There’s an honesty in handwork, no matter what it is. From working on vehicles all day to teaching young minds, or serving dinner to men who spend their days behind big desks, hard work deserves to be respected.

Being a server is a very common job, whether it’s during high school to make enough cash to go out on Fridays, an in-between job, or something you spend your life doing. Millions of people across the world spend their days serving food to others and trying to make just a little part of their better than it was. Being able to welcome someone into your life and make them feel at home, even if only for the hour they sit at your table is an awesome thing.

Being a server is hard.

Long, weird hours. Scratchy uniforms. Fried food smells. Weird stains. Cracked hands from bleach water. Hair nets everywhere. Those are just a few of the things that go hand in hand with being a server. It’s a job that often comes with few benefits and many issues. It’s hard work, especially depending on your job description.

Some servers do everything from taking and calling the order, bussing the tables, washing all of the dishes, and doing whatever other cleaning has to be done. Others do only part of those, while some may do more. Whether it is a little or a lot though, being a server is demanding work. For hours on end, servers get up and go, and the only people who matter are the customer.

The customer is always right.

The customer is always right, is perhaps one of the most untrue and awful statements made in history. Whoever came up with it must have never been a server. Because until you’ve been screamed at by a middle-aged man over a steak that he ordered the wrong way and then blamed you over, you just do not really understand the way that statement makes a servers skin crawl. Servers are human too. Mistakes happen.

Being upset is one thing, being belligerent and totally dehumanizing another being is another. Customers can be awful at times, even when a server is doing everything in their power to fix an issue. We all have bad days, but being a server means that gets pushed back. It’s a “great day to be at ____”, “I’m doing fine, thank you!”, and other cutesy welcomes and thank you become the norm for the hours you spend at work.

You become part of a family

Being a server also means you usually become a part of a second family. There’s no better way to bond than over slow cooks, horrible customers, and dirty dishes. The people you work with learn the real you, and quickly. They become an important part of your life and can make or break your experience. Customers also become family. For every bad customer, there is a great one who makes it all worth it.

The ones who tell you about their family and pets, the ones who just come in and smile, the old men who tell war stories, the little kids who learn your name, and so many more. They all become a part of your story. They make a hard job easy. Becoming a part of someone's life by simply serving them food is a crazy and beautiful thing. It’s a weird, but awesome connection.

To be a server is to be a champion of the people. It is something that so many could not do, and something many do not do well. It takes hard work, responsibility, and a good sense of humor. Because life is hard, being a server is hard, and the life of a server is even harder. It takes a special sort of person to do it and do it well, so thank you.

To all the servers who try their best even when they feel like they’re falling. To all the servers who get up early and stay late. To the servers with crazy hours and crazier coworkers. To all servers out there doing a job so many don’t appreciate, or truly understand, thank you. You guys are life-changing.