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I worked in a diner prior to and through college, and would take home $800 to $1000 a week. On average, my monthly would come in around $4000 with tips and that

I worked in a diner prior to and through college, and would take home $800 to $1000 a week. On average, my monthly would come in around $4000 with tips and that little salary you get. A few times a year, I'd make $1000 cash in a single night, such as mothers' day, christmas eve, thanksgiving eve, ...the party holidays and when special events came to town and the store was slammed with customers. It was, what we called, blood money - because you were busier than ever, yet it was great money. Sometimes I would complain, regardless of how good the money was. Nevertheless, I made almost 60k/year at 19 years old with no experience or marketable skills other than work ethic, a smile, and attention to detail. While college was fun, I didn't make partying or my social life the most important thing. Earning, saving, and improving myself was the goal. One could say I had my priorities straight - a lesson I learned from my parents, but one that seems so obvious two decades later that I shouldn't have needed my parents to tell me. Whereas my friends at the time were still living at home, still begging mom and dad (and me) for money, and taking the bus or begging for rides. Just about anyone can work in a restaurant if they are physically capable, and unless you have a physical or mental disability, you are capable. Perhaps unwilling, lazy, or a bit of a crybaby; either way, unless you're missing a limb, you can work hard in a restaurant, construction, landscaping, and other jobs and make double (or more) the money you earn at McDonalds with the exact same skill set. This hasn't really changed. You can still get server jobs at great restaurants and make decent money with little marketable skills. Of course the point is to not make a career out of it unless your goal is to own a restaurant one day. Everyone wants to make $1MM a year and wants to live in a 7-figure house as soon as they finish high school; and some demand that taxpayers carry them to the promise land of "equity" ...when we all have the same capabilities, opportunities, challenges despite varying attributes.

edmundsauto 5y ago
The only thing I want to point out is that many restaurant servers don't pay taxes on their tip earnings, which make up the bulk of wages. How much of the satisfaction derived from your pay rate is due to receiving tax free wages illegally? Note: I'm not sure how I feel about the morality of this, just the legality. Most restaurant workers I know, from before 2015, were happy only because of the extra space given by limited taxation on their wages, aka tax fraud. (I have heard the IRS has since cracked down but cannot confirm)
- dannyphantom 5y ago
  > many servers don't pay taxes on their tip earnings This was certainly not the case as recent as 2015-2017 when I was working in restaurants. Most of my coworkers would complain around tax time that we would owe as much as $2000+. Working both in a corporate restaurant and smaller family operated one at the same time, the staff was made to essentially over report your nightly earnings as we had to pay out 20% to the bartenders, kitchen staff.
  - edmundsauto 5y ago
    Right, that aligns with the anecdotes I heard about tipping and taxes. I inferred from OPs post they were working in the Wild West of tips not being consistently or accurately taxed.
steverb 5y ago
So you're saying that 20 years ago you were making what is equivalent to $94,000 today (adjusted for inflation) working in a diner. According to this US News and World Reports site ( https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/waiter-and-waitress/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/waiter-and-waitre... ) the best paid 25% of waiters made $30,000. I think you might be misremembering how much you made, or perhaps you weren't working in a run of the mill diner, because making 60K per year as a waiter 20 years ago puts you far on the right of that bell curve even without adjusting for inflation.
blaser-waffle 5y ago
Where was this diner? I bartended in high-end bars in the DC area -- some of the richest counties in America -- and pulled ~50-55k. These were VIPs with bottle serivce, etc. Big nights like New Year's Eve could see me walking out with 1000 bucks or more, but that was rare. Managers pulled 80-100k, but their per hour was probably terrible since they were constantly working. > Just about anyone can work in a restaurant if they are physically capable, and unless you have a physical or mental disability, you are capable. Perhaps unwilling, lazy, or a bit of a crybaby; either way, unless you're missing a limb, you can work hard in a restaurant, construction, landscaping, and other jobs and make double (or more) the money you earn at McDonalds with the exact same skill set. Just quote PragerU directly, killer. Restaurant work is hard, and if you're making 4000 bucks a month in tips then you're hustling hard all day. Might be doable for a 19 year old, but there is no way I could do that kind of work now. > This hasn't really changed. You can still get server jobs at great restaurants and make decent money with little marketable skills. Of course the point is to not make a career out of it unless your goal is to own a restaurant one day. Bollocks. Maybe in busy joints around big cities, but if you're working at Applebee's in Nowhereville then you're going to struggle.

edmundsauto 5y ago

The only thing I want to point out is that many restaurant servers don't pay taxes on their tip earnings, which make up the bulk of wages. How much of the satisfaction derived from your pay rate is due to receiving tax free wages illegally? Note: I'm not sure how I feel about the morality of this, just the legality. Most restaurant workers I know, from before 2015, were happy only because of the extra space given by limited taxation on their wages, aka tax fraud. (I have heard the IRS has since cracked down but cannot confirm)

dannyphantom 5y ago
> many servers don't pay taxes on their tip earnings This was certainly not the case as recent as 2015-2017 when I was working in restaurants. Most of my coworkers would complain around tax time that we would owe as much as $2000+. Working both in a corporate restaurant and smaller family operated one at the same time, the staff was made to essentially over report your nightly earnings as we had to pay out 20% to the bartenders, kitchen staff.
- edmundsauto 5y ago
  Right, that aligns with the anecdotes I heard about tipping and taxes. I inferred from OPs post they were working in the Wild West of tips not being consistently or accurately taxed.

steverb 5y ago

So you're saying that 20 years ago you were making what is equivalent to $94,000 today (adjusted for inflation) working in a diner. According to this US News and World Reports site ( https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/waiter-and-waitress/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/waiter-and-waitre... ) the best paid 25% of waiters made $30,000. I think you might be misremembering how much you made, or perhaps you weren't working in a run of the mill diner, because making 60K per year as a waiter 20 years ago puts you far on the right of that bell curve even without adjusting for inflation.

blaser-waffle 5y ago

Where was this diner? I bartended in high-end bars in the DC area -- some of the richest counties in America -- and pulled ~50-55k. These were VIPs with bottle serivce, etc. Big nights like New Year's Eve could see me walking out with 1000 bucks or more, but that was rare. Managers pulled 80-100k, but their per hour was probably terrible since they were constantly working. > Just about anyone can work in a restaurant if they are physically capable, and unless you have a physical or mental disability, you are capable. Perhaps unwilling, lazy, or a bit of a crybaby; either way, unless you're missing a limb, you can work hard in a restaurant, construction, landscaping, and other jobs and make double (or more) the money you earn at McDonalds with the exact same skill set. Just quote PragerU directly, killer. Restaurant work is hard, and if you're making 4000 bucks a month in tips then you're hustling hard all day. Might be doable for a 19 year old, but there is no way I could do that kind of work now. > This hasn't really changed. You can still get server jobs at great restaurants and make decent money with little marketable skills. Of course the point is to not make a career out of it unless your goal is to own a restaurant one day. Bollocks. Maybe in busy joints around big cities, but if you're working at Applebee's in Nowhereville then you're going to struggle.