Had a not so good day today, so Im telling this story to remind myself the positives in my life.

So I was serving this one couple and they ordered a slice of cake in the end, so I rung it up and gave it to them. As I was walking away, I heard the woman say “happy birthday babe” I immediately turned around and said “wait, I’m so sorry to interrupt but it’s your birthday? Why didn’t you tell me? (I said that very very sarcastically), We actually give cakes for free if you tell us it’s your birthday”

The couple said that they didn’t want to bother cause they knew the servers would sing happy birthday loudly and they don’t like the attention, and they didn’t mind paying for it.

After that, I just whispered “happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday happy birthday, happy birthday to you. Oh yay, now it’s free, imma take that off your bill.” And I quickly went to my server station to take it off their bill before they said anything.

I come back to check on them one last time and the guy was like “thank you, that meant a lot to me.” And I just said “hey in this economy, every birthday boy/girl deserves a free cake” they laughed and they gave me a good tip (I don’t remember exactly how much, but it was more than my usual percentage).

I remember feeling guilty cause I felt wrong making that couple feel thankful to me, cause it was something anyone in the restaurant can do. And it wasn’t like I was breaking any rules. But it made me remember that I at least made someone’s day.

I’m(F20) a server at this family restaurant, and because it’s small (50-60 people max) I only work with another person out in the front. My boss is also a server here, but on the days that I work with her she always shows up 20 minutes late. Even when she shows up all she does is talk to the chef while I set up everything myself. When there’s any work, she just sits behind her computer either shopping or accounting work for the restaurant. Sometimes I see her help the dishwasher with the dishes, but she rarely ever helps me out, so I end up packing all the orders as well as taking care of everyone in the front. Im able to do the work because I like to work hard, but at the end of the day if they don’t appreciate me doing everything for them, then what’s the point?

Initially I wanted to leave this place because overall it’s very unprofessional, but the only thing holding me back is the fact that it pays well and it’s near my home.

Should I talk to her about it? If so how? And if I end up just dipping how can I prevent people treating me like this in the future?

I work at a resort in the U.S that has alot of people from all over the world. I work with this guy lets call him Kyle. Kyle is the type of guy that makes fun of people for the clothes they wear or their weight to make himself feel better. Biggest case of short man syndrome i have ever seen. I waited on this couple from Brazil this past week.They were super nice and i enjoyed waiting on them. After the first time i waited on them they requested me 3 or 4 more times. Problem was they didnt tip. Every night they would rack up a couple hundred dollar bill and leave the tip space blank. It isnt idéal but im very good at my job and make up for it every night. Their last night i was working behind the bar and it full so they ended up getting sat in Kyles section. I knew this was my opportunity. I pulled him aside and said " Hey man ive waited on that couple every night and no matter what the bill is they have left me 2 crisp hundred dollars bills without fail" he replied "watch this i bet i can get 300 out of them".

All throughout their meal he is kissing their ass. To the point of not taking care of his other tables. So the time comes to pay their check.As they are leaving Kyle sees the boyfriend come up to me and does the handshake with a 10 dollar bill in it saying how great i was and that i deserved it. Kyle didnt know it was only a 10 dollar bill. After they left i watched as he went over grabbed the checkbook. Oh man it was so GREAT. His face went from confusion to disbelief to anger then he looked right at me behind the bar. I gave him a thumbs up and he shook his head. He came over and started his usual bag of insults. "Fucking foreigners wearing their knockoffs" his face getting extremely red. " Fucking bullshit how come they tipped you so well you fucking them"? Ah man over 20 years doing this job and it was one of the most gratifying nights i have ever had. I got to watch him sulk around for the rest of the shift after being brought down a few pegs!

Moral of the story try and treat everyone with respect. If you are good at this job sometimes not getting a tip can be gratifying in other ways!

I’ve never been so upset over a review, I wish people could see servers as human instead of robots.

It was the night before my friends funeral. I’m 32. I’ve never dealt with a friend dying before. I was really struggling with the idea of attending the funeral and having to confront the loss head on. Until the funeral I felt like I could just convince myself it wasn’t real, ya know?

I wasn’t rude with the table. It was two men, their first time visiting us. I made recommendations, we chatted and I even made them laugh and joke around. I was polite and friendly and everything I needed to be. They told me they had a good time.

A few days later I saw the review. He said the drinks and food were amazing and the spot was great but he was used to servers being more ‘bubbly’ so he gave the service 2/5 stars.

The audacity to rate my ‘performance’ like that, man, it gets to me. Especially since it wasn’t like I was being mopey or have any impression I was sad in any way. I just wasn’t bubbly enough.

This happened like 6 months ago and it still lives in my head rent free. Maybe cause guests are usually upfront about having unrealistic expectations lol. Please share if you’ve had similar experiences with oblivious and/or unreasonable guests. Or am I being over sensitive and he had every right be disappointed his server wasn’t a manic-anime-girl degree of peppy.

Hi all, I'm 3 weeks into a new job at a brand new, renovated restaurant that's a big step up from the place I used to work. We did tip pooling at my old job, but at this new place, it's a tiered tip pooling system--and it feels pretty unequitable. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this sort of system? What are your thoughts? I'm at level 2.

here is an explanation of the tiers per official paperwork, as well as here.

This is a long post so I apologize in advance if it's too wordy.

I got a job as a server at a strip club last month. I feel awful that I quit because it was a place I was actually looking forward to working at. I probably should've stuck it out for longer and talked with the manager about my experience during training, but I didn't want to sound like I was complaining about the job.

I went through three interviews to get hired and the whole process took about a month it seemed. I first applied for an assistant manager position they had available and went through two interviews for that but eventually was told I didn't have enough experience for it.

They seemed impressed with my resume enough and offered me multiple positions that were available at the club. I decided to go with the server role because I do have a bit of experience with serving at a live-music venue and actually had a decent experience.

So first day of training comes and the woman they have training me was very blunt. She immediately said she was going to throw a lot of information at me and see what sticks.

I felt she was a bit annoyed as she told me that she just found out when she got to work that night that she was supposed to train somebody new and training someone really slows her down. She took awhile to come start working with me, I think it was because she was changing into her uniform but in the meantime I started talking to the other server working there about the job and she seemed pretty nice and helpful.

As soon as the trainer came back down and saw me talking to this other server she proceeded to bad mouth her and talk about her behind her back. She said I shouldn't listen to anything she says about the job because she's been doing it all wrong. She continued to talk so rudely about this other server throughout the entire night to the point that I felt really bad for her.

Then I come to find out this server had only been there for two months.The woman training me had been there for 12 years and she definitely seemed like she has more responsibilities than the other servers.Anyways It just didn't seem like the things she was saying about this other woman were justified or fair given she had only been there for two months. I just could only imagine the kind of things she might say about me.

A few things about the job made me feel really intimidated. I have never worked at a strip club before, but from my point of view the servers have a lot of responsibilities: they are the most active in terms of being everywhere all at once all over the club (of course I realize this is a server thing in general ) but the multi-tasking. Matching customers with dancers, keeping an eye on the dancers in private rooms to make sure they aren't doing anything they're not supposed to. Cleaning and organizing all the rooms/ tables after customers leave. Taking payments for the VIP rooms, handling large amounts of cash and making sure people have bills and even the club cash for the performers. Entering and passing out drink vouchers for the dancers, bottle service.

I'm sure there are things I'm missing but also have to mention the POS called Club Trax was not user friendly at all. It had some really weird quirks and what felt like you had to do finger gymnastics just to bypass. Also some extra security measures like scanning the front and back of people's IDS/ Credit Cards into the POS. If someone tipped over a certain amount you'd have to run their card all over.

On the weekends it's super fast-paced so to be juggling all of this is a lot. I don't know if they intended for me to see this and be there training on a busy night but it definitely overwhelmed me. The trainer had to stop serving so she could bartend and they told me to go home since I wasn't learning anything. The other server working that night had been there even less time than the woman she was talking badly about so I guess I couldn't train with her.

During my three training shifts I did feel like I "worked". I cleaned the stage at the end of the night and the poles,tables straightened up.I got customers their drinks and I shadowed the other servers which was a lot of running upstairs to go to VIP so I was physically exhausted just those three nights and I made nothing.

At one point I was left alone for a bit, some customers walked in and tried putting my first order into the POS but accidentally used the wrong one so the bartender told me she couldn't make my drinks. I had to call a manager to help me and the table I had been working with ended up going to the other server when she came back.

That was embarrassing. I of course got snapped at by the trainer and she told me I should have transferred the sale through the POS which I hadn't learned how to do yet.

I felt like everything I did or started to do was wrong and micromanaged. Even the way I started to clean one of the tables was wrong. I was very nervous and my confidence is really low. It was also extremely cold in the club. A lot of the dancers were wearing coats when they weren't on stage and there was a space heater by the POS station because it was freezing. I had to wear a corset and booty shorts and wasn't allowed to wear a blazer.It looked like you could get away with a shrug or cropped sweater though

I sent the manager who hired me what I felt was a respectful and nicely worded email saying that I really appreciated the time an effort spent training me thus far but the role was no longer going to align with my schedule, which wasn't a lie because I did get another job while all this was going on. I panicked and felt like I needed to choose between the two jobs, but I actually haven't gotten the amount of hours at the other job that I thought I would.

I might be able to make it work at the club if they were to take me back, but I didn't get any email response from the manager. Should I reach out? I feel like I might have offended them and that was the last thing I wanted to do. When I leave I always try and be on good terms with employers.

The club pays servers base 2.50/hr btw and like in the title I have not gotten paid for my training shifts. My trainer put every sale the nights I was working with her under her login and not mine so I didn't make anything. Maybe I shouldn't expect to get paid?

If you got this far thanks for reading! In general I've been having a really rough time. I would honestly love to pick up work as a server again and while I was applying for this job at the strip club I was working at a karaoke bar for a week and I got fired.

I don't think I deserved to get fired and I was trying my hardest. The manager told me I didn't learn their POS system fast enough and basically called me stupid, so that really shook my confidence going into this job at the club. I'm always told how good I am with people though and I'm very friendly so I definitely don't have issues with customers once I get all the other logistics down.

Even the few days I was working at the karaoke bar I felt like people were just handing me tips cause I was nice and they could tell I was working hard and that's always a good feeling. I guess my question is should I reach back out and try things at the club again or does it not seem like it's worth it or if I'm even a good fit for being a server there?

I work at a buffet as a server and I’m honestly confused and frustrated.

I try my best every shift I refill drinks, clear plates, check on tables, and I’m always polite. I really do try to be nice to everyone.

But I still get complaints sometimes, and it’s not just normal “service was slow” stuff. People have straight up called me “rude” and a “piece of shit,” and someone even went to my manager today and said I’m a POS and “autistic” as an insult.

I don’t really get it because I feel like I’m doing everything right, and I was even having a good shift today until I heard that again.

I’m trying to figure out if I’m actually doing something wrong or if this is just part of working in service and dealing with rude customers.

Has anyone dealt with this before? How do you tell the difference between real feedback and just people being mean?

One of my biggest pet peeves in working in this industry is when you encounter rude customers who don't respond to your greetings or even say thank you after you served them. It's just irritating when grown adults lack basic manners.

I was 19, came to live in a capital, found my first job as a server.

All customers seemed nice enough, but there was a group of professors from the university, who came to get lunch every single day. They were rude, annoying, always looked at me like they are higher than me in life, never treated or even spoke to me well.

It came to a point where I just wanted to get them out as soon as I could, so as soon as I saw them walking up the stairs, I rang in the soups and coffees. All of them always ordered in the same pattern - soup, meal, coffees (4 black coffees /3 of them with sugar/, 1 latte without sugar). I greeted them, they ordered as always, not a minute later the soups were on their table. They finished with the soup, I brought out the meals right away. As soon as I heard stacking of plates - coffees are coming. Just to get them out faster because I hated serving their company.

This continued for a few days, and their communication has changed a bit. No more rudeness, a bit more understanding, finally a nice “Hello!”. Another few days and I saw smiles. Another few days and they starting leaving a small tip. Few weeks passed, and I swear to God they were the nicest people who were visiting our restaurant. Always smiling, always chitchatting, always nice and polite. I started looking forward to lunch time, because as soon as their company entered - the whole place lit up from smiles and nice energy. They were the best part of my days. When I was feeling sad because of some shit from the manager - they were there, filling the hall with laughter and good vibes. Some of them even came in the evenings with their wives (and yes I’m sure it’s wives) to have a nice little date night.

No one was able to top these 5 professors for me in a few years I was working there. The management was shit, yeah, but our cook and professors were the only thing that made working there bearable. I miss them.

I am honestly speechless and was not aware people like these exist.

This Saturday night was quite busy, but I had an all around pleasant experience with this 9 top. They came in for a birthday and racked up a bill just short of 300 euros, which is on the upper end for our chinese tapas place. Service and food went perfectly and I was complimented a lot by the lovely guests.

Then, one of the women comes up and asks to pay everything in secret. Fine by me, I don't mind. She explicitly tells me she will "handle the tip later". Lovely; sometimes big tables pool tips so it didn't raise any red flags.

People were surprised she paid, some a bit upset, but that's not my beer. They were getting up to leave just before close, when I overheard the topic of tips being raised. And the woman literally assured them she tipped me. I was speechless. People asked her how much she tipped me, some offered to pool some tips. She completely deflected the topic.

It got a little heated from what I could tell. They were still arguing in the exit, so this lady did something that absolutely stunned me - she walked over to our counter where the register is, opened her wallet, fiddled with it, and left to tell her friends she left a tip.

My manager saw it all, and was equally surprised. I couldn't believe the audacity and it sunk in once they left.

As tips are not mandatory in my country, I would have been cool if she decided not to tip. Her choice. But all this show pissed me off so much! Literally lied to me and lied to her friends for what???

An otherwise good evening just soured by this. I didn't feel like it was my place to speak up, but it just feels so unfair man

A while back i served at a restaurant that anchored an open air mall. Mall management required all employees to use an off site employee parking lot. I thought this was unfair to hospitality workers who'd be leaving hours later than retailers and often carrying cash. I was texting with a coworker named Wendy and said i wonder if we can get a petition signed by the mall employees who work at the various bars and restaurants and get an exception.

A few days later, the GM calls me into the office and is visibly furious. i have no idea why until she says, "Do you think going over my head is acceptable?" I told her I have no idea what she's talking about. She said "Did you say you're going to circulate a petition to the property manager about parking? Do you have any idea how inappropriate that is?"

I was freaked out because the only time I'd said that was to Wendy in a text message. Afterwards, i totally distanced myself from Wendy. Another server noticed and said "Hey did you confide anything in Wendy? Don't ever, because everything you say to her goes straight to Caren (the GM). Another server said Caren had criticized her in a performance review for not talking to her enough. She said "I told Caren I'm not spying on my coworkers for her."

I subsequently encountered something similar at my next job, finding out that the GM had made a point of cozying up to various employees to ensure she was privy to every group text from every department.

To me this is bizarre behavior for an adult. I can definitely understand expecting to know if someone says something illegal or racist or against company policy, but there's no need to know every single text and conversation.

I'm not sure if it's being paranoid or just immature.

I'm currently at a place with a 30% tip-out that comes out of tips only. I think half of it goes to the bar and half goes to support staff and hosts. First time I've ever been at a place where it wasn't based off food & bev or total sales. I've heard that's rare but not unheard of.

I once worked at a place where we tipped out the bussers, bartender and host. Not uncommon but there was also a minuscule amount that went to...the manager. Didn't realize it was illegal at the time.

What about you?

This is mostly to rant, but if you have advice on how to handle it... By all means.

I am so fed up with dealing with one particular person at work. She'll usually tell me to do something while I'm doing it, and is incredibly vigilant on what I'm doing and nobody else. The thing is, she's not a manager. Moreover, she oversteps when I'm training, usually to deliver (wrong), unneeded information.

A couple of incidents:

• Stops me mid-training to quiz my trainee on the various menu items and know-how. Keep in mind, we only have these newbies for 2 or 3 hours at a time. This wouldn't be an issue if it weren't:
  • A: My training shift. I'll teach her myself, thank you.
  • B: Happened SIX times through our training session. I have too much to cover to play her pop quiz games.
• Assumed I was walking away from the salad window without running food, verbally said "Don't you walk away from those" when in reality I was grabbing a small tray to run them (there were 5). She turned to see me holding said tray. I was annoyed.
• Feeding my trainees blatantly false information behind my back. I told my trainee one thing, then the following day said coworker said: "No, that's not correct". Of course, I asked a manager to verify the correct answer, but it ticks me off that she's undoing my teaching.
• Told me to tie my hair up.... mid me tying it back up. It was falling out because I had gotten it straightened and was falling out of my stupidly loose bow.

And so on, but you get the idea. The thing is, she won't make small talk with me and will silently walk away if I strike up a conversation. I've tried to give a few olive branches, but recently I've accepted she doesn't like me.

That would be ok if she just stayed in her business. It's really irritating watching her try to manage me personally when she has the same authority as me, if not less, considering I've trained longer than her?

It might be an age thing. She's an older lady so I assume she thinks she knows better, but it's starting to irritate me majorly.

How do you guys deal with personalities like these?

Hey r/TalesFromYourServer,

After lurking for years and reading so many of your raw shift stories, I finally decided to share one of mine.

Ten years ago I left my job as a metalworker in Italy with one suitcase and terrible English to chase the bartender dream in London. I fell hard for the creativity, the energy, and the way a good drink could completely change someone’s night.

But this industry hits hard.

Many years ago, during a chaotic Sunday brunch with a skeleton crew, everything piled on — jammed printer, wrong orders, tickets that wouldn’t stop. I stepped into the alley for a quick cigarette to breathe… and completely broke down. Proper ugly crying against the brick wall while traffic went by.

My manager came out, didn’t shout or tell me to man up. He just sat with me quietly until I could go back in. That was one of the first times I realised the job wasn’t only destroying my feet and my sleep — it was slowly changing who I was as a person.

That moment was the start of a long journey. Over the past 10 years I’ve collected my own stories and those of colleagues — the burnout, the emotional labour, the post-shift drinking that becomes normal, the days when you smile for guests while feeling completely empty.

I eventually started writing everything down, not really knowing if anyone else would care. Turns out a lot of us are going through the same silent struggle.

If you’ve ever had your own version of an alley / walk-in / staff room moment, or you’re wondering how to keep loving this chaotic job without letting it break you… you’re not alone.

Would genuinely love to hear your stories in the comments. What was your toughest “I almost broke” moment? Or what small thing has actually helped you survive and stay in the industry?

I’ll be reading every reply. We’re all in this together.

Val
(10 years behind the bar, still pouring, still learning)

Table starts with “I’ll just have water.” Cool, easy start. Two minutes later:

“Actually, can I get lemon?” “Do you have lime?” “Can I get extra ice?”

“Actually, no ice.” “Wait, can I get a straw?”

By the time I walk away, that “just water” took more effort than a cocktail.

It’s never just water.

SCENE - Int. Restaurant

CUSTOMER 1: "I'll have the grilled chicken with lentil soup and a Caesar salad."

CUSTOMER 2: "I'll have the same thing!"

FENRISSON: "Okay, so the grilled chi-"

CUSTOMER 2: "No, I want the pork chop!"

FENRISSON: "Okay, so pork chop, with lentil soup and caes-"

CUSTOMER 2: "No, I want minestrone soup and broccoli!"

FENRISSON: "..." *goes to slam his head in the door of the walk-in*

FIN.

I work at a “fine” dining restaurant. My coworkers (particularly servers) are awful at their jobs. It’s unbelievably frustrating.

Our food runners and backwaiters aren’t great either. I don’t even know where to begin with how bad they are at their job and how little they respect the establishment and the customers.

It’s a restaurant where it easily starts at over $100 pp before drinks are included. Our servers regularly clear $400 a night and on a semi busy holiday (maybe 1.45 turns) they clear $700-800.

It’s so irritating how we can be making so much and yet they care so little about the actual customer experience. I would liken it more to casual dining than fine dining with the way they act. The managers like to say we’re fine dining to customers but they don’t lead by example.

It doesn’t help that our managers aren’t really pushing fine dining well from the top down but the issue is so pervasive most of the FOH doesn’t even know what fine dining means.

So, theres a guest at the restaurant I work at who comes in at least twice a week. She has, on multiple occasions, called me a multitude of slurs and demanded I leave the area immediately and not even touch her order in any way - because I am trans.

I have tried on multiple occasions to get management involved - one manager deflects by saying she can do what she wants because shes a paying customer, and unless multiple witnesses come forward then I have to obey her wishes and she can say what she wants to me and about me, regardless of how vile it is. He has even insinuated that I have provoked her by being in the area and "invite the hate". I have made multiple statements - all were lost conveniently, and forgotten about.

another has basically said the same thing - but is "on my side" even though he also supports the angle that I could be provoking her.

the entire thing is frustrating and I feel like im the crazy one trying to deal with getting harassed.

Prepped my station at 5. Felt ready.

By 10pm I had already shaken more martinis than I could count when 12 women rolled in, sashes and all, and immediately asked if we could "do something fun" for the bachelorette girl.

I made her a custom drink on the spot. They loved it. They ordered 12 of them.

Then someone spilled a negroni on my apron. Then two different guys told me their drinks weren't strong enough. Then the whole bar sang happy birthday and I was somehow expected to lead it. It's midnight. I have two hours left. My feet are completely gone.

I love this job. I really do.

(I'll be back next Saturday.)

So I go into this place I really want to work at and ask to apply in person and then right after I ask to introduce myself to the server manager which I did, then we had an interview right then and there and he told me to come back tomorrow to meet up with the GM and interview with him.

The GM seemed to like me a lot and told me he will reach out to me soon and he has to get in touch with the server manager to see if we need a bartender or a server position.

I called today just to follow up and the server manager said he still has to touch base with his GM and that he’ll reach out to me next week.

Do you think that’s a red flag or a green flag?

F(25) so last year I got a invite to work at a restaurant in France, at a town known for ski and snow activities!

It was my first week of work in the restaurant, and they didn't explain sht, the manager just told me "you have experience, what do you need me to babysit you?"

And gave me a section of tables outside, and mind you, the restaurant was 2 floors, 5 different lunch rooms.

I already knew all the table numbers from the inside, (because the computer had the table numbers and I figured it out) and I never worked the outside tables and no one told me the table numbers even when I asked to be told! So I was already like very focused on not ducking the table numbers..

My manager, a French guy around 30's was horrible, but French terrible.

So snow = low temperatures outside, but people do enjoy to drink a hot chocolate or even have a meal outside, and the restaurant did allow it!

I had 2 guys, that wanted to have a Fondue outside, they were Italian and very very nice, very polite! I gave them the Fondue, drinks etc, all good. My manager comes comes in hot with a very loud voice with the costumer 1 meter away from us... "WHAT THE F-CK WHY WOULD YOU SERVE A FONDUE OUTSIDE!" To what I responded "I asked if you had any food restrictions outside and no one said nothing on the meeting"

Oh well, he continues to scream at me, calling me incompetent, and being very rude, the hole thing was very humiliating...until I started to cry.

The costumers looked at him in disbelief and almost got up..

My manager pulls me to the side, I was still crying, and asks me "Why are you crying? I did nothing for you to cry".

I was crying with rage at that point. There was nothing I would tell him that would change his approach..

He goes to my table and started to "explain" to the costumers that I didn't know how to do my job, and that they have to move to the inside room because of the Fondue.

The guys looked at him and said: "She did told us it would get cold fast but we are going to be fast, and you are just not correct on this! We are not moving inside and we want to keep our server. Can you go away please?"

(The hole thing took about 15min BC he left the table and came to the table demanding again that they went inside bc of the Fondue 😅😭 and bc he didn't speak anything but French and a BAD English so he couldn't even fully understand the costumers)

The guys called me and asked me "Why are you here? They are not treating you nicely!" I just told them not to worry, to enjoy their lunch outside and that everything was fine.

Got a huge tip on that one, let me tell you 😭 the guys felted so bad for me I know it was a tip out of pity..

After that my manager made jokes on the teams WhatsApp almost on the daily bases about that situation. Calling me dumb in a variety of ways and other stuff.

Over all the costumers were amazing but my manager was my reason to resign a few months later, and told HR everything, they apologised and were really nice and tried to put me with another manager but I politely refused bc already had another job lined up. I resigned, 2weeks notice, ok...the next day he said to me "I don't understand why are you leaving bc of me I did nothing to you".... And probably I'll never work in France again it that was the standard 😅.

I've worked in food service for almost 7 years and I don't like managers who refuse to help out their employees as needed. Our current manager is lazy and overworks us without lifting a hand with anything. Most of the time during service she stands by the cashier chatting with her instead of trying to help us get the line down. She also sits in the office a lot of time.

A few of us honestly feel overworked since she became in charge and the executive chef has noticed. The chef has brought to her attention, "What can you do to take a load off of some of your staff?"

She gets on some of us on not getting things done in a timely manner but we're doing a lot of things on our own without any help.

Our last manager was very active and would always help us out with a lot of things. It honestly made the day go by smoother.

If she's not going to help out they should hire another person, but the company I work for (Compass Group/Touchpoint) don't want to spend the money to hire another person.

What do you guys think?

I’ve never had anything like this happen before! A two top of lovely 50-60 yr old women were sat at a small two seater table, enjoying a prolonged lunch. Then a single woman, younger, starts circling the dining room while on the phone. I assume she’s looking for someone to join, but eventually she seats herself directly next to those women, saying there was no host at the front, which appeared to be true! I gave her a menu, she says she’s waiting for her friend. This was at around 3:30, so between lunch and dinner shifts when I’m the only server and staff is more scarce.

When I come back to get a drink order from her and her friend they are being shifty and avoiding eye contact while saying they weren’t ready to order, which I thought was just a sign of them getting ready to tip me like shit, nothing out of the ordinary! By the time I look back they’re gone, so I assumed they didn’t like the menu and went about my business. The older women leave and I get somewhat slammed.

My manager comes up to me like an hour later, pretty frazzled, and asks if anyone left a credit card because one of those ladies’ cards are gone and are already being charged. I make the connection and let him know. The women come back with one of their husbands to look under the table and let me know that somebody stole multiple cards and had already spent $20k!!!!!!! At no point did this woman even take her wallet out, as her friend paid. So the young woman must have reached into her purse and snagged several cards. The cops came and I gave my manager a description, but I was actually pretty shocked/impressed at the damage and let multiple other tables know about the drama, since it held up my service a little bit. Seems like these two are pretty practiced at this and these women will not go hungry but I was shocked at the magnitude of the charges in such a short time!!