Viewpoint by Edna Horton/nw news editor

Everyone should know one thing — wait staff live off tips.

Servers are paid only $2.13 an hour. The rest of their wages comes from loyal customers. And servers really need that money.

The typical tip for good service is a minimum of 15 percent of the total bill. If unsure, just double the sales tax.

Everyone wants to save a buck and use a coupon, but please do not tip off the discounted amount. Money is already being saved, so tip on the original amount. It will make servers feel they have done their job, and you will be happy making them happy.

Tipping doesn’t just end with restaurant wait staff. Many others work in the service industry and also deserve a tip, including pizza delivery drivers, hair stylists, nail technicians and carhops who roll around on skates. The delivery driver just drove from the pizza place to your house so you wouldn’t have to. So tip him.

Consider this: Could you live on a wage of $2.13 an hour? I don’t think the average American could. We all work hard for that money.

On an average workday, a server will have a section consisting of about six tables, and all could fill up at one time. The server takes all the orders, puts in the orders, greets the tables, gets the drinks and brings the food.

Servers are always on their feet constantly moving. So saying that a server did not pay you enough attention is not an acceptable excuse for not tipping. You aren’t the center of their universe.

Picky eaters are also troublesome, but we can work through it if they are specific about what they want and read the menu. If most of the ingredients of a certain dish aren’t things you like, don’t order it. Most restaurants can accommodate requests, and knowledgeable servers can point out an item you might like.

Ask questions. Servers won’t mind. They would rather you ask at the beginning than send your food back to the kitchen to be remade.

We all have bad days, and we all have separate lives from our jobs. If servers have a bad day, it should not show up in their attitude at work, but sometimes it does. Still, even if it is just $2, you should still leave the tip.

Remember, servers live off their tips, and most are trying to feed families with those tips. You wouldn’t want to take food from children, would you?