The majority of Americans dine at full service restaurants quite frequently. The minority of these people have actually worked behind the scenes at a restaurant.

There is a huge issue with this proportion.

I myself was not a part of that minority for a long time, but for about a year now I have been working as a waitress and man, have my eyes been opened to another world. From what I have gathered, I believe this problem stems from a lack of understanding, and a lack of perspective, so here is my attempt to change that.

For those of you who have worked in the food industry, be prepared for some Amens and some Hallelujahs. And for those of you who haven’t, take out a pen and paper -- it’s time for some notes.

So…

It’s a Friday, it’s about 6 o’clock p.m. and you and your buddy are starving. The lack of calories in your body has already created a storm of anguish, and you are so ready for some dinner! You get to your favorite restaurant, the host seats you and now you're looking over the menu deciding what you'll get. You're so starving that the first option on the menu looks perfect, and now it hits you -- it’s been a total of two whole minutes and you still have no water, and have yet to be greeted. Slowly but absolutely surely, your pissed-off face begins to come out.

Meanwhile...

This restaurant that fits about 200 people is running with only four servers (because two of them decided to call out sick), with one of the four still in the process of training. The computers are going through a manual update, so the orders aren't reaching the kitchen and everyone is working together to try to make things work. The managers are helping out in the kitchen with cooking and servers are taking more tables than they can handle. Everyone is stressed out, but are still expected to be at their 100 percent in order to maintain order and satisfaction.

Back to you...

Your server finally touches your table, seems a little flustered and begins to introduce themselves, but you decide their name doesn't matter because you’re pissed, and in your head its their fault, so without even giving them the privilege of your eye contact, you begin spitting out your dinner order in addition to your drink order. That wasn't very nice, was it? This person is busting their butt, running all over this place and now wants to take care of you, and you can’t be decent enough to look at them, or maybe listen to their name?

Within two minutes your server returns with your drinks, and with your eyes still fixed on your phone, you ask how much longer your dinner will be. Your server lets you know that they will check on it. Your eyes roll backwards into your brain, as you look to your friend and complain about how idiotic this person must be. Please understand that your server has no understanding of time during a rush. They do not know what time you were sat, and are even more confused about how long they've been there.

It has probably been 20 minutes since you ordered, and you finally see your server walking toward you with a completely full, giant tray, a sense of relief immediately begins to restore your unnecessary attitude. You ordered a hamburger cooked medium rare, a side salad and some onion rings. Your friend basically did the exact same. The server begins to pass out the entrees, as you notice your onion rings are missing. You finally decide the server is worthy so you look up and rudely ask where your onion rings are. You saw your server walk toward you with both hands full, can you please relax? I promise you, eight times out of 10 they have your onion rings! It is going to be okay! They cannot always fit every single thing on their trays. So just exhale.

Your server has reassured you that your onion rings are ready, they just did not have a third arm to carry them, and they are on their way back to the kitchen to do so. While you wait, you take a look at all your delicious food, and decide to take a bite out of your burger first. You are ecstatic from the taste, and feel a calming sensation almost spread throughout your body, until you look down at the plate and notice your medium-rare burger looks a lot more medium “to you.” At this point you’ve had it. Your server is finally back with those onion rings, and before they can even ask you how everything is going, your voice raises to max volume as you scream and unload all the day's stress onto this person. “This is ridiculous. I waited 20 minutes for this burger just for them to cook it wrong, and my onion rings came late, and my salad's cold, etc, etc, etc.” You know what’s actually ridiculous? You're yelling at a server for the fact that your meat isn't the perfect shade of pink that you had wished for. Aside from the fact that you are being dramatic, THEY DID NOT COOK THE FOOD. I REPEAT, YOUR SERVER IS NOT THE COOK.

At this point, your server goes and gets the manager from behind the grill to come calm you down. The manager offers you a discount, and some dessert. You still keep up with your 6-year-old attitude for the rest of your time, and leave without leaving any tip.

If you're reading this right now, and feel as if this is an extreme, it's not. This happens, and it happens all the time. Not leaving a tip is a ridiculous thing to do. You were served, someone waited on you, it is SO indecent not to tip. There is so much work and stress that goes into everything your server is doing on their minimum wage salary, not to mention the amount of people who support themselves with the job.

If your server forgot your ranch or your drink refill, remind them -- they're only human. They have a lot of perfect/good days, but believe it or not, just like you, sometimes they wake up on the wrong side of the bed, deal with a breakup, or just don't feel totally themselves. Be patient. There exist real life human beings behind the whole entire process at a restaurant. Humans are an imperfect species, thus there are BOUND to be mistakes sometimes.

Relax.