Serving jobs stink in my area have crazy demands.

Btw, word of advice, never be rude to your server before you get your food or drinks. Alot of them are over qualified and unhappy because of the job market so if you are prissy or rude, they might spit in your food or worse. Also, if you tip crap or stiff them, dont go back, they might mess with you. They remember you and tell other servers.

This kind of thing is what makes me lose all respect for what you're saying. I've been a server too and I would never think of tampering with a customer's food. That's immature, and illegal.

I did it when I was in college. The fact is, servers tend to do better when they like their jobs. Today, it seems service isnt as good, maybe its because they just beaten up by everyone. Alot of times bad service happens because they are tired, mentally drained from all the negativity from customers, coworkers, and managers. Most dont get breaks and alot of tiems work double shifts. If something goes wrong, its not the end of the world, you survive. Most servers and places will want to fix whatever went wrong. Btw, word of advice, never be rude to your server before you get your food or drinks. Alot of them are over qualified and unhappy because of the job market so if you are prissy or rude, they might spit in your food or worse. Also, if you tip crap or stiff them, dont go back, they might mess with you. They remember you and tell other servers. WIth me, when I go out, Im just happy and glad im able to go out and have drinks and dinner. Alot of people dont have that luxury.

Mess with my food because I'm unhappy with something?

Ridiculous and just another reason why I no longer go out to dinner. I can make the same stuff at home (and it is usually better for me anyway) and I don't have to worry about pissing off someone who is mad at the world and have them spit in my food or something.

And yes, I worked as a server in the past and no matter how rude the customer was? I NEVER, EVER would have done anything to their food.

That's immature and as far as I can tell pretty unethical too. Would you like if I spit in YOUR food because you pissed me off?

I doubt it.

If you hate your job that much, get another one. Your unhappiness, resentment and downright bitter attitude towards your job and life show in the way you present yourself which results in poor customer service. Poor customer service equals less in tips.

Leave your troubles and unhappiness at the door.

Being upset about food is stupid in the first place. Im not talking about being upset, im talking about people yelling and cursing at people. In the old days, they would get the crap beat out of them. Like I said most are willing to fix it. Its just food. Also, people shouldnt be able to talk to people any way they want and they just take it. You dont own them nor have the right to yell or say rude things. Its simple, if you dont like something like the place or service, just dont go back.

Being upset about food is stupid in the first place. Im not talking about being upset, im talking about people yelling and cursing at people. In the old days, they would get the crap beat out of them. Like I said most are willing to fix it. Its just food. Also, people shouldnt be able to talk to people any way they want and they just take it. You dont own them nor have the right to yell or say rude things. Its simple, if you dont like something like the place or service, just dont go back.

Come on. Like I said earlier, I worked at TGIF for twelve years. No one ever yelled at a server. They may have been upset, but come on. They were usually either hungry or drunk. If ya can't take the heat, don't work in the kitchen.

You worked in a restaurant for twelve years and never saw a server get yelled at by a customer?!

I shoulda worked at TGIF :drinker:

Come on. Like I said earlier, I worked at TGIF for twelve years. No one ever yelled at a server. They may have been upset, but come on. They were usually either hungry or drunk. If ya can't take the heat, don't work in the kitchen.

You worked in a restaurant for twelve years and never saw a server get yelled at by a customer?!

I shoulda worked at TGIF :drinker:

haha I guess she's the most perfect server ever that she never had a customer yell at HER!

Really? Never? Luckily, I have never had to be a server (knock on wood), but everyone I know who has says that it's the worst job they've ever had. I have worked in the retail/service industry, and some people are downright abusive to workers for no reason, and I do mean abusive, cursing, yelling, complaining to the manager who then apologizes even when it's clearly the customer being an outright a** and then the customer walks away all smug because they think they've "shown them" or something, I don't really know what goes through such people's heads. They like to try to exert power over others or something. And just being a customer in restaurants I have seen other customers be outrageous to their server. You can bet that if I know that customer complained to the manager and I witnessed what went on I'm going to say something to the manager, I'm not going to let someone get p***ed on by someone else who gets some sort of sick satisfaction out of getting a hard worker into trouble. (Not to say there aren't terrible servers, who definitely don't deserve much of a tip if any at all, but I have been witness to far more crazy customers).

The worst thing about the food service industry though is dealing with people, you'll never know just how horrible people are to the hands that feed them until you've worked food service. Over the two years I've worked I've seen grown men and women pitch fits because they can, because they feel powerful and it's unfortunate that we can't treat them like the children they're acting like--we're FORCED to reward that behavior with free drinks, food, desserts because if we don't then THEIR choice to behave like that will get us fired. It's like your entire life is in the hand of little kids that find it funny to scare you into submission...now, this only happens several times a shift so HUNDREDS of people act like rational human beings and treat you nicely and thank you and ask you how your day is going and bring you gifts for outstanding service, and those hundreds of people make my job awesome.

Its not illegal to pay someone under minimum wage? i thought thats why they called it minimum wage?

Most states allow it when it's a tipped position. hence, the importance of the tip.

Its not illegal to pay someone under minimum wage? i thought thats why they called it minimum wage?

Most states allow it when it's a tipped position. hence, the importance of the tip.

This is why I usually REFUSE to tip anyone in places like Starbucks. They get paid a lot more and still have hands out for extra money. I will break the rules sometimes if the server is super awesome, but I reserve my good tipping for people who actualy need it!

#4. It is not that I am an idiot or just don't want to learn how to do my job or what's expected of me, but it is hard to learn in 4 days. My sales and marketing job was less demanding and I made 3x what I'm making now. It's not about the money, it's about getting respect from other people. Out of 6 trainees that started training on the same day as me, I was the only one to pass the final the first time and pass all of our other tests. So, it's not just me. We had two other trainees walk out today that currently work restaurant jobs, so obviously they are more than qualified.

The worst thing about the food service industry though is dealing with people, you'll never know just how horrible people are to the hands that feed them until you've worked food service. Over the two years I've worked I've seen grown men and women pitch fits because they can, because they feel powerful and it's unfortunate that we can't treat them like the children they're acting like--we're FORCED to reward that behavior with free drinks, food, desserts because if we don't then THEIR choice to behave like that will get us fired. It's like your entire life is in the hand of little kids that find it funny to scare you into submission...now, this only happens several times a shift so HUNDREDS of people act like rational human beings and treat you nicely and thank you and ask you how your day is going and bring you gifts for outstanding service, and those hundreds of people make my job awesome.

lol you must be on that other planet that Veganbaum and I are on.

After my freshman year of college, I worked in a restaurant for a summer as a busser. One really good thing about the restaurant was that gratuity was built into every check, so the waitstaff knew that they were not going to get stiffed on tips.

We didn't have the crazy demands that the OP talked about.

I found that some commenters in the thread were rather insensitive. Telling the friend of the OP to get another job isn't the greatest thing to do. A lot of times they are trying to do better in life, but look at the current job market. It is even difficult to get waitstaff jobs. 50% of new college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. People in their 20s have to live at home now pretty frequently, though that trend started years before the current downturn. Something like this is just symptomatic of a sick economy.