I work in a bar in downtown. I have never in my endless years of bartending/serving have I ever been treated this badly.
Ive had 4 groups run out on bills lately. These were men dressed in suits, women business casual, men and women obviously coming from work. Discussing work at the bar. Lawyers, doctors, high earning people. they accumulate a 2-600! bill, ask for the bill and machine, and when you go to do so, walk out.
why? why are you punishing a min wage employee at small local restaurant that has an incredible family owning/running it. One that was hit hard by covid. One that is still struggling to stay afloat. one that cannot afford taking this hit.
then lets talk tipping. so many people are not tipping lately. minimum wage isn't enough. thats why I work in an industry that lets me make extra. I usually average 20% tips from people who tip. lately 1/4 won't tip. This is a big problem as many places have you tip out the kitchen and support staff. If you make no tips, you use your tips from those that did to pay the tip out leaving you with nothing after working hard. please, tip at least 10% so the server/bartender doesn't have to pay to do their job for you.
finally, Abuse. so much abuse and entitlement. I understand people have expectations, but please do not yell at me for not letting your 2 dogs come into the bar even though they are in a crate. Do not yell at me for not letting you "connect your phone" to the sound system. Please stop treating me like a slave by whistling at me, yelling at me from across the bar, snapping your fingers etc. A gentle hand raise/ look in my direction will get me to come to you. And please! Please! please! When ordering, order one at a time. do not yell over each other. do not ask to change other peoples orders. Do not get angry if I repeat your order back at you. We are doing our best. I can hit one button on the tablet at a time. Yes I have the ability to immediately punch it in at your table (unlike the old times when there was one computer per place) however, I again can only hit one button at a time. yelling 4-12 orders at me at the same time won't speed things up, instead it will slow things down as I now will repeatedly say the order back to you to confirm its correct. one at a time please!!!
Finally, its a hard job with long hours and not much in way of progress career wise, but it pays the bills. Or at least it used to. While I agree living wage is the way to go, we dont have a system for it currently, our society isn't set up for it, and especially small businesses in early years (3-6) often really can't afford it. We need the tips.