There are many assumptions made about servers. People think we spit in their food if we're angry, or that we can't find a real job so we're settling for this. The truth is, everyone should be a server at least once in their life. Sure, it's frustrating at times. Sure, customers are annoying and rude sometimes. But once you're a server, you know the struggle and you sympathize with every server you encounter at other restaurants when you finally have time to go out and enjoy a meal yourself. Here are some common misconceptions about servers that need to be put to an end, immediately.
1. Servers are 99.99% not responsible for mistakes made in the kitchen.
Angry customer: "This is NOT what I ordered. I said NO CHEESE. GOD"
Server:
2. Being a server is not an easy job.
We're on our feet for hours and hours on end, dealing with multiple tables, getting yelled at by the kitchen staff, making sure the customers are taken care of, and there's lots of cleaning. So. Much. Cleaning.
3. As much as we may want to sometimes; we DO NOT spit on food.
Do you think we're barbarians or something?
4. You're not the only table we have to worry about.
Even though we may listen and seem interested in your life story, and sometimes we genuinely are, we still have about 6 other tables to tend to.
5. Our smiles are not fake to get more tips.
Everyone has a bad day once in a while, so yes sometimes the smiles are fake. But maybe we're just friendly people, and like to smile and be polite, ever think of that?
6. We are not mind-readers.
Unfortunately, we do not know the exact moment you run out of water or when you're feeling like having more bread. So if we're MIA for five minutes see number 4 above.
7. Even though we say we don't mind, we secretly hate you if you ask to split the bill 13 ways.
It's even better when you ask last minute. That's the best.
8. Thinking it's okay to come in and eat when we're clearly not open.
It's also awesome when people sit at their tables for 7 hours and say, "You don't mind if we sit here all night do you? Can you clean around us?" No sir. No, we can't. Go the hell home.
9. When people think knowing the owner will get them special treatment.
If you're the owners family; of course. If you're a long lost friend that he/she hasn't seen in 10 years and you use that line to get a table on a Friday night without a reservation then lol. Good try.
10. Thinking a restaurant is the fastest option when you're in a hurry.
*Comes in at busiest time on a Friday night* "Can you speed up our meal? We're kind of in a hurry."
11. Thinking we have it made money-wise.
Sure we get tips, but sometimes the tips aren't so great. So when that happens our fallback is that hefty check of $2.13 an hour. Makin' it rain.
Give us a break. We're servers, not servants.
