Power

As a server, you do have a dash, a sprinkling, a soupçons of power—but as you can imagine, it ain't much. Patrons will ask your suggestions, and you can direct them towards some of the nicer (or pricier) options. Other than that, you're there to serve and cater to your customers' needs. They don't call it an order for nothing.

 
You burn me, I'll burn you right back. (Source)

You could use your pinch of power for nefarious purposes. You can burn the other wait staff by holding up the placement of your orders, thus bogging down the kitchen. Unfortunately, if you do this it really won't make you popular with your cooks, and since they control the fire, you should probably stay on their good side.

Of course, if you don't feel like working hard, you can slow down the pace at which your guests wrap up their meals. It means less turnover and fewer tips for you, but at least you won't be fried at the end of your shift—even if your restaurant actually specializes in frying things.

If you really want to talk power, think about the differences between good service and bad service when you go to a restaurant. Regardless of food issues or kitchen speed, the server's the first line of defense between the restaurant and the angry mob of hungry patrons. 

Being able to wade through the muck that is food service and send each and every (well, almost every) one of your customers home happy and smiling is basically a superpower in this industry.

Don't believe us? Compare tips with a bad server sometime and you'll see who's really got the power.