Waiting tables is famed for being hilariously miserable, but it’s almost a rite of passage as most Americans have served in the food industry at some point in their lives. Serving attracts a large demographic, but despite how common waiting tables is, it’s a highly skilled and demanding job. Working well under pressure, both individually and as a team, is a must and you better do it with a smile. Attention to detail, charisma, and the ability to deal with the public are necessary characteristics in a waiter. Serving isn’t always a breeze and that’s why it’s always nice to have a strong family unit (aka the other servers, cooks, and hosts) to stand by your side.
It’s a hard job, yes. We’re happy to be employed, yes. Will we complain? Most definitely.
1. When you’re at one
of your other tables and someone snaps their fingers at you from across the
room
2. When it’s the end of the meal and you want to seal the deal on a solid tip
3. When you get cut early from your shift on a Friday night
4. When you give your soul to a table and they stiff you
5. “Why should I tip if you already get paid by the restaurant?”
“We get paid three dollars an hour, sir.”
6. When you really just want to tell a guest it costs $0.00 to be a kind person but you can’t because you’re a professional
7. When you’re working with a serving veteran who is so done
8. When someone asks you to pick up a last minute shift
9. When you cave and accept the shift and immediately regret it
10. Actual footage of training for waiting tables:
11. When someone makes one of your coworkers cry
12. When you get cut in the middle of a lunch rush but you walk out like
13. When you forgot to ring in the food
14. When the kitchen is doing amazing and gets your food out way too quickly
15. When a guest radiates hateful energy
16. When someone walks in ten minutes till closing time
17a. When you wanna go home
17b. I mean I've-worked-doubles-all-week kind of 'wanna go home'
18. When they leave their phone number instead of a tip
19. Reflecting on dinner rush
20. When someone tips you well
21. And when you finally make it to the end of your shift…
