Can You Tell if Your Server is having a Bad Day

We all have good days and bad days at our jobs. But for servers it’s a bit different. Kind of like if 10 people didn’t tip you on a slow day, you might not be able to pay your phone bill this week or your rent next week. Having a bad day at some/most other jobs, being that you get paid hourly, it most times means that you gained a few headaches or had a few arguments that day. For the server we have the money loss and your headache to deal with.

From 5 hour shifts to 12 hour shifts, most times customers have no idea how tired their server is or when was the last time they had a snack. We see actors on television and we’re in awe of their work, not realizing that if we go to the nearest fast pace restaurant we can come across a handful of actors and actresses. Being in this industry I’ve seen coworkers deal with family deaths and still come to work and put on a smile. Seen people stressed with classes, finals and papers and still keep their cool when at a table. Some people are naturally social and others have to act at it. As servers we learn to never let the customer be able to differ our real personality to the one we are trained to have on the clock.

Something to keep in mind. . . If you sense your server is having a bad day, a smile or a joke or even just a nice compliment from your end can change the rest of their day. Yes our job is to provide great service but we all have to remember that we are people too. 🙂

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