12 Struggles of Being a Waitress

Waitress (noun) : a woman who waits on tables, as in a restaraunt. This is the vague job description of a waitress that can be found in the dictionary. From years of working in this occupation, I can assure you that this job entails a LOT more than what meets the eye.

I’ve worked in the same restaurant as a waitress since I was 16 years old. Young and naive, bright eyed and bubbly, I started working as a waitress. Little did I know, it would prove to be much harder than I thought.. Let me tell you about just a few things that make us waitresses tick.

1. Spending ALL day on your feet.

Very few of us go one hour without sitting down for a few minutes. Well try standing up for hours on end, especially when you work an 8 or 9 hour shift. Coming home from work with your feet aching as a waitress is a regular occurrence. Foot massage anyone please???

2. Picky customers.

Picky eaters are a waitresses worst nightmare. “Can I get ‘this’ instead of ‘that’??” Customers who ask to change so much about a dish that it’s possibly the furthest thing from the original recipe. Good luck explaining that one to the chef…

3. One word: Children.

I’m not a crazy person who hates kids or anything, but if you bring your child to a restaurant you’d think it would be to eat, right? Mostly wrong, it’s usually ‘how loud can I scream’ or ‘how much of this food can I throw on the floor’ before my mommy gives out to me. “Sorry about the mess…” *mother smiles sympathetically whilst leaving as quickly as possible*

4. Busy Days. 

Having to physically run around the restaurant to take orders, clean tables, bring drinks, bring food, and deal with awkward customers all at once. Lunch hour rush can be like a 10k marathon for a waitress trying to multitask! Sure, it does make the day go faster, but have your running shoes at the ready!

5. Quiet Days.

Everything’s been cleaned, once, twice, now three times. Bars and fridges are restocked. 10,000 napkins have been folded. Your eyes almost light up at the sight of a potential customer (human interaction, yes!).Quiet days can be a drag.

6. When you’re not ready to order, please don’t say you are.

‘Are you ready to order, sir?’ ‘Yes… I’ll have the… Uhmmmm..’ *awkward pause for 5 minutes whilst I just stand at your table waiting for you to decide*

7. People not grasping the definition of menus.

‘What’s in this dish?’ Its written right there in front of you, down there, on the MENU.

8. When people forget what they ordered.

When you bring the food to the table and announce the dish and everyone stares blankly at you like you’ve just spoken in an alien language. In the meantime, your hand is cramping from holding three hot dishes at once and you’re begging someone to just say ‘here’.

9. ‘That’s not what I ordered’

Yes, it is. It’s written right here. You pointed at it on the menu, said the name of the dish then I wrote it down. It’s exactly what you ordered.

10. Bad Tips.

When you give a table excellent service and you get shit for thanks. ‘Keep the change’ Wow, thanks so much for the 5cents change leftover on your bill.

11. Coming home smelling like food.

‘What’s that smell?’ *looks around hoping that nobody notices it’s you*

12. Customers coming in 10 minutes before closing time.

This one is pretty self explanatory.

This video pretty much sums up life as a waiter.

Being a waitress has it’s good days, and it’s bad days (most of the time mood/hangover depending). So next time you’re in a restaraunt, please be mindful of us. We’re doing our best, so please refrain from taking out all of what’s wrong about the restaurant on us. It’s not our fault! On the other hand, I do like my job. It’s taught me to have tolerance and patience even at the most pressing of times. Waitressing isn’t all bad, I get to meet lots of interesting people, have great laughs and even make some funny memories. And most of all, it pays for the expensive life of a college student!