Waiting game is strictly for pros
Some people are mean when it comes to tipping, writes Jane Headon.
In the United States, waiting at tables is more a profession than a job. Wages are token and staff expect to live off their tip. The more professional the service given, the more professional the reward. During a bout of postgraduate travel, I waited at tables in New York? including one Wall Street restaurant; I was disappointed if my tips didn't exceed $400 a week. In Britain, the experience tells a different tale. Money and respect are handed out in more carefully guarded measures to those who serve food. Yet lack of respect hasn't stopped students from taking waiting jobs to eke out a steadily shrinking bank balance. Nicola Sizer is 28 and finishing a four-year teaching degree at Goldsmiths College. A large debt at the end of her first year forced her into waitressing at the Village Taverna, a Greek restaurant in south-east London. Most of her money comes from tips, but they're variable. ‘Some nights, people don't leave you anything; she says. ‘People forget that the waitress isn't there to have a good time.' Chris Pye waited at table at five London restaurants over a three-year period. He worked for a time at Pasta Mania where,as in many restaurants, the official policy was that waiters had to pay for ‘runners'(customers who leave without paying). ‘I'd been waiting on a really nice couple for about an hour and had been having a good time with them; he recalls. ‘I turned my back for a couple of minutes and, when I turned round, they'd gone; Outraged, Pye followed them across Soho, where he was rewarded by a punch in the face. ‘It' amazed me that two such apparently respectable people could abuse me in a way that they would never abuse their local shopkeeper'. Dave Turnbull, district officer for the hotel and catering section of the Transport and General Worker's Union, admits there are particular problems with tipping. ‘It depends on what form the tips are in; he say. ‘Also there's nothing in law to say that the service charge goes to the waiter.' But he concedes that working at the right place can be financially very rewarding. Jane Stocks is 34 and has been waitressing for five years. She's been at the Chicago Pizza Pie Factory in central London for one year. Waitressing is her career choice-she enjoys the social aspect of the work and the face that her opinion counts. Outside, she doesn't always get treated so well. ‘If I'm going to look for an apartment and I say that I'm a waitress, people say “On". When I'm applying for a credit card or a bank account, waitressing isn't the kind of job that they respect.' Not everybody can handle waitressing. Gina Clough, aged 26, manages the Chicago Pizza Pie Factory where Jane work, and says countless waitresses have left in tears. ‘People know a lot more about food these day; she says. ‘Going out for a meal used to be a treat. Nowadays anybody can eat out. It's a hard job waitressing. At the end of the day, if the customer's not happy, you're the one to blame; Although she can point to waitresses earning tips of €150 on a good night, she is firmly of the opinion that it's not a job anybody cam do. Jane Stock agrees: ‘You've got to be able to take a lot of responsibility, a lot of stress and concentrate on a lot of things for a long time. You've also got to be a different things to all people.'