20% effort, 10% reciprocation

The restaurant business is one of those rare opportunities that will give anyone an opportunity even without experience. Instant gratification is the reason why most servers feel content being where they are. There's nothing like getting that chunk of cash at the end of the night. No need to wait for the pay check; the money will come to you every night. With all things running smoothly and swimmingly, working as a server at a premier restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter, can be an enjoyable time. BUT, low and behold the one customer who comes in and single-handedly ruins your mood and positive disposition by leaving a tip that does not correlate with the experience they had. Every server has had that table that seems to be having the experience of their life and they are beyond verbal in indicating that they have had a wonderful experience and then when the check book is posted and the credit card is closed out the tip left is nothing what you expected. 5-10% tip is a number that will turn a servers face red. Steam will be coming from our ears, even though we won't let it show, of course. There is nothing more debilitating and gut wrenching than being stiffed. I'll sum this up as quick as I can, but for most restaurants the hourly pay for a server is drastically below minimum wage (anywhere from $2.20-$4). It's the tips that the servers rely on at the end of the evening, NOT THE HOURLY PAY. Also for most servers, at the end of the evening we're tipping out other factions of employees i.e. bussers, food runners, and bartenders, so we'll be giving away some of the tips we have earned over the course of the evening. So if that table leaves me, lets say a 5% tip, that amount will not be enough for me to tip out the 3 other coworkers. I'll be paying out of my pocket! Long story short, we, the servers, are the customers employers. We work to earn money from you all through tips. If we are shorted than we either work for free or lose money. All because the tip left was drastically below the minimum of 15%. Here's a slight guide to the tip credo, even though it's a bit off in my opinion, but it does us some justice.
To wrap things up, simply keep this in mind. If you can't afford to leave a decent tip, consider just staying at home or going to a buffet because you don't want to be the one to ruin a servers hard work. We're human too and we need the same cash you all make to keep a roof over our heads as well so don't spoil that for us.