An Ode to Busboys and Waiters

I would like to dedicate my column this week to the hard workers in the restaurant industry, providing us with clean tables, freshly prepared food and endless patience.

As much as I like cooking, I very much enjoy going out to eat. It’s nice being able to get away, have someone ask what I’d like to eat, serve it to me and then clean up the mess afterward.

Sometimes I feel as though we take all of this labor for granted when dining out. For those of us who rely on restaurants the majority of the time, we get accustomed to being waited upon and eventually develop a standard for meals.

This is pretty unfair. A lot of these waiters, waitresses, hosts and bussers are average people who have their own skills as well as flaws. They can’t be perfect.

I mean, occasionally you’ll come across the bad apple and get waited on by someone who is stoned out of his or her mind. Once while eating lunch with my mom, we had a waiter who had pretty obviously taken something either before work or in the back room. Needless to say, we haven’t returned to the restaurant since.

But the majority of restaurant workers are like you and me — average Joes, so to speak. They’ll try their best to be happy and energetic for you. This past weekend, I was waited on by a young lady who was just worn down by her work. She had been working since the early afternoon, and it was already dark when I was seated.

She claimed to have been putting in all of her effort and politeness with every customer.

Unfortunately, customers don’t always recognize when someone is putting in the effort, so the waitress had not been getting the tips she needed.

Fun fact — most people already know this, but most waiters and waitresses don’t get paid minimum wage. They rely on tips in order to ensure they do get the other part of their share.

It’s not that they don’t put in their fair share of labor. Keep in mind the heavy trays with hot food they handle, maintaining balance while trying to avoid burning customers or themselves. They also have to ensure that the entire order goes through to the cook staff.

The bussers don’t have it much easier. These folks clean up after you. Essentially, they act as the maid, or your mother.

They pick up the disgusting napkins you’ve wiped your hands and mouth with. They clear the dishes that you’ve either completely cleared or made a mess with. They wipe down the table to ensure that where you’re seated is sanitary and enjoyable for dinner.
Again, these people are not perfect. From time to time, they’ll miss a spot, much like me when I’m trying to clean my room before my parents visit.

What about the hosts? They don’t have much to do. They seat you, and that’s all, right?

Well, they have to make sure to seat everyone quickly, or else the customers leave, and they lose business. They have to seat customers in a section that makes them happy, while also ensuring that all waitresses have a balanced load of tables. They handle reservations, they handle flack from people who hate waiting, they handle whatever mood you’re in when you walk in the door.

And if you don’t think it’s stressful being a chef, you’re a fool. Even if cooking for large groups of people is your passion, it doesn’t make the job any easier. Think of cooking for people with extreme allergies, or people who just seem to like giving everyone around them a hard time.

So the next time you go out to eat and things are not the way you’d like them to be, take a step back and think of the hard work going into making your meal. The workers are only human, like you. Please respect them the way you’d like to be respected if you held their job.