Wipe the table like the inspector’s coming even when you know they’re not.

A standard that depends on inspection is not a standard, it is a reaction to being checked. Tables get wiped properly for one of two reasons: somebody might look, or somebody is going to eat there. Only the second reason holds up on a quiet Tuesday, and it is the only one that makes the job feel like something other than surveillance.

On your next shift, do one task to the full standard when you are certain nobody will see. Pick the table, the back shelf, the bathroom nobody checks. It changes how the hour feels, which is a strange and useful thing to find out about work.