6 Reasons Every Human Being Should Work In A Restaurant At Least Once

Everyone goes out to eat, to have a beer and to socialize, but not everyone can claim to have first-hand experience within the confines of a restaurant.

People without such experience simply lack comprehension of what it's like to deal with other people. From indecisiveness to stupidity, neediness to outlandish behavior, guests dining out in the restaurant industry put on a show every night of the week.

Here are six things you can gain from working in the service industry at some point in your life:

Self-Respect

Self-respect is a cornerstone in life. Your focus on your own self-respect can be challenged nightly in the service industry. The key is to not let anything get you down.

From the guests who talk down to you, belittle and overly demand while disregarding your efforts, to your superiors that insist upon excessive tasks, there will always be people who are trying to make you feel bad about yourself.

Self-respect requires you to have the ability to look past all of it and focus on becoming a stronger individual. You come to terms with the fact that you shouldn't bother listening to the opinions of some people, and the only person who truly knows who you are is you.

Tipping

Every loyal servant deserves the ultimate respect of the patrons. The restaurant industry does not compensate every employee with a living wage.

Bartenders, barbacks, servers, bussers, expos and others are working hard to satisfy the paying public, while depending on financial gratitude as a means for survival.

Guests who make multiple requests of the server and then proceed to leave a low tip deserve to be publicly shamed. If the service received is satisfactory, those served upon must respond with some sort of grateful acknowledgment.

I'll do laps around the restaurant for you and catch my tips in a hat as long as you reward me like your favorite dog for his tricks.

Working at a restaurant teaches you that people who work hard at their jobs deserve to be rewarded. When your friend buys you a beer, you get the next round. Being served is no different: After somebody takes care of you, you take care of him or her.

Patience

If you have worked in a restaurant before, you would probably agree that an impatient guest is the worst.

I can't recall how many times I have had people nag me about how much longer their "well done, no tomato, extra pickle, lettuce on the side, gluten-free bun, substitute a salad for the fries with light dressing" order is going to take, just five minutes after they ordered it.

Sometimes I feel like guests think we take the order slip, type in the order, put it in the microwave from "Back to the Future" and poof! Food's ready. Hate to break your heart, but the angry cook in the back of the house has to actually prepare your meal; so please, give us a couple minutes to appease you.

Also, as much as we love to talk to you and know about your dog's birthday party on a Friday night when the restaurant is packed and we have six tables, when we come up to you, we expect you to be ready to order.

Manners

As a server you learn to appreciate people who have manners. Those are the people you take care of and make your priority because they treat you like a human being and not a hamburger that wasn't cooked long enough.

On the flip side, you also learn to have manners if you didn't have them already. You come to realize that the more courteous and pleasing you are to those around you, the more you will be treated the same.

Dedication

You must be compassionately dedicated to your actual plan in life while working in the service industry. Even if your plan is to become a lead bartender or head chef, mastering any craft requires focus, hard work, passion and a plan to achieving an end goal.

Dedication throughout life is crucial towards prolonged success. Without an unwavering dedication to your goals, you will only decrease the probability of achieving them. Servicing others improves confidence in personal dedication.

Appreciation

After working in a restaurant, you begin to appreciate new aspects of life, such as being off from work before midnight, confidence in approaching strangers in any situation, being treated like a human being, knowing where to get the cheapest drinks, etc.

An appreciation of the small things in life will not only help you determine what you need to do to get to a place where you are content with your surroundings, but also provide you with a deeper understanding of who you are as a person and what you can do to improve yourself.

You learn to appreciate yourself and those who are positive influences in your life so much more.

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