u/Analytica0

I love my coworkers at both bars i work at and I would much rather work with them over time and years because of the fact that they and I agree on this type of stuff. Just my opinion and experience and thanks to Sam for keeping it positive and 100%.

Last night at the club I work at, one of my regular co workers that I work with at the club (we will call him Sam) and I were doing our usual Saturday night business and the music was great and the crowd was vibing and the tips were good. We pool tips at the club and Sam and I work together twice a month at the club and we both have an understanding that any just for you tips, go in the tip pool regardless of amount or client. I have this same understanding with every bartender I work with at both bars I work at today and almost at all times, in the past as well.

So last night, Sam gets a $400 tip from an out of town guest from a customer who only has 2 drinks (there alone) and the customer tells him it's just for you. Sam thanks him, tells him he appreciates it. Sam mentions this to me after the customer leaves and tells me it goes in the pool as always and then reminds me of the time I got an $1000 tip a year ago from a group and they told me it was just for me and I also put it in the pool and thus, it was split with Sam as well. AND this also goes back to the time 8 months ago when Sam got a $300 just for you tip and put it in the pool as well. AND the time also a year ago when I got a $200 just for you tip and put it in the pool. AND the time that Sam got another $400 just for you tip and put it in the pool. Etc etc etc. GO ahead and add it up and see if I got shorted or came out ahead but that is a fools errand because it does NOT work out that way over years in the industry and I am not giving you all the times this has happened at both bars i work at. To wit: it's not a balance sheet people because you cannot measure the goodwill it creates among your coworkers and the positive vibe in instills behind the bar during the shift when you honor your commitments to your coworkers. You just cannot quantify the income that you make or don't make off the actual amount of a just for you tip because the goodwill that sharing that tip in the pool creates, also impacts present and future income over time.

This stuff works out over time and I would much rather work with industry like Sam than those who argue over just for you tips as well as those who don't want to pool tips at all. Sam, Candy, Alyssa, Malcom, Dave, Jaime, and Bryan (not their real names) are all bartenders I currently work with that all feel the same way that I do and I would much rather work with any of them than some of the shortsighted industry people who pocket the just for you tips as well as those that don't like to pool tips. Just my preference and I have made more money on a steady basis in the industry over the past 15 years because of working with other industry people like them.