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Some of that stuff is ignorant.
The nonsense about the carrot cake from Costco- doesn’t that server realize that’s the case with all ingredients, that there’s a markup, and desserts are always going to be a big markup? What an idiot.
I waited tables for many years and while I worked with more than one disgusting jerk, for the most part they were hardworking people who generally wanted the customer to have a good experience and cared about what they served.
Also the line about not being honest about whether you like a dish- a customer loves to think they got some inside info so expressing personal likes or knowledge tidbits about certain dishes is a good idea.
As a server it’s often easier for you to accommodate the customer doing favors like splitting a dish if they are sharing or sauce on the side for picky people etc.
The one who complained about giving water that people didn’t drink- I’ve never worked anywhere where a table didn’t automatically get water with perhaps the exception of coffee or drink only customers or diner counter customers.

I pretty much agree with you. In my younger and leaner days I worked in food establishments (mostly as a bartender, though I have waited tables, and in high school in the 1960s I bussed tables). The restaurant staff were usually very hard-working, conscientious, and very much wanted their customers to have a good experience so they would want to come back and would spread the word to their friends (the best advertisement, for good or ill, is word-of-mouth from a trusted source). Sure, we had nicknames for regulars, and joked among ourselves about their peccadilloes, but when we served them we treated them like royalty, and, truly, we meant it.