Serving tables; it’s the quintessential college student job. The restaurant industry is brimming with teens and twenty-somethings, some saving up for that first tuition payment, some earning rent money as they work on a doctoral dissertation. We pick up odd shifts as class schedules permit; we work forty hour weeks during breaks or after graduation to support ourselves until we can find a “grown-up-job” in which to put our shiny new degree to use. We are struggling writers, medical students, teachers, and sociologists. We are mothers, fathers, and children caring for ailing parents, and sometimes, yes, we are just earning a little extra money and learning the value of hard work. Either way, there are a few things you should keep in mind the next time you sit in our section.

1. Tips aren’t just polite, they’re necessary.

If you haven’t worked in the industry before, you might not be aware that servers do not get paid minimum wage. Our skeletal $2.63 an hour depends on being filled out by your gratuity. Yes, employers are obliged to fill in the difference if we don’t make it to the minimum wage mark, but only if we don’t average $7.50 per hour over an entire two week pay period. So to put it bluntly, please, if you cannot afford to tip, don’t come out to eat. Unfortunately, our fellow college students tend to be the worst offenders when it comes to stiffing servers.

2. We don’t just take your order; we’re the custodial staff too.

Yes, we refill your drink and carry your plates, but we also mop and sweep and dust and take out the trash and clean the bathrooms. Oh, and polish and roll all the silverware. So. Much. Silverware. So, when you tip, you’re paying for the maintenance of the whole restaurant. You’re paying for the polished chair legs, the dusted air ducts, and the mopped-up baby vomit. So yes, we will happily take your order, but please, please, don’t make us serve you anything that we’re going to have to scrub out of the toilets at the end of the night.

3. We are living, breathing human beings just like you.

Of course, it is our job to serve you well, but we only have two legs, two hands, and two ears. So please, maybe look up from your phone and wait until we have a pen and pad out before you start demanding a laundry list of specialty drinks and appetizers. Maybe hesitate before snapping at us when you don’t get your fourth refill quite as quickly as the first three. Please, just remember that, just like you, sometimes we’re tired after being on our feet all day.

4. We know it’s not your birthday.

We celebrate lots of real birthdays and anniversaries and graduations with our customers; it’s one of the neatest perks that come along with working in the service industry. I love the look on someone’s face when we set down a complementary celebratory dessert in front of them. Unfortunately, we also honor lots of fake birthdays of customers who just don’t want to pay for an ice cream sundae. We can usually tell the difference, but nonetheless we are bound to not question you. We’ll fake a smile and light a birthday candle. So please, just use the honor system and don’t exploit our manager’s generosity, because no restaurant is actually obliged to give you anything besides water for free, even on your real birthday.

5. We really do want you to have a good time.

Just like we want to enjoy going out on our days off, we understand that you’re just looking to have a good time out with friends and family. That’s what we want to give you. Yes, serving you is our job; waitress is the label I wear from clock in to clock out, but I didn’t choose to work in the restaurant industry just for the money. I truly do cherish the opportunity to make people feel valued and cared for, to provide them good service and maybe brighten their day, if even for an hour. Sure I want your tip, but I’m not going to schmooze for it; I also just want to help you to enjoy the best date night, post-midterm celebration, weekend lunch, birthday, or, yes, even fake birthday, that I can give you.