Working as a Waitress/server, and or bartender (Your experience)

[KinksandCoils]

i did it for several years in my early 20's. loved it but hated it at the same time. loved having cash on hand but hated the stress that came with it. when it gets busy it really is the worst fukkin job you could have. nothing worse than having like 5-6 tables at once on a busy night and nothing is going right. it can get really, really hard. and when things take long some people really don't have an understanding of what's going on and they blame you.

lol i still have nightmares about it. real talk. in the nightmares i'm always lost and overwhelmed.

Oh wow. I don't think I'm gonna bother applying for a waitress position now

Never have, but I've known more then a few waitresses, services, bottle service girls, bartenders, that shyt seems so degrading and demeaning. Some of them get off on it though, but really they are being exploited for their sexuality.....the few dollars in tips to support a far less then 50k a year existence isn't worth it. It's one of those professions I see women get trapped into, end up like 30+ with not marketable skills without stripping or escorting, and service work. I will admit I see those small restaurant closed world environments as somewhat fascinating sometimes. It becomes these peoples entire world. The inter politics, the rumors, the scandals, backstabbing, I am aware that is every job anywhere almost, but the fact that it can be some god awful chain restaurant or gauche nightclub makes it all the more interesting.

A close friend of mine is close to 30 and a server/waiter still, he's been in it 10 years, and he lives a moderately comfortably. It's just such bullshyt work, and I emphasize with everyone who does it. I constantly debate with friends over their treatment of severs and waitresses, I tell them they have an entitlement issue, and are demanding of servers to exercise their dominance, to feel secure about themselves and their position. They say it's because they are helping the servers become better at their job lol which is of course laughable....

whoa

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

to support a far less then 50k a year existence

Sheeiittt... All the bartenders I know doing over 50k. I knew a few servers who were making that

 

[DrX]

I'm pretty curious on how your experience was with working these types of jobs.

Was it:
Easy
Stressful
Bad pay
decent pay
Horrible customers
Etc.

i worked in retail

yeah it was hell......I learned alot that running a business tho .....



and oh, those jobs arent easy...theyre harder then most of these office jobs, the best aadvice i can give is...save ur money and get out ASAP

 

[Kill Dat Noize]

Oh wow. I don't think I'm gonna bother applying for a waitress position now

depends on where you work. if they're running a tight operation then it's not that bad. but when the ppl in the kitchen suck, the managers suck, and there's no one designated to actually run the food... and waiters have like 5-6 table sections... it can be a nightmare.

but i have also worked where it wasn't bad at all. 3-4 table sections, a food runner.... not bad at all. I mean yea it gets busy but you never get too backed up to the point where you start falling behind and losing it.

 

[Kill Dat Noize]

Oh wow. I don't think I'm gonna bother applying for a waitress position now

depends on where you work. if they're running a tight operation then it's not that bad. but when the ppl in the kitchen suck, the managers suck, and there's no one designated to actually run the food... and waiters have like 4-5 table sections... it can be a nightmare.

but i have also worked where it wasn't bad at all. 3-4 table sections, a food runner.... not bad at all. I mean yea it gets busy but you never get too backed up to the point where you start falling behind and losing it.

 

[KinksandCoils]

depends on where you work. if they're running a tight operation then it's not that bad. but when the ppl in the kitchen suck, the managers suck, and there's no one designated to actually run the food... and waiters have like 5-6 table sections... it can be a nightmare.

but i have also worked where it wasn't bad at all. 3-4 table sections, a food runner.... not bad at all. I mean yea it gets busy but you never get too backed up to the point where you start falling behind and losing it.

thanks for the feedback

 

[DrX]

Oh wow. I don't think I'm gonna bother applying for a waitress position now
whoa

u probably can make good tips....but be prepared to deal with a$$holes.....dont let them get to u

 

[The5thLetter]

I bartended just 2x in my life, yes I'm a quitter lol. My 1st time was at some club in midtown Manhattan, a lot of drunk chodes hitting on me but tipping like shyt i said later to that
2nd time was at a friend's house party, got paid pretty well and got requests from guests to bartend for their private parties, but a lot of the gigs were for holidays in the evenings so I curved that too

 

[ch15x]

customer service jobs...

Never waited tables as I was a dishwasher at Applebee's and Red Lobster (occasional barhop/busboy stuff). Had a roommate that converted from the kitchen to waiting. Decent tips, but you all know the rest.

 

[Mr. Negative]

never worked either, but I was behind many a line and in many a kitchen. After a while, you find yourself surrounded by, living with and in relationships with the wait staff.

• Met one of my exes on the wait staff. When I saw her W2 at the end of our first year together, I saw she made more than me in tips alone? I was mad as hell. I also cut off part of one of my fingers trying to watch her walk while I was julienning bell peppers, but we aren't here to talk about that. The stress and high pace didn't combine with her sickle cell too tough and she had to stop.

• One of my boys was the care free weed smoking white boys that just breezes through life without a care in the world. Everything falling into his lap. This sportsbar opened up across the street from this place I had, he just walked in and landed a bartending job. I kid you not he was pulling $200-350 on week nights and was bringing in close to $1000 on weekend nights. He quit because it was "too hard", got a job there waiting tables instead. Him and his little brother never did anything but wait tables. Blew all that money on weed and video games.

• One of my homie's girlfriend used to come from that same sportsbar on her breaks and do lines of coke on my living room table and then go back to work. I remember one lunch rush she came by and pulled it out of her bra, it was damp with sweat and she was complaining. I told her to put it in the microwave, she was like "ewl fukk no! Then it'll turn to CRACK, and you SEE what that shyt does to you!" Lil filipino chick from Oakland. I kinda miss her.

• Got another homie, he was waiting tables part time when we all met.... he's still waiting tables to this day, from the way it looks. College degree and all. Meanwhile, those same white cats I knew who did nothing but quit jobs and blow money on weed and video games are General Managers now.

It just goes to show how the system works for you. I'm just gonna claim they networked better.

 

[At30wecashout]

I've had some hoe-ass jobs in my time, but honestly the most fun was FOH of a new restaurant last year. I was hired on as a host, but they didn't
mind that I liked to run around to help bus tables and sweep and shyt. It was FUN to me. Now...doing waiter is a bytch and a half when you do more than a 4 top,
and even worse when your restaurant does not hold strict time constraints on customers. The job I worked last was a very comfortable, warm bar atmosphere
with candles glowing and sports games showing at night, so parties of 4 and above would routinely sit in that bytch for an hour or two, and me being the host, people
would ask

"How long for the next table?"

No matter what I told them, they were rarely happy. They would go to the bar next door intending to come back, but get so drunk that they hit the Popeyes afterword.
Tell someone an hour, they leave pissed....and its 7pm on a SATURDAY. Of fukking course you aren't getting in Jobs like these just let you know how
entitled people feel to shyt, and they get butthurt when things don't go right, yet they absolutely insist on coming when everybody else does. Not all shifts are firing
100%. You get picky ass customers, the people who leave without tipping or paying altogether (rare, but they are there), the folks who take up a table for over an hour
and they only spend $40 between the whole party You are much better off being a Host or bartender than any other position, though a waiter/waitress can
make BANK if you can socially kill between duties.

I say give it a try, just don't even accept a Dishwasher position. I did it one night at an italian joint and my hands smelled like pasta sauce for 3 weeks

I like to sleep on my hands. I was not going back to smell like that permanently.

 

[pawdalaw]

I'm from the hood. I've done worked from 5 stars to Bob Evans... 5 star restaurant I was out of my element. Didn't make enough to survive. Worked at this joint at the mall and I used to bring home bank every night... Bob Evans. I made a killing, I was smashing the competition tip wise. I wish I could explain it to you.But the top Waitresses in there would come in at 9, I would come in at noon and by the end of the shift I would have the most money.

Bottom line is that you gotta have fun while doing it. I looked at it as a hustle. I loved the women. I loved making $100 for a 6 hr. shift. My co-workers were constantly getting punked and shunned, they hated "black tables" while I took it as a challenge... Sometimes I wish I could go back to them days... making a $100 a day tax free cash. Flirting with women... All your co-workers on your dyck because you don't get rattled. Constant customers flirting. Just feeling a sense of overall control...

Waiting tables got me through some of the toughest times of my life. I took care of my tables and they compensated me well for it. It was one of the few times in my life where I knew I was getting paid strictly on who I was.

Now a days I go out to eat and it's like . You expecting extra compensation for this shyt service that I'm getting. Lately I leave a lot of comment cards as tips. I don't even like to eat out much anymore...

 

[iFightSeagullsForBread]

I'm actually suppose to start busser training in a couple weeks, seeing my last job was essentially hell on earth the idea of waiting tables to me is

 

[Draje]

Lot of drugs, employees fukking, and drama from everyone.

You can make bank if you a hustler. I gotta good memory and I'm witty so I could walk out with $150 on a good night as a waiter in like 6 hours but it's definitely not for everyone.

People aren't really built for dealing with extremely entitled a$$holes for extended periods of time. Being a waiter/bartender/retail can make you bate people.

 

[Wise]

I noticed a lot of them do coke