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                                                         LIFE AS A SERVER

                                                             By David Tyler

I'm still not quite sure why, but for as far back as I can remember the only thing I wanted to be in life was a waiter. I guess as a youngster making my way up through the days, I was surrounded by people in the industry and I was always hearing about the fast cash and wild life style of the business. There really was no formal training or long scholastic commitment involved, you either can do it or you can�t. I could turn anyone with the ability into a top-notch server in two days, and turn them out to the lions den we call the floor.
   As a server you always have cash, there�s a short learning process and your piped into the nightlife of the inner circles that are the service industry. But the part they never seemed to mention was the long hours, the endless bickering of your greedy cut throat associates, the needy customers that I feel only dine out because they need to find fault in others to make thier own existences seem worthy. Thier own friends and family refuse to entertain thier constant and endless ability to complain about the tiediest little things, and oh ya, then there�s the kitchen.
These people are usually highly educated dip shits that have spent enough time in school and training, to be a medical doctor or attorney. They feel the reason god put food on the earth was for them to man handle and grope it. At times these people are very hard to deal with under high pressure circumstances, they are more interested in centering the broccoli on the veal Oscar, then they are getting my ass out of the kitchen so I can serve my anal retentive customer that is just praying for me to screw something (that I most of the time have no control over) up. In turn they can go into thier auto pilot fault finding mode. I don�t even think they're listening to themselves half the time. Don�t get me wrong, not all costumers are like this. Iinfact the majority of them are not, one of the things that keeps you coming back, are the good costumers, unlike the amature diners that have no idea how to act in public. The good costumers are the reason you're there. There really is self-satisfaction in giving good service and making people feel good Hell, I go to more birthdays, anniversaries and wedding proposals then anyone I know. These are the detriments of the career choice. Tell me another career that you can drink, eat, celebrate daily and make $150 to $300 a night, because if you can, I�m there.
   These are the aspects that keep you going everyday, there are down sides though. I can't remember the last time I had a complete weekend off all to myself, personal relationships are hard to maintain unless your other is in the buisiness and keeps similar hours to yours. After ten years, my feet are at a state of constant pain. There�s never food in my fridge, and if there is it's either green, or I have claimed it as a dependent on my taxes.
As I look to my future I see a bleak existence. There is no room to advance, and if you do it usually means more hours in the den (and we don�t want that). I�ve worked with many great people who have been in this game for 30 yrs and more, and they have built thier lives and supported thier families quite well. I've been in it for ten years now, and I find myself now at a cross road.I don�t want to serve any more, I want to be served. The cash, the people and the parties are an addiction at this point that I cant seem to kick and I think that�s the whole danger of the waiter trap! Time fly�s when you're having fun.Then one day you wake up and it's too late to start over in a another career. Now you end up stuck waiting tables to support yourself, you end up working too many nights and too many weekends. You end up wearing support hose to help your aching feet. So this I say to anyone that is considering getting in the business, whether it be to help you get through college (I can name 15 waiters right of the top of my head with collage degrees that are still waiters) or to help with an extra house hold income (I can name 5 waitresses that have broken marriages because of the stress and hours of this business) I say this to you. Run for the hills! Don�t do it. No just kidding, but make sure you stay focused on what it is you really want to do, serving can be very self rewarding and a good teacher of life�s lessons, or it can be a death sentence of necessity.