Waiting tables in 2004 vs now, and it's the sound of the restaurant that changed the most

Evan Cooper · 2026-10-16T02:20:05.578274+00:00

I worked the floor at a diner off Route 9 in Jersey from 2004 to 2009, and back then the whole soundtrack of a shift was plates clacking, the kitchen radio, and people actually yelling orders back and forth to each other. I picked up two shifts a week at a spot near me about 8 months ago just to get out of the house, and the place is dead quiet except for the ticket printer and 30 phones buzzing on the tables. Servers don't call out orders anymore, they just tap them into a screen, so you lose that constant chatter that used to tell you where everybody was. I'd say 7 out of 10 tables now are on their phones the whole meal, even the older couples. I keep asking myself if I'm just being an old guy about it, or if the job genuinely feels more lonely now. Any other long haul servers notice the same thing when they go back?

Talk Freely

Loading…

Waiting tables in 2004 vs now, and it's the sound of the restaurant that changed the most | Behind the Counter - Talk Freely