the service industry

It's rather frustrating being a waitress.
Yes, I know it's a minimum wage job and that if I need to make lots of money I should go to college to get one of those jobs. Hi, I have a bachelors degree, one-third of a masters and am working on an associates as we speak. I get it.
But where I work is most likely the frustrating part of being a waitress. Not the interaction with people, bussing tables and dealing with food orders. It's the 1000 other parts of my job that you wouldn't normally have at a typical "chain" restaurant that are finally putting me on edge.

For instance, my diner has the local city jail food contract. We supply lunch and dinner to the inmates seven days a week. However, due to the fact that our catering business is really what keeps us afloat, I get stuck taking jail food 2-4 times a week during my shift. While this may seem like a small matter, I am normally the only waitress during my shift. I work mornings, which means I also prep the front for high school lunch, as well as man the entire front of house by myself. Adding in the 15-20 minutes that it can take to pack up all the meals, drive to the jail, deliver and then return...and it can get rather frustrating, even more so when you have customers that don't like losing a waitress for half of their meal.

There are two restaurants/bar and grills downtown and they are both next to each other. Our main competition has a liquor license, as well as being a sports bar, so they get the primary focus when folks swing through downtown. We are more of a "family" establishment, with focus on the oldies era of music/diner and bakery...so our crowds are not as high. Therefore, my daily take is about a quarter to a third of what a typical waitstaff person would make at a place such as Bob Evans, Applebee's, Chili's and the like. This can get terribly maddening, especially on days like today, where I made ten dollars on a six hour shift. As opposed to yesterday, where I made the second most I've ever pulled, $64.01 on the same shift.

I think the fact that I make less that standard minimum wage, plus the added stresses of working in a small restaurant and all the hassles that come with that place are finally starting to get to me. I really need a new place, and am eagerly hoping that Bob's does call back...because I don't want money to become a problem. Thankfully when I move this summer, I should have better luck in Htown.