Have you seen lately waiters that are smiling? I bet you haven't! It is not because the waiters are thinking: "Does this guest has a virus? Is he asymptomatic? Is he healthy?". No, it is because your waiters are wearing masks: you cannot see their smiles! If you have worked as a waiter for just one hour in your life, you would know how impossible it is to do this job with a mask! During the rush hours, we can bearly breathe without a mask. As a matter of fact, a lot of waiters need respirators because they can't handle the stress, the running, and the heavy lifting during rush hours! Put a mask on their face, and some will end up in a hospital bed! But like a good soldier, we follow the rules, and we put the safety of our guests before our comfort and health.

A lot of things are going to change during and after the Coronavirus pandemic. Dining out might never be the same again, but I hope we will not be required to wear those masks in the future as a prevention to the next virus! A lot of people think the waiters should also wear gloves to protect themselves and their guests from contamination! Few places require the waiters to put a face shield on top of the mask! I don't even want to mention some other extraordinarily "steps managers and restaurant owners take to show how protective they are to their patrons! It is going way too far!

All this is a show but not much real protection! If the waiters don't wash their hands, they won't change their gloves, and those gloves are contaminated just as much as bare hands! While the waiter is carrying your food in his hands, the shield does absolutely nothing to protect it if the waiter is sick. Moral and hygiene standards are the only things that protect us from our guests and them from us! We should not shake hands anymore with our regular guests, no matter how happy we are to see them! Of course, no kissing is allowed. The taking of the order should be done from a healthy distance and most likely with a single-use menu. Small talk should be limited to a minimum or completely shut down, especially during the serving of the meals! Busing the tables must be followed by washing the hands no matter how busy the place is! It is the manager's responsibility to organize the sitting and provide enough staff so the waiters could follow the highest hygiene standards without skipping any steps!

Negligence is deadly nowadays! Cash change hands so quickly and could spread the disease like a fire! Taking the payment should be done very carefully! Neither the guest wants the waiter to touch his credit card with dirty hands, nor the waiter wants to get sick because he has taken cash from the guest! The liest contact and the liest touching on any level during the interaction is advisable! Thousands of waiters are without a job for many months now all over the world. Some are having a hard time surviving this pandemic. Some countries have allowed their restaurants and hotels to operate, and the experiment has proven successful!

People are in desperate need of jobs and income! Governments are doing very little, if anything, to help the Hospitality Industry! If someone gets help, it is the big hotel chains but not the Hospitality workers! We need waiter jobs! We need to restart the tourist industry as fast as possible because it brings food to the table for millions of people who right now are scrambling to support their families! No one can survive without a job for a year and especially not the waiters who are the lowest-paid employees in the Hospitality!

Your waiters are not smiling, but the masks are not the only reason you don't see their faces! The other reason is that many of them are at home anxiously waiting for their hotel or a restaurant to reopen! They are ready to work and support their families even with the Coronavirus scare! Don't forget that the next time you pay your bill! We waiters don't get much pay, but we can afford a decent life thanks to your generosity, so be generous!

The Waiters Network and The Waiter's Academy are doing everything possible to support the Food and Beverage Industry and every waiter or waitress from every corner of the world! We provide free education, advice, and guidance for everyone who wants to learn, improve, and live a better life! We connect the waiters directly with the restaurants and the hotels for free and fast selection of jobs and employees! Check our section "Top Jobs Near Me" to find employers who are hiring right now in your area! Browse our Profile list to find the perfect employee for your restaurant or hotel! As soon as the Coronavirus scare goes away, there will be many hotel jobs and many restaurant jobs available! Be the first one to get the call by creating your profile on the Waiters Network! Most importantly, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive! No matter how hard the situation is right now, it will get better, and life will be wonderful once again!