Time Served

I recently realized that I am living a life that has just happened to me. Few things I have going on right now were conscious decisions, and most are the result of what is safe and comfortable. For example, I am turning 30 this November and am still waiting tables. I'm good at what I do. I should be, I've been doing it for over ten years. Some nights are fun and almost satisfying, but as a rule, I hate my job. I am finally starting to feel out of place among the young college students I work with. I'm not the oldest server there by any means, but I am definitely in a different stage of life than most of them. I'm wondering if they are starting to look at me like a dreaded "career server." I remember talking about those people. The ones who are bitter and jaded, and take it out on everyone else by calling out everything that is done incorrectly around them. There's a certain air surrounding the career server... it smells a little something like defeat, a resignation to the fact that this is not a temporary gig. They're not in school trying to get their degree, and even though they know the restaurant's policy inside and out, they are not next in line for a management position.



I also can't stand the great tip debate and the fact that I am most often on the losing end of it. Nothing is more frustrating than keeping children happy, drinks filled, and tables cleared for a whopping 10% tip. I am not in the practice of telling other people that they don't deserve to get paid for doing their job, so I am thoroughly confused as to why someone would feel that way about me. People love to moan and bitch about how unreasonable it is for severs to expect somewhere between 15-20% as a tip. A lot of people will use any excuse not to cough it up. I say, if you can't figure in a decent tip to how much you will be spending when you go out to eat, perhaps you should cook for yourself. I'm completely over the mentality that the customer is always right and entitle to free food if there is even the slightest mistake made during the dining experience. If a problem is resolved in a timely and polite manner and you proceed to enjoy your remade meal, for what inexplicable reason should you receive this meal for free? Apparently the service industry is the only place where mistakes are ever made, and we should pay dearly.



Not long ago, my six-year-old daughter asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up. I was in part impressed at her insight to the fact that I have not yet realized my childhood dreams. I was also crushed that even my six-year-old views my current position as substandard and hardly a "real" job. Is it not enough that I bring in decent money, work short shifts, and am able to keep our three children out of daycare? I breathed a brief sigh of contentment when we brought our third child home from the hospital. I finally felt like I had accomplished something truly great in my life. I have an amazingly beautiful family and a relatively great marriage, of course we have our ups and downs, but he is a good man and he adores our family. Do I really want to go back to school so I can work over 40 hours outside of the home and ship the kids off to daycare? Is it really that much better to fulfill as opposed to refill?