Waitresses and their tips

To be honest, I don't know if taxes are paid on those benefits or not. I know that taxes are not paid on any money made while deployed. In either case, I see the point you are making.

I think that the way servers are taxed now is fine. Honestly, if someone is making less than 8% sales in tips, then they need to go find a new job. I went out to a Steak 'N' Shake Saturday afternoon and spent $23(ish) on my meals (kids eat free on Saturdays). If I only tipped 8%, that'd be only be $1.84 I'd tip her for a table of five. I'd have to be some kind of lowlife scumbag to do that to her.

Here's a viewpoint that people don't often see: when you are sitting down at a table at a restaurant, you are basically "renting" that spot. But you get to choose how much "rent" you pay. During busy times, servers only get a section of 3-4 tables. During slow times, the sections get bigger and the amount of servers on duty gets lower. But, if you are sitting there and wasting time, you are taking one of the server's tables that could be used to make money.

That's why I hated it when someone would come in and order something small, spend only about $4-5, tip about $1, but take the table for an hour or more just to read a book or sit there through a lunch break. Especially if they are sitting at a table meant for more people. That means that with my server's wage ($2.13/hr) divided by my 4 tables plus his tip, I only made $1.50/hr off that table during the time they were there. If my whole section did that, I'd only be making $6/hr. I wish people would keep that in mind next time they are in a restaurant getting served. Tip your server well; you're taking up space where someone else could be tipping better. Don't make your server wish you had sat in someone else's section.