Back in September Laura started delivering food on the weekends for Downtown Atlantic. She worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 5-10 PM. The purpose was to make a few extra bucks so that we could actually buy groceries at the end of the month without putting them on a credit card. It worked out well...until Laura found out she was pregnant and the nausea hit. She decided to work just Sunday nights and I took over working there on Friday nights. We did that schedule until X-mas. Can I tell you how nice it was to pay for a X-mas presents with straight up cash instead of a credit card?
Downtown Atlantic is a nice restaurant. We deliver samon, octupus and everything else exotic. This isn't Domino's kind of delivery or "Here is your sweet and sour chicken, sir" kind of delivery. Therefore, our customers have money and the tips are pretty good.
Laura and I have found that Friday nights are much better nights for tipping than Sunday nights. Why? We have a theory. On Friday nights people have just finished the work week, they feel good and relaxed and many have just gotten paid. So, they tip well. On Sundays, people are anxious about the upcoming work week. They have spent the weekend spending money and suprisingly are tired from all the weekend business. We much prefer Friday nights.
And so we are working Fridays for Downtown Atlantic now. Because we start having the launch team over to our house this Sunday, we can't work Sundays any longer and Saturdays just suck because everyone is out, not in. Our purpose for delivering food on Fridays is twofold: 1) It will help us pay all the co-pays we have to pay for all the appointments we are having concerning the pregnancy. Those $10 and $15 co-pays add up quickly. 2) It is good for the both of us to enter into the secular world in a real way. The restaurant people are interesting and we get a taste of what it feels like to work for low wages. In other words, it's good to have another perspective in life.
This job has made us think about the way we treat people in the service industry. There is an assumption made about us as we deliver food as we are often looked down upon. We now tip better, look service industry people in the eye and make sure we talk to them. We try to treat them as we would want to be treated. Sound familiar?
For more on this subject please read Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Downtown Atlantic is a nice restaurant. We deliver samon, octupus and everything else exotic. This isn't Domino's kind of delivery or "Here is your sweet and sour chicken, sir" kind of delivery. Therefore, our customers have money and the tips are pretty good.
Laura and I have found that Friday nights are much better nights for tipping than Sunday nights. Why? We have a theory. On Friday nights people have just finished the work week, they feel good and relaxed and many have just gotten paid. So, they tip well. On Sundays, people are anxious about the upcoming work week. They have spent the weekend spending money and suprisingly are tired from all the weekend business. We much prefer Friday nights.
And so we are working Fridays for Downtown Atlantic now. Because we start having the launch team over to our house this Sunday, we can't work Sundays any longer and Saturdays just suck because everyone is out, not in. Our purpose for delivering food on Fridays is twofold: 1) It will help us pay all the co-pays we have to pay for all the appointments we are having concerning the pregnancy. Those $10 and $15 co-pays add up quickly. 2) It is good for the both of us to enter into the secular world in a real way. The restaurant people are interesting and we get a taste of what it feels like to work for low wages. In other words, it's good to have another perspective in life.
This job has made us think about the way we treat people in the service industry. There is an assumption made about us as we deliver food as we are often looked down upon. We now tip better, look service industry people in the eye and make sure we talk to them. We try to treat them as we would want to be treated. Sound familiar?
For more on this subject please read Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.
posted by jch at
9:43 AM
2 Comments:
Joe (or anyone who knows)-
What's considered a good tip for the delivery person? Let's say, on a $20 order.
-- amy e.b.h.
Amy E.B.H. --
Laura and I consider it a good tip when we get 20% of the total. That's pretty generous but consider the following: the delivery person doesn't make close to minimum wage which is $5.15 and delivers under harsh conditions -- at least in NYC. (You take your life into your own hands when you take to the streets on a bike in the city.) If it's raining or snowing out, you should tip even more. Too generous? I think not. Besides, who wants to be known as the antithesis of generous?
Joe C.H.
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