I'm a disgruntled waitress,
I've served your food,
I've filled your drinks,
I walk past to assure your doing good,
I bother you to care for you correctly,
I have a family too you know,
I have three children, and a husband at home,
I don't come here for your pleasure,
I don't come here for my own,
I need to bring home money,
to help raise my small family,
You've laughed at my mistakes,
You've sworn at me, and tossed your food,
I've tried my damndest to please you here,
It's not my buisness your day was sour,
It's not my fault you argued with your spouse,
Or that you had a bad day at work,
I can't help you woke up on the wrong side of bed,
I can't change that you've come in angry,
The steak I brought you was under or overdone,
I didn't cook it, blame it on another someone,
I quit my job a few months go,
I couldn't handle the reality that people are mean,
Now that my family is broke,
I think I need to work again,
How I'd love to avoid being compared to another server,
How I'd enjoy your smiles, praises and generous tips,
But too many of you ruin the pleasure I used to have
Of bringing you your entree with a
"Can I bring you anything else" with a smile on my face,
How I miss those people who asked for me by name,
and left me five dollars for just the two of them,
How I would like to thank them,
for making the bad days good,
For entertaining my sense of humor,
and enjoying my company day to day,
I'll never forget their faces,
or the voices saying "thanks again Lianna, have a great day!"
I'm sorry I wasn't perfect,
I'm sorry I had bad days too,
but it's not excused, considering I'm the employee
and you were the customer,
I guess I should learn to live life, and forget I have one
when I'm looking in your eyes,
even though you took it out on me sometimes too,
I tried to mask my pain, carrying those bus tubs
took it's tole, and someday I'll afford to fix that,
your daily nine to five, probably paid you better,
then my part time hours had serving you,
the hours I spent away from my family
wasn't worth the two dollars for your table of five,
the days I was in agony because my body ached,
wasn't worth you 'reporting' me for caring
for the other eight tables I had as well as yours,
My kids being without their mom, even for fifteen hours a week,
wasn't worth crying in the back at work, because you yelled at me,
A hard shell breaks when you've taken it so much,
So why don't you be a server, for just one day,
So you know what we go through,
and understand why we're not always happy to see you,
I miss the good days, when a pocketful of cash and change
would get us through a week without scrounging for bills,
but now that I'm at home, I've learned to be without,
And you should know, I cared for you, even though I didn't know you,
that half hour to hours worth of your time,
was my time too... and I'll never forget it.
L.R.S 5-18-07
