Dillon Maxfield: Server opposed to Question 5

I work as a server at Notch 8 in Northampton, and I, like all of the servers I know, oppose Question 5.

When you walk into a restaurant, you’re greeted by the host. This is typically a young person working their first restaurant job. Hosts make minimum wage plus tips, exactly what Question 5 proposes for servers. If someone want minimum wage plus tips, they can find that job today and now, and there are countless restaurants that would be happy to take them. Yet no one is clamoring for this job; it’s an entry-level job you workat before becoming a server or bartender.

Once restaurant prices increase at least 20% to pay higher wages for servers, and patrons know that their tips are no different than the tip jar at a coffee shop, will anyone still be willing to pay an additional 20% on top, especially knowing that it’s going to a tip pool for the entire restaurant? If Question 5 passes, customers will still pay the same, if not more, while jeopardizing reliable incomes for servers across the state. The increased costs to restaurants could lead to closures among local spots while the major chain restaurants will be the winners with less competition as a result.

But hey, I understand that we all have different points of view, and I’m not one to hold a grudge. Even if you vote for Question 5 and it passes, I’m still down to grab a pre-made cocktail and some reheated frozen wings at our local national-chain restaurant.

Dillon Maxfield

Amherst