Server Calls Out Customers Who Gave Her $3 Tip After 6 Hours Of Service — Viewers Say She Should Be 'Grateful'
Less than a dollar per hour.
TikTok In the United States, tipping waiters is a big deal, and it doesn't go without reason. A lot of these workers rely on tips just as much as they rely on the actual paycheck from their jobs.
That is why one woman decided to call out customers who left a small tip for several hours of service.
After sitting at the restaurant for six hours straight, the patrons left a measly $3 tip.
In the video, Courtney (@courtneyxsekeres) was walking down the aisle of the restaurant. She was checking out tables when she noticed a few bills on the table she had just served.
The caption reads, “When your table sits there for 6 hours straight and leaves you $3.”
She picked up the three one-dollar bills and mouthed a sarcastic “Thanks” to the camera.
In typical TikTok fashion, she edited audio over the video from Taylor Swift’s Midnights album, to a song called “Bejeweled.”
The video has sparked a debate surrounding the way we see tips in the United States and where the onus should be placed for the server's reliance on it.
Many people are in disagreement over tipping etiquette in the country.
Many online users went to the comment section to express their disapproval of the message she was pushing in her video.
“Be glad you got something,” wrote one user.
Another wrote, “At least they left you something.”
One of the popular stances regarding the American "tipping war" is that tipping should be entirely voluntary and depend on the quality of service.
If the server was left something at all, they should count themselves lucky. Clearly, however, not everyone is in agreement on how to tip.
While some encouraged Courtney to be 'grateful,' others expressed their confusion.
“One thing I don’t understand about American[s] when I moved here is that tip is a huge thing,” wrote a third user.
Others pointed out that tipping shouldn’t even be a thing in the first place.
“That shouldn't be the customer's responsibility, the business [needs] to pay you more.”
Employers should be paying their servers more, and the law should allow for more wage protections for servers.
Another user wrote, “I'd rather pay more for food and not have to tip. That way there's no social obligations and the staff in the back can get some extra money too.”
“Here in Europe we don't normally tip because our workers actually get paid fair wage.”
Wherever you stand on the tipping culture debate, you can't deny that there's a very real issue to be discussed on either side.
Taylor Haynes is a writer based in Chicago. She covers entertainment, news and human interest stories at YourTango. You can find her on Instagram here.