A few of my fellow bartender friends and I were discussing the fact that
although we've become more and more popular in our profession, we haven't
noticed any increases in our wages and tips. Our income pretty much stays the
same, so it has led me to believe that our quality of life will also stay the
same. That is, of course, unless we chose to follow a different career path or
get a second job. Have any of you received raises from your employers (tipped
bartenders, that is)? Down here in Florida, the minimum wage for tipped
employees just increased to $3.38/hour, but the bartenders where I work didn't
get an increase of more than 3 cents, but all the waitstaff got a 25 cent
increase. So, now all the bartenders and all the servers get equal pay.
However, the bartenders have a hell of a lot more responsibilities than anyone
else. Any comments or questions about self-worth as a bartender?