What Hospitality Taught Me to Be Thankful For (That I Would’ve Never Learned Anywhere Else)

Gratitude in this industry is weird.

We say “thank you” after the worst shifts of our lives.
We hug coworkers we barely know because we survived brunch together.
We joke about trauma and pour each other a shot.
We find grace in places no one expects to look.

I used to think gratitude was something you earned once things were calm. When the work was done, the bar was clean, and you had time to reflect. But I’ve learned that in this industry, you don’t wait for gratitude. You build it from the scraps.

That’s one of the many things hospitality has taught me.

So here, before we dive into the chaos of Thanksgiving week, before the to-go orders start flying, the floor plans get flipped, and the gravy gets cold, I want to take a second and share what I’m truly thankful for.

Not the PR version. Not the stuff you write in a staff meeting icebreaker. The real things. The gritty things. The ones that live under your fingernails and in your bones.

I’m Thankful for the People Who Stay Five Minutes Longer

The ones who sweep your station because they saw you hit a wall.
The ones who don’t clock out just yet because they know you’re two seconds from crying.
The ones who help you finish your sidework without needing to be asked.

They’re the ones who taught me what solidarity looks like.
It’s doesn’t come in the form of a hashtag, it’s more likely a dish pit surrounded by glassware and someone stepping in anyway.

I’m Thankful for the Masks We Learn to Take Off

Hospitality teaches you to smile when you’re dying inside. That’s something I had to survive before it could become something to be grateful for.

What I am grateful for are the moments when the mask slips. When a coworker catches your eyes across the bar and sees through the grin. When someone says, “You good?” and you can feel they actually meant it.

Realness like that is rare in the world.
But in this business, sometimes it’s all we have to give each other.

I’m Thankful for the Chaos That Taught Me to Be Still

We run. We sprint. We refill and re-stock and reset.

But somewhere in the insanity, I learned how to take a breath. To savor the ten seconds between a last call and a final toast. To feel the hush of a bar that was loud just moments ago.

Those moments didn’t just teach me to work harder; they taught me to hold stillness with both hands when it shows up.

Let me tell you right now, that’s the true spiritual skill.

I’m Thankful for the Ones Who Left

This industry has an incredible way of shaping people, and sometimes it shapes them into the realization that they need to walk away.

I’ve seen the strongest people I know hang up their aprons, close their tabs, and say, “This isn’t worth my soul anymore.”

I miss them. But I’m proud of them, and I’m thankful for their courage.

They remind me we’re not meant to suffer forever. We’re allowed to want more.

I’m Thankful for the Grief We Carry Together

We’ve lost people.
Not just coworkers. Not just regulars.
Friends. Lovers. Mentors. Found family.

Grief doesn’t clock out. It stays in the wallpaper, in the recipes we haven’t made in a while, in the stool that no one’s sat in since.

But in this industry, we carry grief the way we carry glassware: with practiced hands, with quiet balance, and with just enough awareness not to break.

That’s a kind of strength I don’t think most people even know exists.

I’m Thankful for You

If you’ve ever made it through a shift on fumes,
If you’ve poured a drink while holding back tears,
If you’ve shown up for someone else when no one showed up for you…

You’re the reason I’m still here.
You’re the reason this blog exists.
You’re the reason I believe in this industry, even when it breaks my heart.

We’ll talk about grief soon.
We’ll talk about the hard parts.
But today, let’s sit in these small flickers of gratitude, the honest kind. The kind you earn through scars and shared shifts.

We don’t say it enough in this industry, so let me say it here:

Thank you.
For being part of the fight.
For sticking around.
For making this business mean something.

We raise a glass to the ones who stay.
The ones who help others make it through.

Read the Shift Notes on Industry Insights: Unfiltered

Learn More about the state of the Industry Today