I am sure most people who work a service job have had a customer ask them to smile. 

To pay their way through college, many students fill summers and weekends during the school year with service jobs. 

On-campus jobs are great because most students are exempt from FICA taxes, but often, they are unable to get enough shifts throughout the week on top of class. The option to earn tips serving on a Friday night starts to stand out. 

Then you show up, and it is exhausting. You stand the entire time and try to answer questions you do not know the answer to, while simultaneously handling food and cleaning. 

Do students get paid enough to be energetic and give 100% at their service job?

The short answer is no. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, where the minimum wage is $15 instead of the $10 everywhere else in Minnesota, some argue they do get paid enough. I would still say no.

If a student works every day in the summer, they may make enough money. However, the work is grueling and may lead to burnout. It is difficult to keep showing up to work with a smile on your face. 

I am currently a server, and the shifts are long. I only get one meal in an eight-hour shift. My back and feet are sore, and I dread returning to work the following day.

On days I work, I feel like I can not do anything else. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work and make tips, but I do not have the energy or the stamina to give my service job 100% of my effort. I am going to breeze past some things and half-heartedly perform tasks. 

Isabelle Bialek, a third-year student at the University of Minnesota, has worked a taxing summer job. She was a hostess and was paid $9 an hour. Bialek said she was scheduled for six-hour shifts and would be the only hostess working. 

The restaurant Bialek worked at had two floors with two hostess stands. One was outside and the other was upstairs. Bialek said she would have to run back and forth in between stands to keep up. She was shocked when her coworkers would choose to work two shifts a day. 

“I don’t know how they did it because I was physically and emotionally drained,” Bialek said. 

Bialek dealt with a lot of customers treating her poorly because of wait time. One time, a man tried to seat himself and sat and watched her until he could be seated. Bialek was by herself when trying to solve the situation. 

“Some people would cuss me out,” Bialek said. “I was not getting paid enough for that. I can’t do anything about a long wait.” 

Cherry Bailey, the general manager at Jimmy Johns in Dinkytown, understands the importance of school work and is flexible around students’ schedules during the school year. Bailey said she understands when school needs to come first. 

“I get a lot of students that want to come back because they know I’m flexible when it comes to having final exams and having too much homework,” Bailey said.

Bailey simply asks for open communication from student employees and for them to let her know at least four hours before their shift if there is a conflict. 

Bailey does believe that if you are going to go to work, you should be trying your hardest. 

“I’d rather them let me know that they are not going to be at 100% because of school instead of coming in and making the work harder for everyone,” Bailey said. 

Clear communication with your employer is important as most of them understand you are a student and might have other priorities. 

While it is okay to be drained from work, students should try to do their jobs to the best of their ability. I have been there, and it is hard, but I do not slack off completely. 

The bottom line is understanding you signed up to do a job, but it is natural to feel burnt out and exhausted when doing the tasks service jobs require. Do not feel like you have to put on a positive face. 

“Sometimes it’s not worth it to give your 100%,” Bialek said. “Sometimes you just don’t have the energy.” 

Next time you go to a restaurant or pick up fast food, understand the work required for the job. Do not withhold a tip because your waiter was not lively enough. 

Service workers do not get paid enough to smile all the time. They barely get paid enough as it is.