Detroit's Finest?

So let's talk about my job for a minute. Or maybe a few minutes. For those who don't know, I am currently employed at a Brazilian steakhouse in downtown Detroit. For the sake of my career I have decided to not name any names of anyone at the restaurant as well as refrain from keeping the name of the restaurant off of this blog.

However, this will not stop me from talking about some of the intricacies and sometimes consistent frustrations of being a server in Detroit. Here's the thing. For those of you actively seeking employment I offer one small piece of advice: If you need the approval of others, don't become a server! You will come across so many inconsistencies and scenarios that you could never write them all down.

Imagine if this blog were entirely dedicated to me talking about every single customer I had every night. You would not want to read this. Of course there are customers that are rare exceptions, (Mr. Drooly Man, so named for having drooled on the floor of the salad area while I got him some salad dressing. A.k.a. "That weird guy" by my manager.) But the sheer number of inconsistencies is absolutely remarkable.

Here's how it works and then why frustration begins to develop. Essentially based off of how the table looks, dresses, acts, interacts with you, and speaks, you can pretty much make an accurate estimation of how much they are going to tip you. Mind you, this restaurant has as it's starting price for dinner $39.99 so  20% of a bill of two dinners that's $84.78 with tax is about $16. Of that $16, I get 50% if it's a credit card tip, and about 85% if it's cash. So just off of 2 dinners I can get about ten bucks. Say I get 30 dinners in one night, I could make upwards of over $150. Not bad for a server. Particularly one who has never served in a restaurant before.

However, there are always going to be cases where people stiff you and leave you nothing, or almost next to nothing. It's awful to say, but sometimes when a party walks in, you pray to God that they get sat in someone else's section so that you can get the other table that hopefully won't stiff you because they look "normal."

But even these stereotypes fail as well. Judging a book by its cover has never been 100% accurate. Nor will it ever be. Of course there are some factors that will indicate that they probably won't tip you very well. Some people consider the restaurant to be like a really high end All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet and think, "I don't tip at the buffet. Why would I tip here?" Other people are just jerks. And still others are Germans who don't know that servers only make $2.65 an hour here in the USA.

In Germany, if you give anywhere from 5-10% in a tip, it's considered generous. Extra spending cash that goes straight into their pocket. Not the case here in the US. We need our tips. So when my two Germans tonight end up with a bill of $144 between the two of them and then leave me $150 total. It can get irritating.

Here's why. You do your absolute best to not only offer exceptional service, but to stick out in their mind as an amazing server who has done their best to try and impress you so that you recognize the work that your server is doing and give them a little bit extra on the side.

We are referred to as "The Best Servers in Detroit" Or as I like to think of it, "Detroit's Finest!" Within these two subtle words lies a double entendre, one of my favorite things in the entire world. In the restaurant industry, to walk into a restaurant and say, "Give me Chicago's Finest, New York's Finest, or Detroit's Finest," is a really fancy way of saying, "I'll just have tap water."

Sometimes I feel like we are just tap water though. We do our best to be that bottle of Saratoga Natural Spring or Sparkling Water that costs $5.25 a bottle. But in reality, we are just tap water. Detroit's Finest.

Somehow though, it always seems to even itself out. It's really amazing how one table that should have given you $15 and left you $5 instead will be instantly be followed by a table that should only leave you $8 and give you $18 instead thus the two cancel each other out. Interestingly enough as well, so far I haven't had a night where it hasn't evened out, at least almost fully. I haven't had a night where everyone just screwed me over, or everyone really tipped me very well. It's always about an 18% average. And at a place like this, that's really not that bad.

With one small stipulation. You have to have covers! Covers = Customers. At the end of the night we each ask each other, "How many covers did you have?" Essentially we want to know, did you have more than me, are you going to make more money than me, and if so, when am I going to get my shot at making that much money?

Of course there are going to be those tables that walk in, absolutely love you, and leave you $120 on an $80 check. Those are the outliers though that throw off the whole system. Tuesday this past week was an outlier night. It was really amazing to see every single server walk out at the end of the night knowing they were going to be seeing over $100 on their paycheck the following Friday from that night. That never happens. Lucky tables and having a lot of people walk-in, helps with making this a reality. But yet again, this is the outlier.

Tonight was a much better example of a typical night. Where we have 11 servers on the books and the fact is, in splitting 200 covers between all of you, you are probably going to end up with somewhere around 20 and its just luck of the draw, (Or perhaps how the hostesses are feeling) for how much those covers decide to spend, and then in turn give you as a tip.

But the fact is. You never know. It's always inconsistent. You wanna know how every server story begins, "So one time I had this table..." Every table is their own story and has their own shtick. (Yay Yiddish!) I have hundreds of stories I could tell and I have only been working there for three months. I could tell you about the experience of each of my tables tonight. Tables I thought I gave awful service to, who gave me great tips, and tables I thought absolutely loved me and I did everything perfectly, and they leave me 10%.

It's totally inconsistent. "So Ben, how do you deal with all of this inconsistency without going insane?" Well Reader, thank you for asking. In fact sometimes I feel as if my sanity is totally on the brink of explosion. However, I have been trying to train myself to incorporate my mother's advice into this area of my life. "In all things, have an attitude of gratitude." When a table spends $96 and leaves $100 total. Be grateful that they paid the bill and even left you something. Of course, when you get that triple figure tip, it throws off that whole system and you start to think to yourself, "Wow! Every table is going to be like this!" Even though you know as you are thinking it that will never be the case.

It's entirely up and down. You win some and you lose some. I often think to myself. Would I prefer a salaried position where my pay wasn't determined by my performance with each customer? I honestly don't know. Somehow I think that Office Space sort of living might drive me more insane. However, I also think that the security aspect of it would be awesome. I might make $1,000 in a week. I might make $300 in a week. you just never know. But honestly, that's life. You never know. It has its ups and downs. You win some and you lose some. Here's what I have been learning though.

Some people at this point might say, "It's not about how many you win or lose, it's about the game" Or perhaps they would talk about "the journey" that makes the whole thing worth it. Allow me to say right now, that all of that is false. It's not about how many you win or lose. It's not about the game, or the journey, or whatever you want to call it. It's about knowing that you live for something bigger than the game.

You exist in an arena larger than just the game itself. You were designed by God to play His game and play it His way. It's not about your game or your perception of what the game is. It's His game, and it's going to be played exactly how He wants it to be played. So stop measuring your wins and losses, and start looking at the big picture of glorifying God in every action, thought, word, and deed.

As I drive to work every day, I find this task more and more daunting. Trying to step outside of the realm of the game, while still being a part of the game. (I know the game metaphor has been going on for a while, I'll stop soon.) It's not easy. It's constantly put right in front of you. You just have to be aware that there is more. That God intended us for more. He intended us for perfect glory with Him. And the more we focus on being conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. The more and more we will step out of our own worlds, (games) and begin to live for the Kingdom of God.

I highly recommend (one "C" two "M's") the book A Quest For More by Paul David Tripp. It is these themes exactly of learning to get out of living for our own personal kingdoms and start learning how to live for Christ's Kingdom and His alone, that make this book so invaluable to Christians everywhere. Often we masquerade our own personal selfish kingdoms with Christian talk that makes it appear as if we are living for Christ and are wholly surrendered to Him, when in reality, Christ is but a shallow veil over our otherwise selfish lives and our perception of our needs and desires.

This book has been teaching me a lot and has really opened my mind to see how much more there really is out there in the world that God has intended us for. We were not designed to lead insignificant lives as statistics that go to work from 9-5 every day for 60 years and then die. We are meant for so much more. Surrender to Christ, and begin to see the surpassing fullness of His grace in your life and in the lives of those around you.

I hope and pray Christ blesses you this evening and always. I am going to bed! Ciao!