Photo: wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock // TikTok
Needless to say, he didn't exactly sweep her off her feet.
By Amanda Hartmann — Written on Jan 20, 2022
A TikTok posted on Jan. 16 blew up online when a young waitress, who goes by @momitsyourbirthday on TikTok, posted about a frustrating customer interaction at work.
Anyone who has worked as a server will be familiar with two somewhat irritating things — customers who make unsolicitated flirtatious advances and customers who don't tip.
Well, unfortunately for this TikToker, she experienced both all from one table.
Her TikTok calls out a customer who left his number after not tipping her.
According to her video, at her job as a waitress she had been serving a table who had racked up a bill of over $200.
However, at the end of their meal, they didn’t leave any tip for her whatsoever.
To add to the frustrating hilarity of the situation, the TikToker went on to add that “they did have the audacity to leave one of their numbers and tell me they thought I was cute.”
So, as shown in the screenshot from the video, she reached out and texted the number. But she didn’t plan on flirting back.
Her only plan was to point out the ridiculousness of their actions, and she said, “Next time you leave your number make sure you leave a tip.”
She posted a follow-up TikTok later that day with their response.
According to the screenshots of the conversation that ensued, the customer seemed confused at first, seemingly unaware that she hadn’t been tipped.
They told her that the group had all given one guy an extra $10 for the tip, but that he had apparently forgotten to leave it.
The customer went on to apologize when he discovered this, saying that they “are not those people at all.”
The story ends on a positive note for the waitress.
Not only did she end up getting a fairly viral TikTok out of it, but the customer also was shocked by what happened and made sure to get the waitress her tip in the end.
They insisted on sending her something, saying, “you did such a good job how could we not tip you[?]”
First they tried to organize a time to drop off the money at the restaurant.
Ultimately, however, they ended up sending her a $75 tip on Venmo, which the waitress/TikToker seemed plenty satisfied with.
The comments sections of her videos were significantly less civil.
Many of the commentors seemed not to trust the customer that she spoke to over text, or the guy that supposedly forgot to tip the money he was given.
Several of them spoke up and questioned their story in the text conversation.
One commentor, in response to the follow up video, shared their suspicions and wrote, “The friend accidentally forgot to tip you… okay. He definitely pocketed the extra all his mates gave him. Glad you got it in the end.”
Another commentor doubled down on this theory, saying that “you don't forget to leave $75 worth of tips,” which seems to imply that they think the whole story might have been a bogus coverup.
The video also sparked a debate on tipping culture in the U.S.
Meanwhile, many commentors were critical of American tipping culture in general, marveling at the fact that tips are pretty much required if you don’t want to ruin your server’s day — or their paycheck.
However, they had vastly different opinions on how the issue should be addressed.
One commentor stated on her original video, “By the looks of these comments the US just needs to put a mandatory service fee of 20% on bills and pay servers more. Y’all are broke and stingy.”
This was in reaction to many users surprisingly taking a stance against the waitress in the comments, one user writing, “Problem with waiters/waitresses is that they be giving u below average or mid service and EXPECT a hundred-dollar tip. Earn a good tip, don’t expect.”
Another user, however, clearly disagreed, and in the comments, they wrote, “The ignorance in these comments. In an IDEAL world we would get paid a livable wage and not have to depend on tips, but that’s not reality.”
Amanda Hartmann is a writer and editorial intern with YourTango who writes on various topics such as entertainment and news.