In 1980 when I was bartending at Dr.Livingstons at the Bristol Place Hotel I made more than I did on Saturday night. I remember the captains at Zachary’s Dining Restaurant in the same hotel would walk out with $200 on a Saturday night.
Thirty years ago I made the same money.
Only difference back then was a loaf a bread cost 40 cents. And I may be wrong it may have cost less.
stevennicolle 
Perhaps your wage has gone up since then? Relying on servers to make up their wage with tips is disgusting anyway. I do love and appreciate my tips, but I do not expect my guests to cough up every single time, some people can't afford to/don't want to. But I am paid a fairly decent minimum wage in the UK so it's not all doom and gloom when I go home with £10.Why don't all restaurants pay staff a decent wage? It's corrupt and shameful, I bet the big bosses aren't scraping by!
Maxi…It has gone up $5.00 an hour since I started back in 80. So it has almost doubled. Here it is like you are self employed while in Europe you have a higher salary with less reliance on tips. My wife is from Iceland and she is not crazy about the system here either. Thanks for your comment.