I believe that everyone, no matter what their future career goals are, should be a server at a restaurant at some point in their lives. 

Serving teaches you a lot.

Patience.

Serving requires a lot of waiting. Waiting for tables to decide on what they want to order, waiting for the kitchen to cook that order in a timely fashion, waiting for tables to leave after they’ve paid so that they can get a new table. There is a lot of waiting and a lot of fake smiling to cover up the panic when an order is messed up and the waiting starts all over again. 

The art of multitasking.

This table needs water – need to bring them that. This table is waiting on their food – need to check on that. This table’s food is up – also need to bring that. This table is waiting on their bill – need to print that. This table is dirty – need to clear and clean it ASAP. My side-work still needs to be done – need to fill the cooler with ice, roll silverware and polish wine glasses. Oh, look at that, a new table. 

Positivity.

No matter what is going on in your personal life – if you hate the people you work with, have a million things to do or you’re dealing with rude tables, if you want to make money, you’re going to polite and courteous. At least when you’re in view of customers. What you do in the back is a different story. 

How to treat people.

Again, if you want to make money, you need to be nice. You may be fake nice to your customers but “fake it until you make it” is real. Eventually, you’ll learn how to be a decent human being if you treat everyone like you’d treat a customer. 

These skills alone, which will transfer to any job you will ever have, makes working in a restaurant worth it. But, the $4.35, or whatever minuscule hourly wage servers earn, can make it seem pointless.

Besides the fact that tipping is the norm in a lot of the world, including the U.S., here are a few more reasons why you should tip your server. 

Servers live on tips. 

Are servers being paid minimum wage? No. As a customer of a restaurant, is this your fault that your server isn’t being paid minimum wage? Of course not. Is it still the norm to tip despite of this? Yes. 

The average rent in Ames in 2015, was $825. At $4.35 an hour, that would mean working 189.65 hours before tax. That’s roughly 47 hours a week. Take into account utilities, food, gas and other costs of living and that makes living off of an hourly wage as a server impossible. 

Serving is hard work.

When you go to a restaurant, chances are, your server isn’t just your server. They are probably waiting on multiple tables who all need different things at the exact same time. They’re also doing things to make sure the restaurant keeps running – cleaning, stocking, doing dishes, rolling silverware, etc. are often the servers responsibilities. Good servers deserve to make more than $4.35 an hour but that’s not happening, so they make up for it from your tips. 

Servers often don’t get the whole tip.

Hosts, bar tenders, baristas, serve assistants, the kitchen staff, pretty much anyone who is working towards the server getting the tip, gets a cut of the tip in most restaurants. Although this portion may be small, it’s still a portion of whatever amount of money is left on every table. Even if you don’t leave a tip, the server still has to tip out everyone else. So, when you don’t leave a tip, you’re actually making the server lose money by serving you. 

Not everything is the servers fault. 

Your steak wasn’t cooked correctly? Not the servers fault. You got sat in a section that you didn’t like? Not the servers fault. Your drink was made incorrectly? Not the servers fault. The music was too loud/the building was too cold/it was too busy? Not the servers fault. 

Your server isn’t giving their full attention to you? Not the servers fault. They have other responsibilities besides just one table. 

I’m talking about servers who are actually doing their job. If you get a server who isn’t doing their job or is rude to you, then it’s okay to not tip as much as you would a good server. But you should still tip. 

How much? That’s up to you. Median tip in 2014, according to Time, was 19.5 percent, and as a server, I can agree that around 20 percent is expected for a table that required a good amount of attention. 

No matter who you are, even if you are a broke college student, remember – if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to go out to eat. 

For more reading on why you should tip your servers, check this out.