After eating at your favorite restaurant one night, you receive the bill with a raised question: Should I even tip? The answer is simple. You should always leave a tip after eating at a restaurant. Tipping is extremely important to show appreciation, and contribute to the minimum wage that restaurant workers make.

Tipping is not mandatory, but rewarding workers for their service means a lot more to them than you may think. Waiters receive some of the workforce’s lowest wages, despite their hard work both physically and mentally. Currently, restaurant workers in Florida receive a minimum wage of ten dollars an hour. This wage alone is barely even livable, so tipping your servers can help them with the rent, water bill, light bill, etc.

Working at a restaurant as a waiter is also a lot physically harder than it may seem. Waiters and waitresses are always on their feet, juggling many responsibilities in order to ensure you are given your meal promptly. This work is exhausting, and it can be disappointing receiving no tip for all of your hard work.

Waiters also have to be mentally prepared for their job. They must memorize the whole menu and take each person’s orders, which can get extremely chaotic when you are trying to tend to many different tables. Majority of the time, workers also maintain a friendly attitude to make your experience even more enjoyable.

Even if you have a bad experience with a waiter, try to maintain patience and see things from their perspective. Mistakes in the kitchen shouldn’t be taken out on your waiter, and misunderstandings happen sometimes. Unless your experience is absolutely terrible, you should still leave a tip even if it’s the minimum.

On the topic of tipping, it is debatable how much is an appropriate amount of tip. Typically, the adequate tip is between 15 to 20 percent of your bill’s total. This can be easily calculated by inputting your total into the calculator app, and multiplying that by 0.20. Some restaurants even include the different percentages of tip and the amount of dollars to write down. Therefore, nobody should make excuses of being “too lazy” to leave a tip, or not tipping the right amount.

A question has been raised around tipping at places such as Jeremiah’s Italian Ice or Crumbl. These food establishments have kiosks that give you the opportunity to select a tip as you check out. This leaves people wondering if they should leave a tip for these workers, since their job isn’t quite the same as working at a restaurant. Personally, in situations like these, I think that tipping is great if possible, but should not be frowned upon if you chose not to.

Overall, leaving a tip is basic courtesy that everyone should do after eating out in a restaurant. Waiters work extremely hard to make your dining experience pleasurable, so you should always show your appreciation every chance you get.