Tips Are Nice

On a different note since my last post was about my job and my work, there are some benefits to being a crew member. So far, I'm supposed to be getting paid minimum which around here is $11/hr I think. Since I have not yet been paid and I don't know how much state and federal taxes are going to take from me, let's assume a 20% chunk taken out. I'd take home $8.80/hr. Not terrible with all things considered.

I do get a 15 minute break once per day for my shift, in which I can go make lunch for "free" and take a cookie/brownie if I'd like, as well as take a soda cup for water/soda throughout my shift. I should technically be getting paid for those 15 minutes although we will see when the paycheck comes in. It's only because technically those 15 minutes is just a break and not a lunch hour or anything.

Regardless of what the case is, being a crew member means I'm at the bottom. And that means since my pay is lower than management positions, I get to collect an equal share of tips that the customers leave. Sure it's not a guaranteed source and it's not always going to be the same amount since it's an extra thing the customers can give or not, but it's still something.

Yesterday, I left earlier than the rest of the people for my shift since my boss said I can leave 1 hour earlier. So I didn't collect my tip yesterday and figured that it's up to my coworkers to hopefully do the right thing and remember to give me my share. This morning I was able to collect what I didn't yssterday.

I got $6.00 in tips yesterday. That's a solid almost 45 minutes worth of work. So even if I don't get paid for my 15 minute break yesterday, that makes up for it. Then today, I collected my tip at the end of my shift and was surprised to have gotten $5.70. I thought the $6 was a fluke. But I suppose it might not be.

Now sure the tip could theoretically be nonexistant or even just $0.25, but hey every cent I collect is more money for me. Plus it's not officially payroll, so 100% of it I get to keep.

That $11.70 I got over 2 days was a nice surprise. More than an hour's worth of work because it's not taxed. I probably won't be blogging too much about how much the total tips get to, but you know it is very nice to get. I am blessed and grateful to receive it.

All that being said, I have a better understanding of how much tips mean to people in the food industry. Granted I make more per hour than they do (since I heard most places only pay $2-3 per hour and they are mostly tip based), so naturally my tips are going to be less. But hey, if it ends up being consistently $5 a day, and I work 5 days a week, that could add up to some serious money that I otherwise wouldn't have.