Once I turned eighteen, I couldn't wait to be a server. I wanted the position for many reasons but the cash in hand after each shift was the main motivator. What I didn't know was just how much is really involved in being a server that I didn't, and I'm sure most people don't know.
Most people have jobs that pay them a set rate for the amount of time they are at said job, either that or a predetermined salary for each year. That's usually how getting payed works. It's predictable, easy to budget, and you don't have to worry about any of the variables that factor in when you're a server. That reliable paycheck is just a myth for anyone who waits on tables. Sure, I get a paycheck but calling it that is laughable. My printed paychecks are usually under a single dollar. That $2.83 an hour only covers the taxes paid on tips. When you wait tables, you never know what you'll walk out with. What you make is 90% up to other factors. If the weather is bad, the restaurant is slow, then you're not getting many tables and you're not making any money. If the hosts forget to seat your section or if there are too many servers scheduled, you're not getting many tables or tips then, either. It could also be up to customers' unpredictable opinions of you, the food/drinks, or the atmosphere. I could do everything right, the food could be perfect, there could be no qualms for complaints, and sometimes I still won't even get tipped at all. It is as unpredictable as unpredictable comes.
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Being a server changes you, fundamentally, as a person. The first thing waiting tables teaches you is patience. Maybe that's why it's literally called waiting on tables, because that's literally all that you do. You wait for your table to order, you wait for their food or drinks to be ready, you wait for them to be done eating, then you wait for them to pay, and usually you have to wait even longer for them to get up so that you can clean the table and start all over again. Patience is the number one key to being a good server, because without it, you will feel nothing but frustration. This job will also teach you extreme tolerance for people, both coworkers and customers alike. I do not believe there are larger groups of collectively hot-headed people working in one environment than those who work in restaurants. It must be on the job application. Are you quick to anger? Yes? Boom. Hired. Additionally, there's a lot of crap to be taken from customers. Let's be honest, sometimes people are just plain rude. When you're a server, you can't do much about it, though, because their opinion of you and your service is what determines what you make. Unfortunately, the restaurant industry lives and breathes by the "customer is always right" mentality. This mentality basically approves any customers' unnecessarily rude behaviors and usually rewards it with a free dinner. It's very frustrating but that is where the tolerance part comes in. The only action worth taking when in a situation with a customer like that is to play the part. "Yes, you are right and I am so sorry." If that's too big of a leap for your ego, then I'm sorry, but this job isn't for you. It comes with the territory. What a table thinks of it's server is essentially what they earn, and no one can afford to throw away a tip because a customer is bitter or simply having a bad day. You must learn to accept that people get irritated and sometimes they take it out on you. Usually, it is not to be taken personally and one must simply dust off their shoulders and move on.
Serving also keeps you in shape, mentally and physically. It helps you learn and practice the art of time management. It teaches you to manage stress when there's no time to manage at all. It also keeps you on your feet for hours on end, thus getting you in shape. When you have a four table section, and all bases are loaded, you usually have more things on your immediate to-do list than your brain can comprehend or remember. But it gets easier the longer you do it. Still, sometimes I'll find myself laying in bed after a long shift when suddenly I'll remember one of those to-do points randomly. It takes a lot of focus and concentration to always keep your attention span shifting yet staying along the same path. When you are busy, or "in the weeds", there is no time at all to think about anything but what you have to accomplish. You also learn how to calm yourself down and stay grounded. That can usually be done by a trip to the walk-in and some deep breathing. Keeping yourself together when everything is falling apart, knowing your money is riding on everything that is happening, is stressful just to think about let alone live through. But learning to tell yourself it'll be okay comes with time. It's difficult not to freak out in such a stressful environment, but that hard day will end just as the last hard day you had did. Serving really does have the potential to become majorly mentally and emotionally draining. Being yelled at by a table for their food taking too long (which is out of your control), while also being glared at by the table right behind them because they should have gotten their margarita already (but the bar is backed up), while the table across the aisle is waiting for their ranch dressing (and they won't eat without it) is hard. Yet, somehow, you learn to deal with it and separate yourself from the stress the job creates. While juggling all of your tasks you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off. It usually works out to be that most of the things you need, are at completely different ends of the restaurant. On a slow day, I usually walk 11,000 steps. On a busy day my daily steps can go well over 30,000. You're constantly lifting and balancing. You're bringing stacks of plates put together like a game of Jenga back to the kitchen, carrying out multiple heavy, hot dishes balanced on your arm, or even better, carrying trays with 3 times as much weight as your arms can carry across a full dining room. Serving is hard on your mind and your body but it is worth it in the long run.
After reading some of this, you may ask yourself: "So why ever be a server then?" Well, the answer is: it can be, and usually is, worth it in the long run. To be a part of such a team is a great feeling when you're working. And being constantly active with a lot of things to do can be really fun. But, a restaurant is very similar to a clock. It only works properly and seamlessly when each and every component operates efficiently. When it does, it's a very rewarding position and the people you meet in those environments are unlike any other. The money is also favorable, if one is willing to deal with the feast or famine mentality and the unpredictability of it all. Being a server definitely teaches you a lot, it molds you as a person. It also makes you a good patron in return because you know exactly how it feels to be on the other side of that situation. If everyone held a server position, for a at least a very short amount of time in their life, the world would be a much more tolerant place.
Somehow, though, I never did get that guy at table 43 his ketchup....
