Campers, I said it was coming...

As aforementioned in my previous post, campers is a little nickname given to the guests that remain seated at a table well beyond the course of their meal. There are two types of campers: the early bird and the endless squatters. The first, the early bird is a guest that arrives well before the rest of the party staking claim to the table with a fan of menus and one iced tea. Sometimes the early birds wait so long that another party could have dined and the table cleaned before the others showed. The latter, the endless squatters, are the ones I mentioned before that tend to overstay their welcome so to speak. They are those that have declined further service and requested the check, yet they settle in for what may be a visit with an old friend, intense conversation, arrangements over the sale of a home, a pitch for life insurance, I’ve seen them all. One of my coworkers once asked me if I could please take some marshmallows and a Coleman lantern to table 37, “Cuz they’re camping out in my section,” he said in a southern Georgia twang that could make the ABC’s hilarious. I probably would have rolled in the floor with laughter had I not been standing over dirty dishwater. All that being said, there are ways for a camper to remedy their overstay. As a matter of fact, I have a perfect example. I once waited on two ladies that were meeting for one to treat the other to a birthday lunch. These ladies happen to fall into both categories of campers. The birthday girl arrived 25 minutes before her friend joined her. They required very little attention as it was mostly a social visit but every time I visited the table the one lady, let's see, we'll call her Lady 1, would sing my praises. She would say I was just precious, that I couldn't be a day over 18, that I was a "hoot" and even one time she proclaimed that I was perfect. I don't think anyone has ever said that about me before. So at this point I'm thinking maybe she's a little delusional but none the less, still my new favorite customer. Anyway these ladies did two, well really, three things that made me glad to have them at my table for their three hour visit. First, they were a joy to be around. They were exceptionally polite and listened attentively when I spoke, which may seem small but believe me it happens only sporadically in a server’s day. Secondly, they acknowledged that they were taking up my table and let me know they were gracious for my hospitality. Servers are so often not acknowledged and sometimes even outright ignored that a small thanks like this is graciously appreciated in return. And last, they paid rent. They gave me a $17.00 tip on a $49.00 check. I hope they come and camp out in my section at least once a week. I think I can be a “hoot” that often.

Let's Begin with the Basics: Tips

I wanted to start with the cornerstone of life as a server; tips. First allow me to politely educate anyone who is unaware that servers make $2.13 an hour regardless of tenure. Most of us never see a paycheck. Ironically, I did receive one today for $5.34 for my biweekly pay period. It's the first one I've seen in months. So the point is that we pay our bills, buy our groceries, and fill our gas tanks with the money that we take home everyday. Now, it's no secret that the average tip should be 15-20% of the amount of the check and although there seems to be a large group of people that still remain unacquainted with this intelligence. What most people don't realize is that servers have to pay tip share back to the restaurant, usually about 3% of our total sales and sometimes more on alcohol. For time's sake I've already done some math. Let's take an average lunch shift for example ( I work Monday-Friday lunches.) An average lunch shift is 5 hours. Average sales would fall around $500. So that means with my hourly rate I make $10.65 a day on an average lunch. The tip share that I would have to pay to the restaurant for $500 in sales is $15 which means I am starting out my day at -$4.35. I bet most of my customers don't realize that. At a typical chain restaurant, most servers get a section with about three or four tables. Most of those tables will seat a party of four while others may hold up to ten allowing for the opportunity for more money. The average time someone sits at one of my tables at lunch is about an hour. This brings me to think about all the campers out there. For those unaware "campers" is our little coined phrase for those tables that sit there endlessly after all plates have been cleared and the check delivered. One may be surprised to hear that most servers don't mind if guests sit at their table all day as long as its taken into consideration that we could be making money if another party were seated there. Let me explain. Think of servers as sales people. We make a commission (12-17% after tip share) on everything we sell. If a guest is no longer ordering items, then the server is no longer making their commission. If another table were seated there then they would begin ordering and exponentially increase our income accordingly. Of course, there is a reasonable amount of time that we consider acceptable to linger after declining further service, but if a party is sitting at a table for more than 30 minutes after the check has been down then a "rent" should be customary. Essentially "catching up" and "business meetings" prevent severs from making any further income on that table. This is especially true at the busiest of times when it is inevitable that the table would be sat immediately once the lingering party were to leave. It would be considerate to compensate the server something around $7-$12 for each additional hour depending on the style of the restaurant. Believe me a whole other blog will come dedicated solely to the subject of campers. Other areas where the 20% rule seems to get blurred lies in situations where an error is made with an entree. If a kitchen makes a mistake and miscooks a meat temperature or gets overwhelmingly busy and takes a little bit longer to get an order out it should not affect the server's tip. In situations like these the restaurant still makes their money and the kitchen crew still makes their hourly wage regardless of what the server was tipped so slighting on the tip is only taking money out of the servers pocket who has no control over the grill man or the pace of the kitchen. Always keep in mind, we are not the ones who prepare the food. And finally, my biggest point to make on the subject revolves around today's economy. I have seen a lot of 10% tips lately from customers who are extremely pleasant, well mannered, and never have a need at the table. Now, I have been in the restaurant industry for 12 years and I am well aware of when I have given service that would only merit a 10% tip but these are not the situations I am speaking of. The only explanation I can come up with is people cutting back because of the struggling economy. If that, in fact, is the reasoning behind these tips, I must express my disappointment with that behavior. My economy is struggling as well. The cutting back should be on the frequency of dining out or the amount of the meal you order, not on the percentage of the tip. Once again, if this is done, it is only taking money directly from the server. One lady today left me $1.00 on an $20.00 check. Remember I pay 3% in tip share so I got to keep $0.40 of her tip. She sat at my table for an hour. Oh, how I wish she would read this blog.