1. You will never get a reliable paycheck.

　　1. 钱到用时方恨少。

　　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.

　　我在威斯康星当服务员时，时薪2.33美元，而这是威斯康星除了小费之外的法定最低时薪。靠这点工资显然是活不下去的，所以我们都指望18%的小费。然而有时候我们辛辛苦苦服务，却只有5%的小费，这真的很让人窝火。我所工作的餐厅只供应晚餐，所以我每周只工作25小时，而一周工资到手大概只有三百到四百美金。企业餐厅会给全职员工提供医保，而我所在的是家庭式餐厅，不给提供任何保险。26岁之前，我还可以靠父母缴纳保险，但是26岁以后，除非我能找到一份提供保险的工作，否则我就得自己掏腰包了。

　　2. Generous tips are rare, but they do happen.

　　2. 大方的客人还是会有的。

　　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."

　　有次我负责给一个12人的桌子布菜，账单是要小费的。结账时小费总计160美元，但是他们除此之外又给了我一些，因此我拿到了本该拿的两倍之多。每当发生这种事，一般人都会选择不告诉他们并把钱收下。但是我相信善恶终有报，于是我选择告诉客人小费已经在账单内了。而买单的客人却说，“我知道，这都是给你的，因为你的服务非常棒，这是你应得的。”

　　3. Customers will judge you based on how you look.

　　3. 顾客也是“看脸”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.

　　你的外貌虽然不会影响服务质量，但却决定着你小费能拿多少。母亲节那天，我忘记取掉舌环，就因此损失了一单小费。用餐过后，他们找到老板，说，“我们不满意你们的服务，因为那个服务员竟然戴了舌环。”尽管我们从小就被教育不要以貌取人，然而人们本性难移。

　　4. Customers will sabotage their food to get a free meal.

　　4. 为了“免单”顾客们也是蛮拼的。

　　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.

　　有那么些客人已经把争取“免单”当成了爱好。一旦他们知道因为一根头发“乱入”菜品餐厅就会免单，他们就会一而再、再而三地这么做，乐此不疲，直到侥幸成功免单一次。头发确实会偶尔掉进菜里，但这不会常常发生。你把汉堡吃到一半说有根头发在里面，但这是很有争议的，因为肉饼不是我们店做的，但要是肉饼早就做好了，那头发又是怎么汉堡中间的肉饼里的呢?当然，我们不能说他们说谎，只能乖乖给他们道歉免单。

　　5. Teamwork is more crucial than you think.

　　5.互相帮助远比你想得更重要。

　　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.

　　身为服务员，你一定要机灵，要会察言观色，在同事们手忙脚乱时伸出援助之手。一有空就问问他们什么你能帮忙的，这样等你忙不过来的时候，他们也会帮助你。长此以往，当你无暇顾及你照看的那个桌子时，他们可能问都不问就帮你把吧台上的饮料拿过去了。

　　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，该出手时就出手。

　　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.

　　在连锁餐厅工作的时候，食物五折出售，所以我总是买很多来吃。并乐吃不疲，因为没有钱，便宜的总是好的，打折的食物尝起来更美味。但当我不再是服务员时又来到这家餐厅消费，我发现全价买的食物就没那么好吃了。