5 lessons from serving

I have been a server/waiter on and off for over 10 years. In that time I have worked in anything from burger joints with a 50's theme to high end where you have to be able to pair food to wine and even done a bit of banquet serving. Regardless of where I have lived or been in life lessons I learned serving have helped out in other jobs and areas of life. Whether it is in money or conflict resolution there are lots of lessons in serving to improve your life.

1: Feast or Famine: In the restaurant industry there are always busy seasons and slow seasons. During the busy seasons you can easily make 1000+ in tips in a week alone, but the flip side is in the slow season you might be lucky to make half that. A classic mistake that many first time servers make is that they do not plan for the Famine during the Feast. Instead of building a nest egg for the hard times they spend all the money left and right. Then when the slow season hits they suddenly find that $800 dollar a month car note is impossible to pay along with everything else. Those $500 dollar tats or new electronics do not put food on the table nor do they keep the lights on. This same lesson is true in any area of life. Even if you are salaried if you are not using proper money management tools and putting money away you could find yourself in trouble too. What if your car breaks down? What if you develop a long term illness? What if you have to travel a lot to deal with the death of a parent? It may not be as obvious when you have a consistent income, but every one has feast and famine times.

2: It's not personal: No matter how much you smile or how hard you try there is always that one person or group of people you just can not make happy. You will never know why. Maybe they just had a nasty break up. Maybe they had a bad day at work and are venting at you. Maybe they found out they could not buy the house/car they wanted to get. Maybe they just have a stick up their butt since birth. You can not do enough to make this person happy or like you better. Sad to say but it is best to simply not worth the time and effort you will put into them. It is unlikely that they will tip you fairly because they are transferring all their other built up anger to you. Your best plan is to back off, let them have their space, and focus on people you can make happy. This is really true of any toxic relationship. Are you putting a lot of time into someone that is rude? Lazy? Addicted? Selfish? Much like you only have so much time on the floor to make your money so in life do you only have so much time to make meaningful relationships and memories. Why waste time and effort with someone that is not contributing to your ultimate goal? I promise one of two things will happen. Either that rude guest will change their attitude because they want to get better service or they will leave. Same will happen with toxic relationships. Do not feed into it. It's not personal.

3: Be present where you are: If you are spending more time on your phone or in the break room your guests will not feel like you actually served them, and chances are they will not tip much if at all. We all have had that friend or date that spent so much time on their phone that they do not even notice if you just leave. It is rude and hurtful. It makes people feel like they do not matter. To get anything meaningful out of any interaction whether personal, business, or romantic you need to be present and invested. You will only get out of anything what you put into it.

4: Manners Matter: Any server that is good at their job knows their menu and POS(Point Of Sales) system forwards and backwards. If a guest comes in and immediately starts off being rude to me I am not going to be in a mood to make this any easier or better for them. Typically this means if you order something and I know a cheaper way to order it for you I simply will not do it or suggest it. If the food takes a long time to come out, I could comp your drinks, but if you were rude that is not going to happen. Why would I want to be nice to you if you are not being nice to me? This applies to you when you are out places too. Did you really need to get snarky with the sales clerk? Is it their fault that the store policy is no returns on sale items? When you walk into your mother-in-law's house is it going to help if you make a belittling comment? Or if you refuse to eat anything that was cooked for you? Yes, of course there are extenuating circumstances, but for the most part the mantra manners matter applies well.

5: Proactive is time saving, and time is money: When I am preparing to grab a tray and run it out to a table, I always stop and try to see if there is anything else they might want. Any condiments that they mentioned or maybe people usually eat with this food? Were any of the drinks at the table or another in my section low? Is the food so greasy they will need more napkins? Ultimately small questions like this that take mere seconds to answer can save you several minutes and possibly several trips. After you have been constantly on your feet for 8 hours ever step saved really matters. Plus if you are anticipating guest needs/wants before they even have to ask they will be really impressed. Even if it does not encourage them to tip more they will get to eating and thus leaving faster to get another table. This is true for any job. Attempt to anticipate what either coworkers or clients need ahead of time. Were you wrong? Ok, so what? I would be willing to bet that the effort will be noticed. Eventually when it comes time for promoting or raises management will absolutely take into account all the times you did stuff without being asked while all your coworkers were looking like a deer in headlights.

No matter where you go in life, how old you get, or what you do these five serving lessons can definitely improve your life. Feast or Famine, It's not personal, Be present where you are, Manners Matter, and Proactive is time saving and time is money. Give them a try. I bet they can change your outlook for life.