Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a next step in Greta Foff Paules’ groundbreaking
analysis of control-resistance in service work by exploring the work practices of restaurant servers in
regard to ways they resist and reshape the tipping system that structures their work life. Specifically,
the author explores how workers will attempt to manipulate the system to elicit higher tips from
customers and when servers forgo an economic tip, so that they can exercise dignity and self-respect.
Central to this analysis is to highlight the space in between Paules’ notions of “getting” and “making” a
tip. In this space, servers can exercise resistance and still acknowledge the humanness of the customer.