for the
week.
There Is one curious thing about tips
and that is that in restaurants where regu-
lar meals are served they are comparatively
few, while in places serving meals to order
they are much more abundant In restau-
rants serving the latter class of meals
have averaged, say, 30 cents a day in tips
while in the former the same amount
week would be considered good extra pay
Why restaurant patron will not tip
waitress where he gets his meal at stated
price and will do so in a place where it
varies according to his order has always
been a question of human nature which l
have never been able to solve.
The biggest bore the waitress has to con-
tend with is the jollier, who considers 1t
smart to thus show his attempted pleas
antry to the waitress, and who never fees
her for listening to his talk. Some of our
best customers, from the tipping standpoint,
never speak to the waitress except to de-
liver their order, and these men are a pleas
ure to serve. The waitress of today accepts
her tips necessary part of her occupa-
ton, and no matter how liberal patron
may be in this respect, she considers it i'm
poses no obligation upon her regards an
acquaintanceship or demands of her any
more than a thoughtful consideration of
the patrons convenience at table. This
most of our patrons now fully understand
and. understanding it, they need have no
hesitancy in leaving the usual nickel or
dime under the edge of the platter