Tip earnings pay bills, supports goals

From the airport to the restaurants, there is someone working for tips often to support a lifestyle or aspiration that can't quite pay the bills on its own.

Many servers, dealers, bellhops, and bartenders are also artists, musicians, students or social activists.

"That's the biggest question you get is how you ended up here in Tahoe because everyone's got a story," said Tony Busalacchi, 28, a native of New Orleans, who is a classically trained guitarist and a waiter at a local seafood restaurant.

"I see myself as a musician first, and I see waiting tables as a way to make money," said Busalacchi. He plays at local bars, open-mic nights and with bands passing through town.

He said people are always curious about his life.

"I always have a couple of tables per night that are interested in my life, in the sense of how I came to be in Tahoe as a server," he said.

Server Elyse Neimann said earning tips is a way to enjoy the Tahoe lifestyle, and that many people work several part-time jobs.

"I've been doing the typical Tahoe thing of piecing together jobs," said Neimann, who waited tables at a local sushi restaurant through summer and fall. It added to her income from working part time for a local social service nonprofit agency.

Neimann said it was hard when people assumed she didn't have a college degree.

"There is, in society at large, there's a stigma against waitresses," she said. "But in Tahoe, locals definitely understand that it's one of the ways you can make a decent living and support your outdoor lifestyle."

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The debate on when, where and whether to tip or not to tip continues. A skycap at the airport should get $1 a bag, while a bellhop should get about $10 for helping you to your room with your bags, according to www.tipping.org.

Restaurant wait staff are sometimes accused of feeling "entitled" to at least a 15 percent tip, but remain at the mercy of their customers' assessments.

Neimann said she was surprised to learn many people do not tip 15 percent for table service.

"I've discovered that not everybody tips 15 percent, and some don't even tip 10 percent. Even really experienced waitresses get stiffed," she said.

Europeans who visit Tahoe are notorious for leaving only the change from their bill.

People who have ever worked for tips are more likely to be generous, said Shauna Cozad, a frequent visitor to Tahoe and a graduate student at the University of California, Davis. She once earned tips herself.

"I always tip at least 20 percent unless the service is awful," said Cozad. She's also been influenced by her brother, a bartender and screenplay writer in Los Angeles who gets "furious" if he sees his friends or family tip less than 20 percent.

While the majority of his income is from tips, Busalacchi said he's never felt entitled in any way to a tip. It just always works out well for him.

"I don't really play by that game. I just do the best job I can, and it usually plays in my favor," he said. "I feel really fortunate to have the job I have and work with the people I work with. I can say that everybody's heart is in the right place, and as long as you have that, you're going to make your money."

Cozad agreed most tip-earners are doing the best they can.

"You're not working for your salary, you're working for your tips. So if you are doing the best you can, you should at least get 20 percent."