Time and time again, vlogs and blogs outline annoyances for restaurant workers. The classic family who walks in 10 minutes before closing with the sole desire of well-done steak, extremely picky customers, and the impatient fellow who has no care for the waiter's other 12 customers are a few of the major points. While this is common knowledge to anyone with access to Facebook and Youtube, where does it state the satisfaction restaurant workers feel when they serve someone a great birthday meal or get a supreme tip for making someone's day brighter. Here, are the benefits of a restaurant worker.
Food.
We have to start here. Smiles and happy customers are one thing, but free ice cream and gourmet food is another. Working in a restaurant can be the closest thing you will ever have to a personal chef. Family-owned restaurants sometimes cook family meals for their workers, while larger ones don't mind making an extra order of calamari for their hard working crew. If you get real close to the kitchen, your Caesar salads can turn into Caprese ones. When picking a restaurant to work in, remember the types of food that are served.
Getting paid primarily for your work.
This is for servers only. Relying on tips as the bulk of your payment gives much satisfaction when you walk home with more than $100. Now, I realize there are many factors that go into how much a server makes, but his/her success can be a sole indicator of how well he/she serves. Instead of just showing up for the job and completing it, servers get satisfaction and more money for doing their job well and correctly.
The people.
Not everyone is a people person. But, even faking a smile can make your day and the customer's day brighter. A restaurant is normally a fancy occasion for a family. Servers, hostesses, and bussers get to see birthdays celebrated, family reunions, first dates, etc. It's nice to interact with people on their big night. Most of the time they are, in fact, happy.
The camaraderie.
The restaurant business is a beautiful blend of many people. You have the first faces -- the hostesses, the young hard-labored bussers, the kitchen staff who obeys the head chef, the servers, bartenders, and the general manager(s) who ties everything together. It is a strange mix of young high schoolers and older adults, but it becomes a wonderful family. I, personally, have learned many life lessons from working in a restaurant. Every employee comes with almost a completely different background and life before entering that restaurant. Some people would never have had the opportunity to meet if it wasn't for two jobs open for hostessing and bartending.
