girlbones you are dumb. if the restaurant is dead and servers are standing around they also aren't making money while the people in the back standing around (bussers, food runners, line cooks, dishwashers) get paid an actual wage regardless of whether or not the restaurant is busy. yes, they make more money, but you don't really have a good perspective of things because it sounds like you've never actually served! no job is difficult in a restaurant, and i admit line cooks and dishwashers have SHITTIER jobs, but they're easier, too. i've been on a line and in a dish tank; it's a way easier job! dishwashers wash dishes and nothing else, bussers bus, runners run food, hostesses WALK TEN FEET AND BACK, and line cooks just take orders and make food. none of this is challenging or really requires any thought whatsoever! a server has to interact with people, know restaurant shit, be affable, monitor like 5 tables of people who WANT shit, and manage his time effectively or else he will suck at his job!!! it requires a pretty good deal of organization to have like 5+ 4-tops at once and not get weeded as fuck (hehehe industry term.....).
w/e man i'm not saying it's hard because it sort of is at first and then not really, but it requires a lot more than basically any other job in a restaurant that is not management or bartending, so just because you don't slave over a hot grill doesn't mean it's an easier or less stressful job, because it's actually the complete opposite, if only because you get held accountable for much more than anyone else. i think it's more CHALLENGING than other grosser jobs so imo the fact that i make like 25-30/hr on a good night is alright, not only because the job actually requires some degree of thought and organization, but also because it's much more inconsistent without a high normal wage and there are slow times when i only make like 10/hr so it balances out i think.