Who is a restaurant?

I was at a restaurant for lunch, and this question came to my mind. Who is the restaurant to the customers? Who runs it? Who represents it? The manager? The cashier? The owner? All these are superficial. The real person who the restaurant is, is the one person who gives you exactly what you go to the restaurant for. You go to the restaurant for food. Does the manager give you food? No, he manages people. He has nothing to do with food. He does the same job a manager of a company would do. He needs the exact set of skills for that job. Does the owner bring you food? No, he is the person that makes profit and claims legal rights to the restaurant. It has nothing to do with food. He does the same thing the owner of a store does. Make money. The cashier too, is no different from a bank teller.

Then who is the restaurant to me? The waiter is the restaurant to me. He is the person that brings me what I need the most at a restaurant. He is the only person to the customer, that's more important than owners and managers. He is the connection to the outside world, and the most important one. He is the representative. And yet, all the customers' prejudice and frustration with the restaurant is directed at him. He is not responsible for the restaurant, but he is powerful. He is powerful in the same way a citizen is powerful in a country. It's his fate that he has to be at the bottom of the ladder, and yet he is powerful in a way no one can imagine.

How often do you complain to the manager, in person? How often do you complain to the head chef or the sous chef, in person? It's the customer's responsibility to follow the customs: to respect the waiter. He deserves more respect than the owner of the restaurant. He is the one that demands no fruits of his labor. He is the one that gives away all such fruit, for minimum wage that is essential to maintain the health of his body.

Respect the waiter, as he is your friend.