How many times have you went out to eat and the service wasn't all that great? Maybe the wait was a bit longer than you anticipated, your steak wasn't cooked the exact way you wanted it, or your server forgot to bring you your third cup of extra ranch. As a server, I know these things happen more often than we like to admit, but this shouldn't affect the way you treat your server, or more importantly, how you tip them. No matter what happens, you should always tip your server at least 20 percent and here's why.

We only make $2.13 an hour.

Seriously. We do not make minimum wage like like a lot of people surprisingly think. We work 40+ hours a week for two dollars and 13 cents. People fail to realize that we live off of our tips. This is how we pay our rent, how we keep gas in our car, and food on the table. At the end of the week or every other week, a lot of times, our paychecks are voided which means we literally make nothing. Our customers give us our "pay," not our bosses.

We're people, too.

We have bad days. We get stressed out. People sometimes piss us off. We forget things-- never on purpose, of course. We get overwhelmed when we have a full section and every table needs extra something. We're not Superhuman. We're doing the best we can. Be patient and kind and it'll make both of our lives a little bit easier.

It's not always our fault that your food is messed up.

We write down exactly what you say and then repeat it back to you. We punch it into the computer exactly as it is in our book. But that doesn't always prevent human mistakes. Sometimes we hit a wrong button, sometime it's the cooks. I'm not bad mouthing the cooks in the back, at all, they're great. But when you've got a screen full of orders that you have to get out in a certain amount of time, you're going to get stressed and make a mistake here and there. We'll gladly take it back and get it fixed for you, just please understand that it wasn't on purpose and mistakes happen.

We can't do anything about the wait.

If you're in line to get a table for 10+ minutes, please realize that we are busy and it make take us a bit longer than usual to get your food out to you. We're doing all we can to get it to you as fast as possible. Good food takes time to cook so please relax and enjoy each other's company.

We just work here.

We don't make the prices. We don't write the rules and regulations that we have to go by. We can't tell the bartender to put an extra shot in your drink without charging you just because "you've had a rough day." We can't give discounts just to give them. We just do what our managers tell us to. If there's something that you don't agree with, we're truly sorry. It's not up to us so please don't take it out on us.

Do you know the kind of hours that we work?

Serving shifts are typically 10 hours at a time, not to mention the few of us who are there from open to close. We're full time students, we're parents, we have two jobs trying to make ends meet, and yet, we're here every time you come to eat. I had 59 hours on my last paycheck and only made $2.72 after tip cutouts and taxes.

We really do what you to have a good experience with us.

I know we seem like we don't care at times, and it's usually because the table before you was probably extremely rude and cussed us out before leaving a zero dollar tip on a $100 check. We try to shake it off and paint on a smile so it doesn't affect you and your time with us but it doesn't always work the way we want it to. We want you to have great service and even better food. We really do try to keep our customers happy regardless of what's going on with ourselves.

So please keep these things in mind the next time you go to a restaurant. Servers are people just like you who deserve to be treated with the same type of respect that you expect to be treated with. And 20 percent makes everything better.