How Waiting Tables Changed My Life
Flexibility, freedom, and financial stability.
I started waiting tables for the first time when I was 20 years old. Right before my 21st birthday.
I worked at a place called “Cheeseburger in Paradise” famously dubbed and modeled after the Jimmy Buffett song. It was the kind of laid back place that would take on someone with no experience and teach them the ropes.
I was still working in my Dad’s auto repair office at the time. 30 hours a week at $10/hr. I quickly learned the value of hard work while simultaenously figuring out that I could make a bundle of money in a short time. Bingo.
After CIP, I moved onto a local Italian restaraunt called Lorenzo’s (probably my favorite serving job I’ve ever had.) It changed my life. My coworkers became my best friends. I ate delicious food. I laughed with my regulars every day. I went from making $60 a day doing boring office work and errands for my dad to making $100+ a shift... sometimes triple that on a good night. There was no going back.
I eventually moved to Nashville to pursue music and throughout the years I waited tables on and off, getting fed up and getting a “real” job a few times, only to find myself back in the hospitality industry. In 2020, I was fortunate enough to become a full-time musician and swore I’d never go back… but two years later, here I am — again.
Cold season hit in Nashville, and I had found myself unhappy and mentally drained from the music industry … so when a local music venue I frequent had a “now hiring servers” sign in the window, I decided to go for it.
In my 10 years of serving, I’ve worked for some great businesses, and some not-so-great. I hit the jackpot this time. My bosses and coworkers are amazing, they work around my music schedule, and the customers are generous and kind. On top of that, I am usually home before midnight (my fellow friends with a Grandma complex know how great that is) and I am almost never unhappy with the money in my hand at the end of my shift.
Here are the ways waiting tables has changed my life:
- Flexibility, flexility, flexibility.
I can literally make my own schedule. If I want to, I can work five days in a row, and take five off. I can pick and choose my shifts, work around my music schedule, and I’m often able to pick up or drop shifts at the last minute. I don’t need “approval” to go on vacation as long as I give them two weeks notice. If I’m sick, they don’t make me feel guilty, they just find another server to cover or do without me. Having my own schedule is extremely important to me, and something a “normal” or corporate job could never offer.
2. I don’t bring my work home with me.
Some nights we might complain and vent to each other, but then we let it go. I clean up, cash out, get in my car and go home with zero stress or baggage. I might be exhausted, or maybe I even had a shitty night, but once it’s over — it’s over.
3. Income is potentially unlimited.
In 2018, I got a job at a popular bar in downtown Nashville. I’ll never forget the day I worked a double and walked with $750 cash in my hand. That job changed my life. I finally experienced what it meant to be financially comfortable — and I never want to lose that again. I still have friends who bartend there and will probably never leave because they often walk from a shift with $1k+ a night.
Although that gig was one of the easier places I’ve worked in terms of how simple the menu and layout was, it was hard on my body. It often included late nights, a lot of manual labor, and I just didn’t love dealing with the drunk and rowdy tourist crowds downtown. But, it still goes to show that anything is really possible in the industry and there are tons of options to try out.
4. You learn a lot about life and yourself.
People love to talk shit about the hospitality industry… yet I’ve met some of the most intelligent, hardworking, and humble people I’ve ever known. Your bartender probably works 50+ hours and is a single Mom with two kids. Your server is probably paying for their college education in cash. I wait tables and also pursue a music career. Some people work for a month straight and then take a month off to travel or pursue other ambitions. Although some chosoe to be “career servers”, most of us are making bank and then putting that money and the rest of our energy into building other careers or sustaining a lifestyle that most other jobs wouldn’t accommodate or support.
Most workers in the hospitality industry are incredibly socially and emotionally intelligent. We’ve met all walks of life, we know the value of hard work, and we’re doing what we WANT to do, not what society or our parents tell us we “should” do. And we’re generally a lot happier too.
You also get to meet a lot of great people along the way. You never know who is going to sit down at your table.
At the end of the day, money is money. Whatever you choose to do to make ends meet is a personal choice. I would rather go to work for 5 hours on a Monday night and walk with $300 cash than sit at a desk and work my life away for someone else. I like having my freedom, my schedule, my independence, and the opportunity to pursue other ambitions without my job hindering me.
I don’t know how much longer I will wait tables, but I do know that it is the best option for me right now. I am financially comfortable, happy, and motivated to create a life that I love living… what more can you really ask for?
