Workers who rely on gratuities are seeing fewer customers and lower tips
By Evan S. Benn | Miami Herald
The pint glass that doubles as a tip jar at Jesse Del Pozo's barber station used to be stuffed with cash, even a few fives and tens peeking out by day's end.
But that was months ago, before gas prices got high and the stock market went low and people started cutting back on everything from restaurant visits to haircuts.
''Before the summer, I was getting 20 people a day in my chair, making $100, $120 in tips,'' Del Pozo said this week at Carrs Barbershop in Miami Beach. "Now, maybe I'll get eight people, and I'm lucky if I take home $50.''
In difficult economic times, it's often workers who rely on tips -- restaurant servers, delivery drivers, hairstylists, cabbies, valet attendants -- who struggle the most. They say they've been struck by a double whammy from the financial fallout: They have fewer customers, and the ones they do have are tipping less.
''It used to be everyone would tip $5, but not for a while,'' said Del Pozo, who has worked with scissors since 1972. Carrs charges $25 for a men's haircut; the barbers make a minimal salary plus tips.
'Sometimes people will say, 'Oh, I have to go to an ATM. I'll be right back,' '' Del Pozo said. "And we never see them again.''
Read the complete story at miamiherald.com
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