I worked at a restaurant back several years ago, where the host would try to evenly divide up the black customers to each waiter. The reason was to "be fair" to all the wait staff. Interestingly enough, the restaurant had several black waiters, all of which appreciated and wanted this practice as well. Not saying it's right, but it happens.
yeah, and i know oj wasnt found guily either. fifties and sixties. yeah, i was kinda talking about present day. yes it can. it also doesnt have to be. wheres the problem??? i see i have a group of fans. love you guys
Exactly. Let's say a black man who tips $100 for every $10 spent every time and let's say a white man who tips $1 for every $50 he spends every time go into a restaurant for the first time. People are saying the black man should receive less courteous service than the white simply based on the color of their skin. That just does not make sense.
what the **** does o.j. have to do with this. yeah tj, you found a new friend. first crime and graduation, now o.j. we'll call you littletexx. you have to earn your third "x".
Hmm... I believe I need to clarify one point in my initial post. By saying 'some of which is innate', I was referring to humans' natural inclination towards being cautious in situations in which they believe they could be endangered (in some form or another). We, as humans, tend to live by internal guidelines, which tell us not to touch a hot stove, get near poisonous snakes, get near the edge of a cliff, etc. We are effectively discriminating against these activities, objects, and situations when we choose our behavior patterns. Interacting with people is a more complex situation than the situations listed above, but we, as humans, still tend to boil things down to the least common denominator to simplify our lives. When we hear about trouble being cause by a selected group of individuals, we apply these internal guidelines and act accordingly. It sounds like many waitors have in fact done this. Is the underlying cause racism? Or is it a conditioned response to a known fact pattern? My question is what is being done to address the underlying causes of perceived racism? The easy way out is to just blame racism. The more logical approach is to address the root causes, which in my opinion is crime, behavior patterns, etc.
hotballa answered this with his mugging example. do you think there are no black high school graduates. do you think all of us were born out of wed lock. sure stereotypes exist and they're natural. they help us navigate our world, they're even necessary. but the waiters still have choice even though they may have been conditioned to think one thing. We aren't talking about life and death, I understand these people are making a living but I would venture to guess that if every black patron didn't tip anything it isn't going to kill them. at some point you have to be a decent human being even though you feel you will not be rewarded.
in other words, it's the black people's fault that they got lynched and barred from sitting in the front of the bus or that they're denied jobs no matter how well they're dressed, or that the media acts like tis the second coming of Christ everytime there's a black man on TV who can say a thoughtful sentence without using ebonics. yes you brought it onyourself. The lynchings wouldnt have happened if you ahd known your place in society. nothing wrong with the back of the bus, you still get to where you wanna go that Colin Powell, he's so well-spoken!
a man of few words, yet so moving. well smart ass tone aside...a "nerd" is a stereotype. No race there. sorry to make a point that i have to explain for you. You mentioned a lawsuit claiming racism, right? well my point was that a ruling doesnt mean its true. So i pointed out OJ, first thought in my mind. the oj comment actually had nothing to do with race, but rather the ruling. Sorry if you saw race in that. I also in no way meant for it to imply that there is no more racism. How you thought of that makes me confused and somewhat scared by your reasoning. i dont want to argue with you bro, so there isnt a need to run after every post of mine
Why should different customers be treated differently. It's like a lottery ticket. If you have 5 tickets you don't throw away 2 because they have more odd numbers or for whatever reason and your money is on the line. You keep them and see which ones play out. Same thing with waiting, you don't know if a white or black person is going to give 1% or 50% until they are finished and have left. They should be treated equally an you're money is still on the line here.
I was talking about this specific one dealing with waiting. I realize not all stereotypes are racist but the one we are dealing with in this thread is.
I'm sorry I didn't read your mind, its kind of hard with your vague posting style. when people say o.j. there is lot of history there so next time be more specific. I also love people who keep responding by saying I don't want to argue. actually your o.j. argument is still pretty stupid because class action lawsuits and criminal trials are entirely different. the burden of proof is a lot harder in a criminal trial. that's why o.j. actually lost his. here's one you may have not seen from your mentor. GAME SET MATCH
oh, with this particular example. well i didnt know thats what you were talking about, i thought you were talking about the word in general. if the comment is all dark skinned people/black people (whatever) are poor tippers than i think thats racist, or at least racism to some degree. Im on the fence (surprise! ) of whether or not referencing a study that indicates, on average, black people (or dark skinned, whatever the study shows) tip less actually would consitute racism. If that study is sound then one is making a decision based on a a relatively true matter, right? Of course its not an absolute, but like i said its on average. I'd be happy to hear your input bc it is an interesting question. Maybe someone else said it best, it may be more about economics than about race.
Since this thread has gone in the direction of black -v- white people and how they tip differently, I'll share my approach to the situation. When I am at work, my goal is to get the maximum tip from every customer that walks through the door and sits at my table. I've only been working as a waiter for about a month now. In this area, I'm more likely to see a black person come in with a group of whites or another white person than as a group. I haven't received any out and out horrible tips from black people -- and as I noted earlier, last weekend I had a couple speak to my manager and thank him for the excellent service I gave them. My philosophy is that I can't control who sits in my section -- but the only thing I can control is the quality of service I give people. If black people typically tip less than whites, then my goal is to get the maximum amount that they will leave me, even if a white person ordering the same thing and getting the same quality of service would tip better. Either way, if I don't give maximum effort, I'm giving up at least some amount of money. My best friend, who I mentioned in the original post, worked at the same brand of restaurant back home as the one we work at here. Back home is Texarkana, TX -- an area with a lot of African Americans. He said that black people down there were absolutely terrible tippers. He also told me that white people were generally worse tippers in Texarkana as well. Currently, we are going to school in a more affluent part of the country and he says that it is his experience that BOTH blacks and whites tip much better where we currently are -- but black people generally still lag behind.
your sorry you didnt read my mind? im sorry you didnt ask for clarification. im sorry you put words in my mouth. im sorry its not 5 o'clock yet
I already said what I am saying. I don't know how much more clearer I can be. If you know that black people are less likely to tip well, which facts and experience back up, then it is completely understandable to be less enthusiastic about waiting on black people when the single reason you are doing it is to try and make money from them. Waiting tables is no civic duty and nobody does it "to be nice". It's a crappy job. You kiss and bust ass expecting to be rewarded MONETARILY in the form of TIPS. When you have a regular (no matter the race) that is known to be a crappy tipper, their service will not be as good as a regular who is known as a great tipper. Waiters will fight to wait on good tippers no matter the race. So if a group of people are generally known to be bad tippers either due to religion, nationality, race, or any other reason, it might be a natural reaction for waiters not to be enthusiastic about waiting on them.
If that's the way they think why not go the route of SCF and try to maximize your tip regardless of characteristics. You never know.
Probably the same reason ugly broke dudes don't ask out a lot of super models. You never know, but you have an idea.
