I was a waitress in High School. It was my first job, well that’s if you don’t count babysitting, or working at that shady café where they never asked me to sign a W4, and my paychecks were made out to “Lydia.” So, waitressing; for confidentiality purposes, we’ll call it the “Restaurant.” It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life up until then. It was the first time that I have been disrespected by adults, those people that I have always been taught to admire and respect. It is also the first time that my behavior or expertise has been rewarded with money. At the "Restaurant," we pooled our tips. This seemed like a good idea at first. All waitresses would have their tips pooled at the end of the night, and we would all make the same amount in tips for the entire day. This was supposed to encourage teamwork between waitresses, which usually happened. Although, we also had to share our tips with the cooks, and this wasn't just a recommendation. Our tips were given out to the cooks so they made the same amount as we did. This also was supposed to encourage a sense of community. Except, whenever one of my customers would want something special or extra with their meal, I would have to beg the cooks to do it for me, or bribe them by doing more dishes, or helping out with cleaning the mats that night. This never seemed fair. I always wanted to scream at the cooks, do you know that I am out there making your tips? Help me out here! Of course I never did, I was young, and the cooks were very intimidating. I mean, they had knives and cauldrons of boiling water for goodness sake.

Besides from working with other waitresses, and sucking up to the cooks so they don't "accidentally" ruin my orders, I often struggled with the customers. Though I was a good waitress, I was young, and so oftentimes customers would take advantage of me. Customers at restaurants primarily deal with the waitress, unless something really awful occurs. So, it is very common that customers blame the waitress for what goes on. I suppose this is part of her job, but really, it never seemed fair. The waitress is merely the one who takes orders and delivers food. If food is late, bad, cold, or too expensive, it is utterly not the waitress's fault. But, of course, this is not how the customers see it. Though waitresses are viewed as incredibly low-end jobs, they are deemed with incredible amounts of work and responsibility. And as Ehrenreich can contend, "about a third of a server's job is "side work" invisible to customers-- sweeping, scrubbing, slicing, refilling, and restocking" [5]. I really think that many customers do not know this, believing selfishly that the server's only duty is to wait on them hand and foot.

Another struggle I really had to deal with was the incredible pain and hurt that my body endured. We suffered from hurt feet, backs, arms, and legs. Things beyond my physicality hurt too. My mind was tired, my feelings were hurt, my pride wounded. The stress on my body and mind took its toll. It was an incredibly tough job, but I learned so much from it, and my mind was opened to many different kinds of women with struggles far beyond my sore feet.