It is a sad fact that these days and mainly in chain establishments, the waiting staff are not up to much. I will hastily add that this is none of their fault. As has been said - wages are rock bottom and working conditions not great. I am almost certain that staff in these sort of restaurants are not paid any extra when working unsocial hours.
If waiting staff have undergone some decent training they would expect to be well remunerated and would be working in a better grade of establishment.
Staff in some chains are given very little training as the turnover is so frequent, owing to poor job satisfaction. Also, they aren't very often English as we aren't very keen on certain jobs in the service industries.
Lastly, many customers are less than respectful.
DH and I spent our working life in the restaurant trade and I hope, treated our staff with some dignity. They were paid well, shown that they were appreciated and earned extra from the pool of tips which was always shared out fairly.
goldengirl I agree with all that you say
How do you acknowledge Easter.