Posted:
#26
Quote Originally Posted by ad1260:
I was a server at a steakhouse for 2 years right after college. Decent gig because my managers were awesome and my coworkers were generally pretty cool (as many of you know the service industry is full of felons/druggies/alcoholics, etc. which actually made for a pretty chill atmosphere). My bills were relatively minimal at the time but I couldn't imagine LIVING off of the wages for any real length of time. As for the money, it was decent. Definitely not great but a hell of a lot better than making minimum wage. For example, in a week if you worked 5 nights (always Friday/Saturday/Sunday night) and 2 others during the week….you would average between 400-500 bucks a week. Which puts minimum wage to shame not to mention you would accrue this in probably 30-35 hours a week max.
I was a server at a steakhouse for 2 years right after college. Decent gig because my managers were awesome and my coworkers were generally pretty cool (as many of you know the service industry is full of felons/druggies/alcoholics, etc. which actually made for a pretty chill atmosphere). My bills were relatively minimal at the time but I couldn't imagine LIVING off of the wages for any real length of time. As for the money, it was decent. Definitely not great but a hell of a lot better than making minimum wage. For example, in a week if you worked 5 nights (always Friday/Saturday/Sunday night) and 2 others during the week….you would average between 400-500 bucks a week. Which puts minimum wage to shame not to mention you would accrue this in probably 30-35 hours a week max.
The most difficult thing was managing your money. As many of you know and because of the substance abuse problems that I mentioned above, many of your fellow coworkers would want to go grab some drinks after the majority of your shifts. Especially on Friday and Saturday nights when you had 100-150 bucks in your pocket after 5-6 hours of work. SO if you could manage to avoid doing that the majority of the time then you could actually save a little money. Waiting tables is the epitome of grinding---it's eerily similar to sports betting/poker.
Another big problem with waiting tables for a living is that it's actually pretty seasonal. For instance, in the summer time business is SLOW. Kids are out of school, families are on vacation, it's warm outside so families are grilling, etc. In the winter---it's $$$ time. Holiday parties, nasty weather, big family get togethers, etc. The spring and fall are sort of just "steady".
Also, the hours flat-out suck. It's awful having to wait around all day to go into work at 4 or 5 in the evening. Then getting home at 11-12 (assuming you don't go out for drinks) sucks. Then you are running around on your feet all night so when you get off/get home it takes a couple of hours to "wind down" because usually your adrenaline is running pretty high. Then if you work lunches, it generally sucks because the money is a fraction of what you make at dinner.
It's a great job for high school and college kids. I also worked with a ton of people that had "regular day jobs" but waited tables in the evening to earn extra cash…these people usually had a few kids/probably made a few poor decisions in their lives thus causing them to HAVE to wait tables at night 3 nights a week. I will say this, very few people (at least at the restaurant I worked at) actually were steady adults that this was their career job. Most people that worked with me were in some kind of transition phase in their lives. Like I was fresh out of college and looking for a teaching gig but couldn't find one so now I actually work for AT&T. However, I still have my job at the restaurant and work there on a "pick up shifts basis". Meaning, I'm never scheduled week to week and I might just pick up a shift once a month for some gas money…because in all honesty it's kind of a fun job in moderation.
Also, you have to get over getting stiffed quickly. You have to get it out of your mind instantly because if you dwell on it, it'll ruin your night and you'll just be pissy the rest of your shift. I've been stiffed on checks everywhere from $20 to $250….for no particular reason. Just gotta get over it and keep trucking because it's just a part of the business. I would say it's like getting moosed in sports betting (Oregon and Michigan State backers last night know what I'm talking about)….it's a sick beat but you gotta clear your head immediately and not let it linger because if you don't, you are gonna burn your bankroll.
I didn't proofread any of this so I hope it all makes sense. 
BOL to all and GL to everyone betting the tournament this weekend and cheers to Opening Day on the horizon! 
Well you just highlighted two more reasons I would never want to be a server (that is, as a living, as a college high school kid it's probably pretty good as you noted): getting stiffed and the hours.
And when you said "Thursday,Friday,Saturday nights" I cringed. If not for those last two nights in my life, I don't know how I'd have piece of mind.
Good read your post was.
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