Is it not common in America to share tips with the entire staff?
In Europe there is much less of a tipping culture, but at the end of the night all tips go in one big pot and then get divided amongst the staff.
It depends. Admittedly this was 35 years ago or so, but generally a certain percentage would go towards the bar and other staff, but mostly you would keep your own tips.
It’s probably due to a difference in culture. The US was still very anti-socialism at the time. But the culture was definitely that you should keep the rewards of your own labor.
At smaller restaurants there was never any pooling at all.
Both methods are common. It's discussed before you start.
Most servers I know prefer to keep their own.
> From my experience, the hardest part of being a waiter was dealing with customers.
I was a fine dining server for a couple years while in college before finding my first programming job. It taught me how to deal with pretty much any kind of person.
I worked hard physically as a dishwasher or warehouse worker, but had little mental stress.
I only lasted a few weeks as a waiter. Despite the much higher tips, dealing with bad customers was so stressful I couldn't handle it and it significantly affected my studying.
Whereas I never felt that tired when doing physical labor.