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For many, Mother’s Day is a heartfelt celebration of the patriarch of people’s families. On the other hand, with restaurant servers, it is one of the busiest and most chaotic days of the year.
A joint survey conducted by the National Retail Federation and analysis of prosperity and analysis of Mother’s Day spending shows that out of $34.1 billion Americans are expected to spend this year on gifts.
From shortages of staff, hungry guests and messy kids to excessive takeaway orders and customers fibed about bookings, Mother’s Day was called the most frightening shift to work, and compared it to hell for servers and other restaurant staff.
“All servers know that working on Mother’s Day is hell. In fact, when I die and go to hell, I totally expect Mother’s Day.
The dislike of working on Mother’s Day is why former and current servers fly to social media every year to send a “positive atmosphere” and prayers to the frontlines. They also remind them of being kind to future customers and are generously waiting for staff.
“I have mixed feelings about working on Mother’s Day,” Asia Huin, the server of Taiwanese restaurant Ding Tai Fuck, told USA Today on May 8.
Why do servers hate working on Mother’s Day?
Cardosa, who has more than 30 years of restaurant experience, told USA Today on May 9th that the thing she hates most about Mother’s Day is that she always has a “full house.”
“It’s usually like a family with lots of kids,” Cardosa said. “Children order items cheaper than parents and adults, so the average check is declining, so there is a lot of extra work, but the average check is lower.
Additionally, servers are more likely to engage with customers who don’t often go out to eat, so Cardosa says they do “more leg work” to take care of them at dinner time.
The reason Mother’s Day seems to be the busiest day in the restaurant business is because “mothers and women are expected to take care of everything when it comes to food,” Cardosa said.
“It’s an outdated way, so many people think about it,” she added.
Prior to Mother’s Day dinner, people often invite and take their grandmother, grandfather and others who they want to come. Cardosa said restaurants that customers choose to go to should recognize that “probably will be much busier than usual.”
“I want customers to understand that when they go out on Mother’s Day, I always need patience,” Cardosa said. “The servers are working very hard (and) the kitchen is working even harder. Customers need to accept that it may take a little longer than usual on Sundays.”
According to Cardosa, servers need to justify complaining about how busy the day is, but it should be kept in mind that they can “make a bank.”
“Even though they complain about how crazy Mother’s Day is and how many servers hate it,” she said. “To be honest, they’re going to make more money that Sunday than the previous Sunday or the next, so they’re grateful for that.”
Servers share highs and lows of working on Mother’s Day
Huynh agrees to some extent that Mother’s Day is the most stressful day of the year. Din Tai Fung is a restaurant with very long waits on weekends, including holidays, so the stressful portion is not the demand itself. The side effects of the day are anxiety-provoking.
“We handle Hungry guests, shortage of staff (as I don’t want to celebrate my mother either), and overload of takeaway orders that are inevitably slowing down meals with table service.
Huynh, who worked in the restaurant industry for five years, said that even if management has a backup plan to deal with the rush, they only have “the staff who come in.”
Meanwhile, Stephanie Dawn, a former waitress at Mexican seafood restaurant La Caredorse, remembered her first Mother’s Day shift a little differently.
“It was a celebration, so it was probably the coolest day to work at that restaurant,” Dawn told USA Today on May 8.
Dawn, a full-time food critic and content creator, was even able to spend some time with her kids that day as her mom and siblings brought them to the restaurant.
“It was really cool to work in a restaurant,” she said. “Everyone was excited because you’ll make pretty good hints at least that day, so that’s what I was told, but it was also very physically tough.”