Imagine you have a car payment, a mortgage, two small children, a full class schedule and a full-time job. Now imagine pouring every ounce of energy and hard work you have to give into your full-time job, only to not get paid.

This is a sad reality for the server world on a regular basis.

It’s time to educate the world on why tipping is not an option, but rather a necessity.

Your server is not a servant. They work to pay their bills just like everyone else. The only difference is that they rely on you to do so.

Servers make an hourly wage of $2.13. If they work a 40-hour week, their gross income adds up to be $85.20 per week, $340.80 per month.

They don’t see one single penny of that almost non-existent amount. Their entire livelihood relies 100 percent on your ability to tip properly.

Servers don’t keep their entire tipped wage. They have to tip the bussers and bartender.

Some restaurants tip 10 percent of their total sales to the busser and 5 percent to the bartender. This means that if a server makes $75 in tips, they get to keep $62.

Other restaurants automatically calculate tip-out based on the server’s sales. Most tip-outs are between 3 percent and 5 percent of total sales.

This method allows servers to keep more of their tips. However, if you decide to not give your server their well-deserved income, they actually end up paying to serve you.

We’ve heard plenty of excuses for lousy tipping, but the one that never ceases to amaze me is this:

“You did an amazing job. I’m sorry I don’t have enough money to tip.”

If you don’t have enough money to tip, either order something cheaper off of the menu or go somewhere cheaper.

A proper tip for a server is 20 percent of your total. A decent tip is 15 percent. Anything less is an insult and a waste of our time.

If you have a coupon or a gift card, you still need to tip based off your original total. You received service for $50 worth of food, regardless of your $25 off gift card. Tip accordingly.

While we aren’t curing cancer, we do provide you a service and should be paid accordingly.

Tip properly or eat at home.