By MELISSA DOMSIC
TRAVERSE CITY -- Elyse Boyd darts between tables and the cook's grill, delivers hot plates of breakfast to hungry diners, then pauses to take a sip of Mountain Dew behind the counter.
It's a busy life for Boyd, 21, who works four jobs to help support her family, including her husband and 3-year-old daughter.
She spends 30 hours a week waiting tables at J&S; Hamburg, a small, 70-year-old diner on West Front Street in Traverse City.
But she also cleans foreclosed houses, fills in at the J&S; restaurant on South Airport Road and works about 10 hours a week stocking delivery trucks at Paramount Coffee Company in Kalkaska.
"Within the last two years I've started working more than one job," she said. "The economy has definitely hurt us just with gas prices and everything. It's hurt us to the point where it's necessary to have more than one job just to pay the bills."
Boyd took in at least $80 in tips each shift for her first few years as a waitress at J&S;, but now she's lucky to make $40 to $60, in addition to the $2.85 hourly wage.
"Our slow times last longer, we have longer periods between rushes and the rushes aren't as forceful as they normally would be," she said. "Thank God for our regulars. They're our bread and butter in the wintertime. If it weren't for them, we'd be broke."
About a year ago, Boyd had to cut back her shifts at J&S; from five to four days a week because she'd sometimes take home only $5 after spending most of her $40 in tips on day care and gas.
Boyd isn't alone in her struggles to make a living based largely on tips.
Michigan's restaurant industry is hurting, and servers throughout the state are taking home less cash from gratuities, said Andy Deloney, spokesman for the Michigan Restaurant Association.
"People aren't coming in as much as they used to, they're not spending as much as they used to," he said. "It's essentially about the worst economy in the nation right now."
J&S; went smoke-free more than two years ago, and menu prices climbed when gas shot past $4 a gallon this past summer, two factors that hurt business, Boyd said.
"Our food costs went up immensely when the gas went up," she said.
The growing price of food has been "devastating to a lot of restaurants," Deloney said.
Even if restaurants report an increase in sales, it might not cover the higher food expenses, he said.
More people around the nation also are taking on part-time jobs for economic reasons. The number of people taking part-time work rose to 7.3 million in November, an increase of 2.8 million in the past year, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
The number of job seekers has increased at Michigan Works' Traverse City service center.
"Maybe a third of the job seekers that visit our center are seeking part-time employment because they've been unable to find full-time employment, so they're trying to cobble together two or more part-time jobs," said Jan Warren, program director.
Warren also sees people who are employed, but are looking for part-time work because their hours were cut at their other jobs.
Boyd stays optimistic, despite gloomy state and national financial forecasts.
Her husband works full-time delivering coffee to area businesses for Paramount Coffee Company, and she hopes his salary will soon allow her to attend school full time. She eventually hopes to find a career in the medical field.
In the mean time, Boyd continues juggling four jobs and a toddler. She takes her daughter to day care two days a week, and relatives watch her the other days.
"Thank God for family," she said. "Whenever we're in a bind, there's always someone who's stepping up, (saying) 'I'll take her, please.'"
The young couple gets a break on Tuesday evenings, when their daughter spends the night with a babysitter.
And Boyd won't work on Sundays.
"I need that for family time," she said.
Working four jobs to support a family isn't the typical life of a 21-year-old, but Boyd doesn't complain.
"I've got so much more in life than going out to the bar. I made my choice when I was 17 and had my daughter, and it was a choice that I've stood by to this point," she said. "I feel like I've done the best that I can, and it's the best thing that could have ever happened for me. It's made me a more responsible adult."
