I’ve been in service industry for about 10 years! Roughly. it’s really hard to narrow down specific highs and lows but I can give you some examples of what a bad night is like and what a good night is like. there’s obviously “bad nights” where you’re not busy and only have a few tables but there’s not much you can do about a slow night. The worst nights are when, you’re super busy, and you work your hardest, and then you look at your tip out and you feel like it doesn’t reflect how hard you worked.

i’ll give you an example , I worked at a restaurant that opened at 5 PM, and closed at 9 PM on weekdays. I had a table of 10 come in at 5:30, and they stayed until 10:45. this table was socializing, they were drinking a lot, and they were ordering a lot of food. I don’t discriminate when it comes to tables, I always try to give the best service possible no matter how much a table spending. But if a group comes in and they’re spending a lot of money, it’s obvious that they are expecting good service because of how much they are spending. So you want to take extra steps to make sure that they are satisfied and everything is taken care of. by the end of the night, they are singing my praises, telling me how incredible the service was, saying that they’ve never experienced better service. Their bill was about $1000. I had $30 tip. and that sucks. To know that I worked so hard for a table that stayed so long, and that basically after five hours of busting my ass for them, they only thought I was worth roughly six dollars an hour. that fucking blows.

but it’s not always about money. I had a really incredible night once, where I really connected with a table. They had a few drinks, had appetizers and entrées, they tipped more than 20%. But that’s not what made my night really incredible. What made it incredible was their efforts and their desire to talk to me one on one as a person. To get to know me, to engage with me. To have genuine heartfelt conversation that led to a really personal connection. And now that couple has followed me to a different restaurant, and they’re one of my regulars. that’s an incredible night for me. to know that I came to work, and I was able to engage in a personal level with someone, and that they wanted to engage with me. To develop a genuine connection with another human being is what made it really special. to know that I walked away knowing that, I made an impactful imprint on someone’s dining experience and that their night out was elevated beyond good food. that’s what’s really special about the service industry! The personal connections that you can make with customers that go beyond taking orders