WAIT JUST ONE SECOND!

Regarding the letter about bad service in South Africa (YOU Say, 18 January), I wonder if anyone has bothered to find out the real plight of waitrons.

Most restaurants, especially the big franchises, don’t even pay minimum wage. Waitrons have to survive on tips alone. Managers are often abusive to staff. Then there are the deductions and the following expenses from waitrons’ tips before they’re even paid:

They buy their uniforms, wash cloths, pens, paper to write orders on, bottleopeners etc.

Not only that, the restaurant owner deducts from tips/wages the cost of all breakages and alcohol shortages, leaving very little “pay” for the waitrons. The owner doesn’t pay for a single expense out of their profit. The staff pay for it all.

Then you have the customers! Some people think it’s okay to skip out on paying the bill but the waitron pays for those bills too. Customers are often rude, demanding and messy and don’t leave tips. In a pub atmosphere, when patrons vomit on the floor or in the bathrooms, waitrons are expected to clean up the mess.

If patrons were polite and left tips, made sure their kids or drunk husbands/ wives or friends didn’t mess and vomit all over the place and restaurant owners treated their staff with dignity and respect, paying a minimum wage, perhaps waitrons would be more inclined to go out of their way to be helpful. A WAITRON’S MOM, EMAIL