Member-only story
In Support of Servers Cash is King
I got through college, more than a few decades ago, by working as a waitress. Today that job is called a server — a much better title. The restaurant I worked at met my two important criteria: no alcohol and free food. My college meal plan involved minimal grocery store trips and a heavy reliance on free food. Bill Knapp’s, a family restaurant in Toledo Ohio, fit the bill (no pun intended).
The no alcohol criteria was not that I’m against imbibing it was about late hours and obnoxious drunks. My goal was to avoid both.
To be a server at Knapp’s involved a week of memorizing a coded menu with a daily quiz. If you screwed up the code the person ordering Ham Croquets (a popular item I found disgusting) might end up with a grilled cheese sandwich. Not good for your prospective tip.
The training also involved carrying up to five plates at a time without a tray. Trays were off-limits at Knapp’s. I can still carry five plates. That’s not the skill that impressed diners, it was the five cups of coffee carried at once.
This skill, while impressive, led diners to jump up and try and take a coffee cup from your hands. Not good. Each cup was carefully balanced and had to be removed in the correct order. The regulars eventually figured that out.
