Trials of a Waitress

I have been working at Red Robin now for almost six months and I have learned more about human behavior and patience in that time than I have ever expected. I have finally reached my breaking point about being a server to the point where I have to journal about it for the world to see. There are things that your servers will never tell you. There are things we do because we have no choice. This is just the short things I know from experiences or what my fellow servers have told me.

1. Tipping

This is something that most people don't seem to understand. Servers do not get paid a lot of money hourly. We are quite literally paid just enough money to cover our taxes. We depend on your tips! We work so hard, walking on our feet, carrying heavy trays with your food, getting you drink after drink, and every other last request you have. We do it with the best smiles we can muster and we never let it show on our faces how much we are annoyed by the fact that we bring you a refill of your drink and then you ask for more fries and when we bring those fries you ask for ranch or honey mustard. Please tip us well. Don't leave us five dollars on a fifty dollar check. Don't leave us with a penny or nothing at all. We work hard. We are doing our best.

2. Reviews

We know you are reviewing us. We know what you are telling our managers and corporate. Don't give us a bad review because of things that are out of our control or things that we have to do. I have been given bad reviews because of fries being too greasy or cold. That's not under my control. Sometimes even the kitchen can't control that. I have been given poor reviews because I didn't know we were out of avocado until after their food went out. I have a poor review because when someone asks for a large cup, I have to charge them for the soda they receive. These are company policies and things I cannot control. Yet those reviews impact me in ways that the consumer doesn't understand. Unless I was rude and didn't get you your refills or anything else or things like that in time or a timely manner, then yes I will have deserved that poor review. But please think about what you're saying before making such reviews.

3. Dress Code

The serving occupation these days is mostly dominated by women. We come in all shapes and sizes. Some restaurants provide shirts, others just tell you to wear a specific color. Well in my occupation we are told we just need to wear a black shirt. I am an hour-glass figured woman. I wear a lot of v-neck shirts because they are much more comfortable for me and yet I have been chastised because of my barely there cleavage. Is it right? No. Should I be standing up myself? Yes and I am doing the best I can.

4. Birthday Songs

We hate them. We act like we love singing these birthday songs but we really don't. First off, you're taking us from our tables and our responsibilities towards them. We now have to sing a song that corporate has made us learn because you wanted this birthday song in this moment for whatever reason. If you ever notice, when we sing whatever birthday song is requested of us, we disperse as soon as it is over like we didn't enjoy it. We didn't.

5. Thankless Job

This is truly a thankless job. People have left dirty diapers for us and our busers to clean up on the tables.They ground crumbs into the rugs, let their children run wild around the restaurant, make huge messes on their tables and underneath them, and more. We are the ones who have to clean it up. We are the ones who have to deal with it with a smile on our faces. We are the ones who want to quit quite literally after we clean up the mess only to find out that we were tipped less that ten percent on the check.

I'm not saying that I am not thankful for my time as a server and I'm not saying I fully hate my job because it does allow me to do some of the things I need to do while still getting a pay check. However, we work hard for so little in return and if I keep working here without some sort of outlet, it will mentally break me.