I've had many friends over the years who have worked in the service industry, and I spent a few months as a bar-back earning tips as well. The thing this artic

I've had many friends over the years who have worked in the service industry, and I spent a few months as a bar-back earning tips as well. The thing this article doesn't mention is how many servers feel about tips. When I first started earning tips, I couldn't believe how much money I was making for the amount of work I was doing. I always had cash in my pocket, and lots of it, and I didn't make as much as servers or bartenders. I left after only a few months, and have fond memories of the job and swimming in cash as a 21 year old. 10 years on, I had a few friends who were still in the service industry, and had moved up to white-table service in very posh restaurants. They all wanted to get out, but had a common complaint. They wouldn't make as much as they did as a server in any other profession that was available to them. The tips became the handcuffs that kept them in a job that was no longer of interest to them. Since then, the percentage rate of tips has continued to increase, so I imagine this problem is getting worse rather than better.