Man fuck that. I work some kitchen shifts also. I have no idea how much money I am going to make next week on my serving shifts. No idea. I can go into work and make ZERO DOLLARS. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zed. I can guess I can pray. I can also work a 14 hour double and go home with 50 bucks.
The only reason I can work the prime shifts is because I have busted my ass to earn it. I have to know the entire restaurant. Every glass. Every dish. Every drink...wine...beer...alcohol. Every entree...appetizer...what can be substituted what can't. I need to know my actual job...proper service. Then there is all the bullshit.
Yeah kitchens suck. They are hot cramped dingy areas to work. Most of these cats see the floor and they think its lala land. Workin with pretty women...drinks flowin....money falling from the sky. Shit I work hard and if people wanna bitch cause they are being nosey when I'm talking to my co-workers in one of the few places we can talk...fuck them.
From the walkin to the front door I walk constantly...small loops..large loops..medium ones...I am moving. Not just in my station...or the kitchen...I cover the whole bitch. I deliver food sometimes served on plates whose temperature is between holy hell and actual hell.
I have to build relationships with people in minutes. The majority of my job is making educated guesses. There are no recipes. No exact temperatures. No fixing. No refiring...just plain ol' feet to the fire...unless it's slow. Then it's just sad.
I try my best but I do fuck up...you know who covers my mistakes? Me. I face the customer. I eat crow. Who covers for the kitchen? Me again. Cause chef went to smoke or drank to many shots and the food isnt up to par...that cost me money. If he kitchen fucks up I get fucked...not the kitchen...they get their money.
All that being said. I totally agree that people shouldn't talk about money...but sometimes ya gotta talk about a bad table...or run of tables...or a bad night...to servers a night is mostly judged on how much money is made. So if we are bitchin about tips it means our night is sucking...(I am one who as a rule doesn't complain about tips...)
I dont bitch when I hear the cooks talking about the shitty pans or how the knives were dull or why chef is an asshole because they never have enough rags...or Sunday they have to clean. Thats how they vent...well like I said the foh bitches about tips...
Fucked up shit the people in restaurants who make hourly wages don't think about when they bitch about server income:
*Unemployment - good luck proving how much you make. *Mortgage - same deal. *School loans - you guessed it...ditto. *Welfare - 300 in one night isn't shit if you two kids in college. *Child support - how much do you make again. *Health care - even obamacare screws the foh. *Fuck it I'll make it simple anything involving a bank.