Who does the waiter or waitress have to tip out? Weird?!?

It definitely is a foreign concept to those who have never worked in a restaurant before but there are many employees that rely MAINLY on tips besides waiters.
These usually include busboys, food runners, bartenders, and sommeliers. In some establishments, waiters have to tip out other people including hosts, matre d's, managers, chefs, back waiters, etc.
A waiter already starts each new table in the hole and in the red. I personally have to tip out 5 percent of my NET sales (before taxes). That means for every 20 percent tip I receive, I actually only get 15 percent in my pocket. If I want to make 20 percent, I need to average 25 percent from ALL my tables. Usually in any given shifts, tips are all over the map ranging from absolutely 0 to upwards of 100 percent. Those two are more rare and it's more like 8 percent to 30 percent.
The next time you're thinking of adding one, two or even three more dollars to the tip, it definitely helps!