When you go out to eat instead of cooking at home, you expect good food, good service, and a good time. You don’t want to think about how hard your day was. The people that try to ensure that happens must still work hard. Restaurant servers face a lot of struggles that you may not know about. Being a waiter may sound like a easy job: you simply take the order,and then bring out their food. However, it’s not as easy as that.  My job at a restaurant is made harder . . .

1. . . . when people either don’t give you a tip or not enough of a tip

I don’t think people understand that servers depend off of the tips they leave them. Waitresses work really hard. It doesn’t seem as hard, but bringing out 3 to 4 plates at the same time is challenging . Work is especially hard when there is only 1 server and 5 tables to wait. Servers make a minimum wage, and depending on what restaurant they work at, they can even make as little  as $2.35 an hour legally. When clients don’t tip, they are also being affected because when they go back to the restaurant, they might receive poor service from the waitress.

2.  . . . when people change their order at the last minute.

This is something that I think a lot of servers can relate to. The server has to go to the computer and change your order, making it a waste of time for the chefs and waiters. Next time you visit a restaurant, always keep in mind what you want before you order.

3.  .  .  . when People leave without paying.

Servers can lose their jobs because customers do not pay for their meal. From a worker’s standpoint, this could be bad for them, as their bosses might think the servers weren’t doing their jobs right and consider firing them. Servers are already getting paid minimum wage, and when you leave without paying, it only makes your customer reputation worse.

4.  .  .  . when the whole table orders at the same exact time.

Imagine, when asking your friends if they’d be interested in something to eat, and all at once, they start talking. How would you feel? Overwhelmed, right?  Well, that’s how servers feel when everyone talks at the same time. It is best to have a plan when a full table is ordering. Always be ready when a waitress comes by and asks what your order is.

5. . .  .when customers take things THEY AREN’T SUPPOSED TO TAKE.

This problem affects servers a lot. For example, there are times when customers  take the salt shakers, ketchup, hot sauce, and other condiments, and either their parents do not care or don’t even notice. The fact is, when the restaurant is full, every table is being used, and there are salt shakers missing, it makes work really hard due to the fact that it is the server’s responsibility to find them and return them back to where they belong. It doesn’t just make our job harder; it also wastes the server’s time. Instead of looking for the missing item, they could be serving another table.

These are just some of the struggles that servers have to go through every week. When you go to a restaurant, think twice when doing or thinking about doing any of these things. Try to be considerate of the people that are working to make sure you are having a good time out to eat.