1. You will never get a reliable paycheck.
1. 錢到用時方恨少。

As a waitress in Wisconsin, I make $2.33 an hour, which is the legal minimum wage my state requires employers to pay us aside from our tips. That's not enough to live on, so we depend on an 18 percent tip. Honestly, we get a little grouchy when we get a 5 percent tip when we're busting our butts to give somebody the best service we can. I work 25 hours a week — the restaurant I work at is only open for dinner — and I can expect to take home anywhere from $300 to $400 a week. And though corporate-owned restaurants offer health insurance if you're full-time, the place I work is family-owned and unfortunately doesn't offer any type of insurance. I have insurance now through my parents until I'm 26, but after that, I will need to pay out of pocket or have a job that provides it.
我在威斯康星當服務員時，時薪2.33美元，而這是威斯康星除了小費之外的法定最低時薪。靠這點工資顯然是活不下去的，所以我們都指望18%的小費。然而有時候我們辛辛苦苦服務，卻只有5%的小費，這真的很讓人窩火。我所工作的餐廳只供應晚餐，所以我每周只工作25小時，而一周工資到手大概只有三百到四百美金。企業(yè)餐廳會給全職員工提供醫(yī)保，而我所在的是家庭式餐廳，不給提供任何保險。26歲之前，我還可以靠父母繳納保險，但是26歲以后，除非我能找到一份提供保險的工作，否則我就得自己掏腰包了。

2. Generous tips are rare, but they do happen.
2. 大方的客人還是會有的。

I once had a table of 12 people, so gratuity was included.?The gratuity ended up being $160, but they tipped me in addition to that, so I had double the tip I should have gotten. When a situation like that happens, you sort of assume it was a mistake and you don't want to let the person know. But I believe in karma, so I go up to them and let them know the tip is already included. I did that, and the man who paid for the table goes, "I know, this is all for you. You did a great job, thank you very much."
有次我負責給一個12人的桌子布菜，賬單是要小費的。結賬時小費總計160美元，但是他們除此之外又給了我一些，因此我拿到了本該拿的兩倍之多。每當發(fā)生這種事，一般人都會選擇不告訴他們并把錢收下。但是我相信善惡終有報，于是我選擇告訴客人小費已經(jīng)在賬單內了。而買單的客人卻說，“我知道，這都是給你的，因為你的服務非常棒，這是你應得的?！?/div>

3. Customers will judge you based on how you look.
3. 顧客也是“看臉”的。

Even though your appearance doesn't affect the service you're giving them, it definitely is a major factor in the results of the tip at the end. On Mother's Day, I forgot to take out my tongue ring and I served a table that didn't tip me because of it. After the meal, they went up to my boss and said, "We didn't like our service because our waitress had a tongue ring." Even though we grow up hearing not to judge a book by its cover, unfortunately, people do.
你的外貌雖然不會影響服務質量，但卻決定著你小費能拿多少。母親節(jié)那天，我忘記取掉舌環(huán)，就因此損失了一單小費。用餐過后，他們找到老板，說，“我們不滿意你們的服務，因為那個服務員竟然戴了舌環(huán)?！北M管我們從小就被教育不要以貌取人，然而人們本性難移。

4. Customers will sabotage their food to get a free meal.
4. 為了“免單”顧客們也是蠻拼的。

There are definitely people who kind of make it a hobby to get their meal free. Once they know a restaurant will comp their meal if there's a hair in it, they will come back and keep doing it until they can't get away with it anymore. Obviously, hair does get in the food sometimes. I wouldn't say this happens a lot, but when you're halfway through your burger and you say found a hair in the middle, it's kind of questionable for a place that doesn't form their own patties. If the patties are already formed, how did the hair get all the way in the center of your burger? But of course, you can't claim that they're lying, so you apologize and you comp their meal.
有那么些客人已經(jīng)把爭取“免單”當成了愛好。一旦他們知道因為一根頭發(fā)“亂入”菜品餐廳就會免單，他們就會一而再、再而三地這么做，樂此不疲，直到僥幸成功免單一次。頭發(fā)確實會偶爾掉進菜里，但這不會常常發(fā)生。你把漢堡吃到一半說有根頭發(fā)在里面，但這是很有爭議的，因為肉餅不是我們店做的，但要是肉餅早就做好了，那頭發(fā)又是怎么漢堡中間的肉餅里的呢？當然，我們不能說他們說謊，只能乖乖給他們道歉免單。

5. Teamwork is more crucial than you think.
5.互相幫助遠比你想得更重要。

When you're a waitress, you learn to read other waiters' and waitresses' faces, and you can tell when they're stressed out. If you have a second, you'll ask what you can do to help, and when you're in that situation, they'll help you. It's such a relief knowing that if somebody sees your drinks for a table have been sitting up at the bar for a few minutes, they don't even have to ask you, they'll just bring it out to the table.
身為服務員，你一定要機靈，要會察言觀色，在同事們手忙腳亂時伸出援助之手。一有空就問問他們什么你能幫忙的，這樣等你忙不過來的時候，他們也會幫助你。長此以往，當你無暇顧及你照看的那個桌子時，他們可能問都不問就幫你把吧臺上的飲料拿過去了。

6. Food tastes better when it's discounted, so take advantage of it while you can.
6. 打折的食物更美味，該出手時就出手。

When I worked at a chain restaurant, the food was half off, so I ate it way more than I care to admit. I never got sick of it though, because food tastes a lot better when it's discounted. I went back after I no longer worked there and I noticed the food didn't taste as good when I had to pay full price.
在連鎖餐廳工作的時候，食物五折出售，所以我總是買很多來吃。并樂吃不疲，因為沒有錢，便宜的總是好的，打折的食物嘗起來更美味。但當我不再是服務員時又來到這家餐廳消費，我發(fā)現(xiàn)全價買的食物就沒那么好吃了。

7. Supportive shoes will keep a tough shift from being terrible.
7. 舒服的鞋子讓你事半功倍。

Shoes are probably the most important part of waitressing. You need shoes with traction, support, and comfort. You need to be able to move from table to table quickly without worrying you're going to slip. If you don't have good shoes, the pain will start in your feet, then travel up to your knees, and after carrying those big, heavy trays all day, you'll start to feel it in your back. You need to be able to put a little pep in your step when you're working, and that comes from having reliable shoes.
鞋子應該是服務員著裝最重要的部分了。你的鞋子一定要摩擦力強，支撐力強且足夠舒服。你需要保證自己能快速游走于各個桌子間，不會滑到。如果鞋子不夠舒服，痛苦從腳開始，很快殃及膝蓋。托著沉重的托盤一整天，你又會腰酸背痛。工作時你要腳勁十足，而這種精氣神從舒適的鞋子開始。

8. People really will dine and dash, and you can get fired for it.
8. 真的會有人吃“霸王餐”，而你有可能因此就被“炒魷魚”。

There was an incident at the restaurant where I work where a guest tricked one of our waiters by saying he was going to pay half cash, half card. He gave us the card first and said he would leave the rest in cash, but the table left after they got their card back, so they only paid for half of their bill. The waiter was left paying half of a $300 bill for a dinner that he didn't even get to sit down and enjoy. Most restaurants will have the server pay for the meal, but some places are stricter than others. At my old job, the chain restaurant, you had to pay for the dinner or that was your last shift. Corporate-owned restaurants are a little different than personally owned businesses. They can afford to have someone walk out, but they feel that you should have been paying attention to your table even though you're taking care of seven other tables at the same time. I wish people knew how much this affected us. Because it's not, "Oh, your table didn't pay for their dinner, that's OK." Some places it's, "Guess what, you're paying for their dinner or you're fired."
我工作的餐廳發(fā)生過這么一件事，一位顧客耍了我們一位服務員，因為他說賬單他一半現(xiàn)金付，一半刷卡。他給我們卡之后說剩下的用現(xiàn)金，而等卡刷完以后他們就走了，只付了一半的賬單。那桌的服務員白白為這頓飯付了300美元，卻連座位都沒坐一下。這種情況下，大多數(shù)餐廳會要求服務員買單，但是有些地方則更加苛刻。在我之前工作的一家連鎖餐廳，你要么賠錢，要么走人。公司制的餐廳和私人餐廳還有點不同。他們承擔得起有顧客不付錢就走人這點損失，卻不能忍受服務生的失職，即使你同時還在照看其他七桌客人。我希望人們理解這對我們影響有多大。因為這樣的結果不是“你的那桌客人沒付錢，沒事的”，而是“你要么付錢，要么走人”。

9. Having a positive attitude at all times is essential.
9. 時刻保持積極的工作態(tài)度至關重要。

When I go out to eat, I expect a waiter or waitress to have a smile on their face and act like they're enjoying their job, even if they hate it. I don't like seeing somebody miserable at their job, even though I know how miserable it can be. Nobody wants to feel like they shouldn't have gone out to eat. Making guests feel unwelcome is a guaranteed way to get a lower tip.
出去吃飯的時候，我總希望服務生面帶笑容，即使?jié)M心怨恨也要假裝享受他們的工作。我不想看到工作時他們垂頭喪氣，盡管我知道他們有多累。沒人希望自己不被歡迎。顧客感覺自己不受歡迎，那么小費也不會給得多。

10. Most customers will be oblivious to your other responsibilities.
10. 幾乎所有的顧客都認為你應該為他一人服務。

I wish people would look around and realize they're not the only person I'm taking care of. But unfortunately, most people aren't understanding and they think they should be the no. 1 priority even if you have five different no. 1 priorities. When it's a busy night and everything is taking a little bit longer, people will get upset. And it will reflect in the tip they gave you.
我很希望客人能看到我分身乏術，知道他們不是我唯一的顧客。但不幸的是，大多數(shù)人不會理解，他們都覺得自己應該得到優(yōu)先待遇，盡管你有五桌客人同時要服務。而越忙碌的時刻，時間越會變得更長，人們也更容易暴躁。這也直接影響到他們給你小費的數(shù)目。

11. It's scarily easy to become stuck in this job.
11. 服務員的工作會讓你深陷不拔。

If I could go back and tell myself something, it would be to run. It would be not to do it. It would be to go to college. Because waitressing kind of sucks you in — I've been doing it now for five years. You get trapped in the loop of always having cash, and it's hard to give up cash in your hand every night to a paycheck every two weeks.
如果有機會對過去的自己說什么，我一定會說，不要做這份工作，去上大學。因為服務員的工作會將你吸住——我已經(jīng)做了五年。你愛上數(shù)現(xiàn)金的感覺，每隔兩周拿到工資的感覺會上癮。

12. Awesome guests will make up for the awful ones.
12. “好好客人"會讓你忘記一天的不快。

The people that joke around with you and want to make their dining experience fun will make it fun for you to take care of them. When you do get those people that are there to have a good time and crack jokes to you, that's what will get you through a shift. You'll deal with unreasonable customers who won't be happy no matter what you do. And you'll deal with customers who will give you low tips for unfair reasons. But you'll also meet a lot of awesome people who make your shift that much better.
有的客人會跟你一直開玩笑，讓整個用餐過程輕松愉快，這種客人你也會愿意服務。遇上這種顧客，工作時間也會愉快地度過。但是你也會遇上無論怎么服務都不滿意的客人，還有無故克扣小費的顧客等等。但是你總會遇到友善良的人，讓你的工作時間不那么煎熬難耐。

聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創(chuàng)內容，轉載請注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。