Intro Cafe - A Server Rant

So, I work at a restaurant, I am a waitress. A waitress is not necessarily what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I am pretty good at my job. I am friendly, nice, efficient, etc... having worked in many food industry jobs throughout my life. Waitressing as a profession sets itself apart from other food service jobs (like, say, toasting bagels or dipping ice cream - both of which I have done) in that it requires one to engage in a short relationship with the customer, as opposed to the transaction-length interaction of fast food. As a waitress, I am expected to introduce myself, provide information and opinions, be accurate and fast, be available but not pushy. To be a good waitress, one needs to have the ability to read people and anticipate their needs and mood. Know when to be funny, know when to be flirty, know when to be silent and when to be forceful. More than any other job I have ever held, waitressing has forced me not only to examine how I present myself to the world, but to pay close attention to the cues provided by others. And what have I learned about myself, the human condition, the world at large? It's this: People Are Shits. I never been treated with such a lack or respect, such indignity in my life as I have during my stint as a waitress. People lie, take advantage of each other and have no respect for those who are in a postion to have to work a little harder for thier buck than they, themselves, do. Those of us who choose to wait tables are never doing so because we love the job and are fulfilling a lifelong dream. We are not working our way up a career ladder. What we are usually doing is trying to make money under extenuating circumstances. We are students working our way through college, we are single moms, we are artists trying to support ourselves while bringing something beautiful and meaningful into the world. We would really like to be treated like human beings once in a while.