Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I took a "coat check girl" job last night in New York at one of the steak houses because I am in need of some extra cash. Going from an office job to behind the scenes at a restaurant was a complete eye-opener. I am a very thrifty person and I never check my coat, always hanging it on the chair behind me, unless I am attending an event where everyone checks their coat - and even then I can't recall even tipping one dollar, although I probably have, because I never paid any attention to the coat check people. I can tell you that it is a tough job. I worked very hard to keep the coat room organized and took special care of people's things. I tried to return their belongings as quickly as I could when they returned with their tags. It was pouring rain last night, so people had a lot of bags and wet umbrellas that they wanted to store. It was amazing to me how many people checked two umbrellas and a heavy attache in one bunch, and tipped $1. One group checked 10 huge umbrellas together in one group, then tipped $5, which was at least better than nothing. I am sad to say that most of the women, if they were alone or with other women, did not even tip me $1. The men were by far the most generous tippers, some tipping $5 and one fellow $10. Even thinking about the $10 tip makes me appreciate this guy even more, because he must have a better understanding of what it means to be a coat check person than I did before I took this job. I can tell you that every dollar is greatly appreciated. I worked solely for tips, and the restaurant took 20%.