Here is a Tip For You

Do you remember that time you went to a restaurant hungry and ready to eat a whole cow, and the waiter took forever to serve you? Even when you ordered the simplest meal possible, a fried egg, it still took them an hour to come back and ask you, “Sorry, do you want your egg poached or scrambled?”

I can imagine how furious you were, because that has happened to me countless times. It beats me how some waiters wake up to go to a job that is equally rewarding as it is stressful and decide that they will find the best way to frustrate a customer. Of course, this is not a generalization about every person in the service industry. However, you can bear me witness that there are some out there that get off on seeing you mad when you complain about your order. There is even a fraction of waiters from hell who lowkey grin when you return a plate of food you did not like, because they have plans for you. They politely ask if they can ask the chef to make you another plate, only to go into the kitchen, spit on your food, microwave it, rearrange the plate, and serve it to you hot.

Those kinds of waiters are not my target today.

The pulse of this blog, is applauding the service people who go out of their way to make sure you have the most excellent experience during your visit to their establishment. They do this despite having a bad day at work, having to deal with rude managers, or even having to bear the brunt of difficulties caused by the people back in the kitchen. To understand why tipping these amazing people is important, let me take you back a few centuries.

Tipping first started in Tudor England in the 17th century, during the medieval era. It was common for a master to give extra money to a servant who had done a great job. It was expected that people staying overnight in private homes would give money to the servants of the host. Soon after that, people started leaving tips in London coffeehouses and other businesses. It was not until the 18th century that Americans who wanted to look aristocratic brought the practice from Europe to the United States, and then it spread all over.

Now that you understand that servers, who are typically the front-desk workers in the hospitality industry, get paid peanuts compared to the people in the back, you begin to appreciate the efforts of your server. Especially here in Nairobi, servers get anything from ksh7,000 to ksh12,000, which means they depend on tips to survive in this expensive city.

There is a notion that you have to tip a specific percentage of your whole meal, but I am a believer that you should tip a server according to the excellence of the service, but just tip. Living in such a highly taxed nation, you have no idea how good it makes them feel when you tip them, and believe me, it goes a long way in helping them survive in their current situations. So, are you planning on tipping the next time you go to eat out?

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