I hang up your coat, make sure you are comfortable, feed and pamper you. I wait on you, clean up your mess and scramble to catch all the change thrown at me.

That’s right, I’m a waitress.

I’ve been working for about two months at a reasonably hopping restaurant. I average about three to five tables at a time and pride myself on maintaining perkiness and a cheerful attitude. I enjoy working. But man, do I get horrible tips. And student customers are the worst.

I was raised with the understanding that leaving 15 percent of the total is the minimum amount you should leave a waitress. I’ve come to expect most people to leave me 10 percent or less. If I’m making minimum wage, this extra pocket change can add up to a pretty hefty amount. But the truth is, I only make about $2.33-an-hour. I depend on that pile of $1 bills on my dresser to get me through school. And I’m sure there are many of you out there who do the same.

About a month ago, a pair of students who appeared to be on a first date came in. The girl ordered one of the most expensive entrees and the guy did the same. But on top of the T-bone the guy ordered, he wanted a bowl of soup, a milk shake and appetizers. This was going to be a pretty hefty bill for a table of only two people. I was even more surprised when I saw that they had left me $2 for a bill that was more than $30. That’s a tip of less than 6 percent.

I hope that many of you are feeling guilty now, because this happens all of the time. I’ve found that despite the cost of the bill, most people leave between one and three dollars, which is rare. I’m really sick of it. Well, maybe the service wasn’t so great, but you can try to rationalize. I certainly can’t claim to be the greatest waitress to walk the earth, but am I nice? Always. I can’t go any faster than I can go or serve any better than I can serve. All I really can do is be as nice to people as I’d like servers to be to me when I go out to eat.

One of the reasons why some items are more expensive is because of the amount of preparation for the cooks and waitresses. So essentially, you are buying our time with a meal. What about when you’re in a restaurant for a longer time than normal? Are you still going to just leave a dime for that cup of coffee you sipped for three hours?

Think of all the trips the waitress made to keep your cup full. That counts for something worth a lot more than a dime. So when people take the quality of their food or service out on me, a lot of times I don’t even know it, because I was never led to believe that there was a problem in the first place. Waitresses do ask how everything is for a reason. We sincerely want you to enjoy yourself and not just so we get a good tip. If people aren’t enjoying their food, even if it’s exactly what they ordered, they’re not going to have a good time. Also, they may not want to come back. If someone lets me know there’s a problem, I will do everything I can to fix it.

I think people like to see that a waitress is concerned and cares about his or her service. But why would I be treated any worse when I actually do a good job? Maybe I’m asking the wrong people, but students go out to eat a lot and should really think about these things. Now that I’m on a roll, at the very least, look at your server when you order. This is a real person you’re talking to, even if they are doing manual labor.

I think the biggest thing is being nice to your server. Don’t yell, “Hey, waitress,” or “Hey, waiter,” or refer to them as “you.”

I will apologize on behalf of all the bad waiters and waitresses out there. I know there are a lot of them, and I admit to falling in that category sometimes. Just know that if you’re going to punish a bad server with a bad tip, there are probably 10 other tables who are doing the same thing.

And wouldn’t it be great to be the one person who gives them a break?