Linda S. Wallace

Each time I venture out, a little voice inside my head says: “Is this the day the waiter gives me a nice smile and a pleasant hello? Or the day I will get a cold stare or a cold shoulder that says, Why me? Why do I have to wait on this table?”

Eating out for us is a bit like rolling the dice. Many waiters and waitresses believe that African Americans don’t tip very well. As I recently reported in the Tri-State Defender, a mounting body of evidence now supports that perception. It appears African Americans do leave lower tips, but why?  Do we tip less because the service is not as good as we expect, or because we don’t want to part with the money?

That little question is causing big problems in the restaurant industry.

In the great scheme of things, my wise friends say, bad service doesn’t rate high. We ought to be worrying about kids without textbooks or people losing their houses. I’ll concede that point. We all get mistreated if we live long enough. So why am I making a big deal out of this?

Well, what would happen to our economy if all customers decided to say “No worries” whenever clerks insulted them or brokers ignored their telephone calls? Suppose travelers were inclined to say to airlines, “It’s perfectly okay that you made me miss my son’s graduation.”  Or that cell phone users placed on hold for an hour said to the operator, “It’s okay, you’re probably much busier than I am.”

The relationship between business and customer is a sacred one that is built upon mutual respect, even genuine affection. So if waiters and waitresses are getting stiffed because many African Americans are unwilling to leave tips, I care about their plight.  If African Americans are getting the cold shoulder because the wait staff thinks they aren’t going to leave a tip, that’s my problem as well.

We are the change. (Where have we heard that before?) The restaurant industry and the African American community have an opportunity to create a conversation that makes us both stronger.  All it takes is a meeting of the minds, and a decision to cast aside our egos so we can better understand each other’s issues and points of view.

The Tri-State Defender – and its Real Times, Inc., partners – have put tipping onto the community agenda by running stories in the Tipping Education Campaign. (http://tri-statedefenderonline.com/articlelive/articles/2684/1/The-Tipping-Education-Campaign/Page1.html)

Consider these facts from the National Restaurant Association:

• The restaurant industry provides work for more than 9 percent of those employed in the United States.

• The restaurant industry is expected to add 2 million jobs over the next decade, for total employment of 15.1 million in 2018.

• The restaurant industry employs an estimated 13.1 million people, making it the nation’s largest employer outside of government.

• Restaurant-industry sales are forecast to advance 4.4 percent in 2008 and equal 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

• The overall economic impact of the restaurant industry is expected to exceed $1.5 trillion in 2008, including sales in related industries such as agriculture, transportation and manufacturing.

The African American community has a lot at stake. This time, if we are to get our fair share of jobs, African Americans may hold the key that opens the door. As quiet as it’s kept, numerous sources have told me off the record that the tipping issue is keeping many chains from locating in predominantly African American neighborhoods. In our cultural family, a job – even one paying $2.13 an hour plus tips – can keep a youth off the streets and on the college track.

Let’s do this for the children. Let’s talk about what it takes to provide the next generation with access to 2 million new jobs. And then, let’s do the right thing and create a pathway to opportunity.

(Linda S. Wallace is The Cultural Coach. View her Web site at theculturalcoach.com.)

Click here for related story: Tri-State Defender, Washington Informer receive Chrysler Financial/NNPA awards

Click here for: The Tipping Education Campaign