Many people are under the impression that servers have it easy when it comes to a job; let me be the first to debunk this very untrue myth. As a server, I have to look after multiple tables and multiple people, and fulfill multiple requests without any regard to what I need on a personal level as an employee.

First, let us a look at what it is like for someone with a typical office job on a daily or weekly basis.

Imagine this scene: A person who has a desk job can comfortably sit at a desk (as comfortably as possible) and work on their deadlines. He or she comes to work with no specific rush at that exact moment (most of the time) and proceeds to start the day. When the urge to go to the restroom arises, the person can get up and walk to the bathroom, or when the urge to stretch arises, the person can get up and stretch a bit and then continue with work. Somewhere between the time of arriving at work and lunch, usually, there is a 15-minute break the employee can take. This may be a scheduled break or a break the employee can take at his or her leisure. Now, lunchtime has arrived, and depending upon the rules of the company the employee works for, 30 minutes to an hour lunch break is mandatory for the employee to take if the employee works a minimum of five hours. After the lunch break, the employee returns to work refreshed and proceeds to work until the end of the day with another 15-minute break in the afternoon and leave at their scheduled time.

Now, as a server, let me help you understand what it is like for a server all the time. There are no scheduled breaks. There is no scheduled lunch, and most of the time, servers do not have time to eat. If you are too busy to go to the restroom, tough; hold it. You are supposed to get off at 3 p.m. when you came in at 7 a.m., but the establishment is busy? Oh well, you are working later than expected. You need a minute to sit down because you have been busy all day, but you are busy still? Better drink a shot of coffee and keep moving. This is what it is like for servers on a weekly and daily basis, and this does not include the times they work a double shift; if so, the cycle repeats itself on the next shift.

This is one of the many challenges people in the service industry face. Other challenges that servers meet are rude patrons, parents who do not attend to their children, bad tippers, slow business, kitchen mess-ups, and a server's least favorite group, the Sunday church crowd. These examples do not include all of the struggles that servers face, but it the beginning. However, please remember that while you are out enjoying your meal on your lunch break, dinner break, or your day or night off, your server may not have had a chance to rest, eat, or use the restroom since they arrived at work. Keep this in mind the next time you are out, and thank you to all that are mindful of this.