A Hooters server shared a PSA in a viral TikTok for folks who like to order waters for their table. The controversial take sparked a fierce debate in the comments section, arguing on whether she had a valid complaint.
Alyssa (@_alyssacrown) begins her clip filming a table that appeared to have had five customers. She revealed five glasses of water that were still mostly untouched.
“Can we normalize NOT being the person at the table that says, ‘can we get waters all around?’” she writes in the text overlay. Her clip earned over 620,000 views as of Friday.
Viewers couldn’t be more divided
Several viewers who had serving experience knew all too well the annoyance Alyssa was experiencing. Not only did Alyssa take the time to bring all those waters and now has to take them back, but several found issue with “water waste.” Mostly, folks were annoyed that the guest spoke for his entire table.
“[This sh–] gets me everytime,” one wrote. “When I ask if they want a water w their alcohol, they say yes everytime, then don’t touch it. LIKE ITS OK TO SAY NO GUYS.”
Another added, “It truly has [irritated] my soul the more I serve bc why did i bring out 7waters just to refill your diet cokes 5 times each and now when i’m bussing i have 7 full waters to bring back.”
Other servers, however, thought Alyssa was making a mountain out of a molehill.
“As a previous server, water should always be served when you greet the table?” one argued. “If they want to drink it not it’s up to them. That’s just minimum service right there.”
This led Alyssa to respond that that’s fine for smaller restaurants. “But working for a corporate company and having 10 tables at once and then they seat you a 15 top it makes it SLIGHTLY more annoying when you’re in the weeds,” she wrote.
One server shared how waters take much longer to fill than other drinks. “Let’s be Fr I have to make two drink trips for you not to drink your water and you leave a $7 tip on a $100 tab. It’s the tables that be making you run,” they said.
Servers and their revenge
American servers go through an immense amount of challenges working in the service industry. For example, dealing with demanding customers, serving tables who don’t tip, and working long hours just to take home decent pay. When you work at a breastaurant, like Hooters, one can argue that the struggles are a tad more compared to other places. (A 2017 study out of the University of Tennessee found that working on “sexually objectifying restaurants” led to more anxiety and disordered eating.)
@_alyssacrown Thank you so much ? #server #serverlife #servertiktok #serverproblems #restaurant #servertok #fyp #worklife #waitress #restaurant ♬ Welp, Didn't Expect That – Yu-Peng Chen & HOYO-MiX
It’s no surprise, then, that servers have had to get creative to keep their sanity when serving. In a viral TikTok covered by the Mary Sue, one server shared how she gets revenge on customers who “chug” their drinks.
“But my favorite thing to do is take away people’s ice privileges,” the server said, adding that if someone is requiring so many refills, “the next drink you get will have one ice cube.”
The Mary Sue reached out to Alyssa via TikTok message.
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