When it comes to working in a restaurant, many American servers need their customers to tip them well to help them bump up their pay packets. While the tipping culture in the states has been criticised by many, it remains an unspoken rule that customers should tip a good server between 15 to 20 per cent on top of their bill.
But one waitress claims making good tips isn't only down to how much work you put in but your personal circumstances too. TikTok user @ddeirdreee explained how she was tipped better than ever before after telling customers she has two little ones at home.
She said: "I'm a server in Los Angeles and I discovered a really cool hack today that if you're a server, you should definitely use it too.
"So basically, I work at a brunch spot and there's a lot of families and a lot of kids. Today, I had these people come in and they made a mess and for some reason, instead of saying my usual 'Oh it's OK, I'll clean it up', I said 'That's OK, I have little ones at home'."
The customer went on to ask for the ages of her children, to which she replied: "They're two and four. They're really cute but they're right at that age, they don't understand that you can't be pouring stuff all over the place."
After finishing their drink, the customer left her "such a good tip" so the server continued with this act throughout her shift to see what would happen.
"I did that all day and my tips were so much higher than they usually are," she said. "For the record, I'm 22 and I do not have children but I just told people I had kids and they gave me hella tips so..."
While some users supported her "white lie", others were less than impressed, saying she's lucky she didn't get caught out but easily could next time.
One user said: "I lie about anything that’s convenient at the time. Serving is performance art."
Another user added: "Until they ask to see pictures of them..."
A third user said: "When I was a server, I lied and said I was a single mum, two kids, and a college student... best tips ever."
One more user added: "I'm scared I'll get stuck and won’t know how to answer. I'm so bad at lying."
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