I have, at one time in my illustrious college career, been a waitress (for Red Lobster and for Tony Roma's).

We were paid $2.01/hour (min. wage at the time in Florida). We had to declare at least 8% tips on all food bills (including alcohol, but not taxes). Frequently our wages for two weeks came to less than $10, but we ended up with about $200-$300 in tips. We didn't have to tip out busboys or bartenders (which some servers do), so it wasn't too bad.

As for California, remember that they have a very high cost of living. My dad lives in SF, and makes about $110K a year -- if he lived in Gainesville, FL (where I live) that would be the equivalent of $45K. Decent, but certainly not great for about-to-retire salary. $6 an hour, even $9 an hour, won't go far in that area.

In Scandinavia (bringing this back to travel), I've been told it is rude to tip, as that brings the possibility of the wait staff wages being reduced to below a living wage.

I agree that it is silly for the customers to pay the waiters wage. However, when I WAS a waitress, I enjoyed the fact that, for once, I was getting paid for what I did. If I was kind and helpful, my tips reflected that. If I was surly and sour, they reflected that as well. In few areas do you get such a perfect match between attitude and pay.

The system is broken... do we trash it and start again? Or let it slide farther into the hole?