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A typical shift

In at 4 for side work: polishing glasses, folding napkins, stocking your station. Pre-shift meeting at 4:45 where the kitchen runs the specials and you taste one. First tables at 5:30, and they are the easy ones. The rush hits around 7 and for two hours you are holding six tables, three drink orders and a birthday in your head at once. It thins out by 9:30. Then closing side work, tip-out to the bar and the bussers, and you count your money at 11:30 standing at the bar with everyone else.