Dining out with kids can be stressful enough, but one mom says her recent restaurant visit was made worse by the way her server handled drink orders.
TikTok creator Jordyn Burdette (@jordynburdette) posted a storytime about the incident, where she says she felt undermined in front of her children.
The video has since pulled in more than 24,200 views.
Mom says she felt undermined by server
In the clip, Burdette explained that when the waitress came to take orders, her husband asked for a beer while she requested water.
When it came time for the kids, Burdette said she stepped in to answer for them. “They’re just gonna have water,” she recalled telling the server.
But her son spoke up with something different, and that’s when things took a turn. “You didn’t say water, did you? What did you want to drink?” Burdette says the waitress asked.
Burdette made it clear she was sticking to water for the kids, noting that on their previous visit, the kids had filled up on drinks and wasted their meals.
“Today we’re gonna drink water and have a nice dinner,” she explained.
Instead of dropping the matter, Burdette says the server circled back multiple times—questioning why they weren’t getting drinks and even asking the kids again after dinner if they wanted something else.
“That’s like the 3rd or 4th time you’ve undermined me to my kids about them drinking something here,” she said in frustration.
She added that gratuity was automatically included in the bill, which made her wonder if the server felt free to push.
“Maybe there’s a possibility that she felt comfortable enough to keep going on and on…because she knew she was getting her tip either way,” Burdette said.
Why would a server push drinks?
Restaurants are known for making a big chunk of their profits from drinks. This is especially true for soft drinks, which often cost very little but sell for $3 to $5 a glass.
Servers may also be under pressure—some restaurants track drink sales and tie them to scheduling or hours.
Still, Burdette argued that drink sales shouldn’t come at the expense of parents setting boundaries. Kids, after all, need to see their parents as the guidepost in these situations. Additionally, not as someone who can be contradicted by staff.
Commenters share their thoughts
Many viewers sided with Burdette in the comments. “Not okay! She undermined your parenting boundaries. Not cool!” one person wrote.
Another, who said they were a server themselves, shared, “I do agree with you 100 percent. How she is going about it is totally wrong. She can get her drink sales up another way. I can see why she is pushing for drinks but there are other customers that want drinks.”
Others kept it blunt: “I would have looked at her and said ‘Are you paying for it?’”
@jordynburdette #waitress #waiter #restaurant ♬ original sound – Jordyn Burdette
The Mary Sue has reached out to Burdette for further comment.
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