‘Work smarter not harder’: Server says he used to anonymously reserve large tables during his shift so it wouldn’t be busy while he was working
'They were always so irritated when the table didnt show up lol.'
A former waiter is sharing his trick for ensuring that his shift wouldn’t be too busy—and all he needed was a few minutes and a phone.
In his video which has drawn over 4 million views as of Saturday, @iamjcowell writes that he would call and reserve large tables to save himself the hassle of having to serve anyone at them.
“When I worked as a part-time waiter I would call the restaurant with no caller I.D. and book large group tables so that it wouldn’t be busy when I was working because I hated the job so much,” a text overlay on the screen reads.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @iamjcowell via Instagram direct message regarding the video.
Some viewers wrote that they did similar things at their restaurant jobs to either reduce their workload or get free food.
“When I was a host and my manager simply made me mad I called the restaurant and set up a party of 26,” one commenter wrote.
“I was a host & would call and place big orders on food I wanted to try,” another viewer wrote. “no show orders were given to workers to eat for free.”
“I used to lie and say our late tables were booked so I could leave early,” a user said.
Viewers outside of the restaurant industry also shared their creative workarounds for getting out of having to do real work.
“I called my own cell phone on repeat when I did telemarketing for three months,” one user claimed. “no regrets lol.”
“When I worked retail I used to tell customers that we were closing due to unprecedented reasons,” another viewer shared.
“Me scheduling appointments at my job so no one comes up when I’m at a certain station,” a commenter wrote.
