*applauds* Why do you write so well Katie!

I had to stand out on the street in winter in a thin salwar kameez trying to convince people to come in when I was a waitress at an Indian restaurant. I had horrible employers.

I was a student at the time. I wouldn’t work for them again but if I had to work so I could write my book, I’d be happy working behind a bar or waiting tables.

Because even if the customers don’t get it, I am being of service. And I don’t see that as something to be ashamed of. Why is helping someone something to be ashamed of?

And I know what goes on behind the kitchen doors to the food the snotty customers order. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Great post! Sometimes these things need to be said. Back pre-marriage, the number one turn off would be if my date was rude to the waitstaff. If you’re a jerk to people in public, I don’t want to see you in private.

My BFF waitressed at Red Lobster for years, because for a part time job it payed well(when you figured in tips,) was flexible, and allowed her to keep her kids out of daycare. She’s smart with a degree from an impressive school, but even so had to deal with the “disparaging woman.”

Thanks for writing this post.

I never worked with food, but did work in retail, and have faced the “I can treat you any way I want” attitudes, and still have nightmares. And as a stay-at-home mom of 8, I have experienced people who think they’re so much smarter and more accomplished…Sometimes I’ve felt like I needed to have my college transcripts tattooed on my forehead.

I feel for anyone who has to be cordial and cheerful for hours on end, while running their feet off! I know I couldn’t do it. You have a great and entertaining writing style.

For the most part, waiters and waitresses are treated with respect as it is a career in… Europe. At least that is what I read and experienced.

Honestly in the service industry we meet the, asses and the super nice people.

That said, I hope I never piss off a waiter/waitress. I don’t want extra “fluids” added to my food.

It’s tough to see otherwise-bright people succumb to stereotypes, but that’s the nature of a traditionally blue-collar career. People are heavily invested in the shared fiction that our respective careers define us and place us in a social system of rank. My wife, a professional in a nonprofit organization, says her favorite job was working in a noodle shop: she felt connected to her community, was known around town, and she was feeding people, which she found very fulfilling. As a firefighter, I routinely encounter people who assume I’ve never been to college, lived outside the United States, speak other languages, and read voraciously (if at all), just to name a few examples. Those are the breaks. Maybe, in a funny way, it helps keep us humble, and contributes to our ability to feel compassion for other people, no matter what their apparent social standing.

Yeah, it’s a job, with ups and downs like any other job. I waitressed for seven years or so, on and off. I liked the flexibility, the ease of making friends, and the tips. I left it because of the anti-social hours, mostly, and just a desire to try something new. I work in accounting now, which does seem to get a lot more respect, but who knows why.

The idea that anyone would look down on anyone else (or on themselves) for the job they do is really sad. For one thing, it doesn’t define you, and for another, at least you are working and contributing to society.

Yes! Exactly. What gets me more than strangers being rude its aquaintances. They ask how you are – so you tell them all is going great, you’re being promoted given loads of great training..ect.. – and they just tilt their head slightly, and say “oh…long pause…great” meaning “oh…but really you’re still running food, you haven’t done that… great”.

Makes me want to growl at them. My job is flexible, the people I work with are great and I’m happy.