In a video with 5.5 million viewers, TikTok user Gemma (@gemma.moro) explained how she reached a valid “crash out” because of the comments from a table she was serving. Gemma, a server, tried to compliment a woman only to receive shade when she walked away.
“In the middle of the [expletive] dinner rush, and a table gets sat in my section,” she says. “Maybe mid-30s, good-looking guy (and) good-looking girl.”
According to Gemma, the girl was “gorgeous” with “blonde hair… blue top.” To Gemma, she looked like singer Megan Maroney, so the server complimented her. The guy who was at the table went along with Gemma, complimenting the girl.
When Gemma walked away from the table, however, the girl said, “Wow, she’s really pandering for her tips tonight.”
The audacity of service work
“What the [expletive] do you think my job is?” the server responded, feeling angry at the situation. Gemma clarified that she wouldn’t go out of her way to call someone beautiful unless she believed it, but that it was her job to compliment guests and that she shouldn’t have to be clocked for trying to be nice.
After that, Gemma took the woman’s drink order, which was a “skinny margarita [with] no syrup.” She checked in on them after bringing out drinks and bites, only for the woman to complain that her margarita tasted “like chemicals. It doesn’t taste good at all.” Gemma asked the woman what she would like to drink instead, and she switched to a glass of sauvignon blanc.
After filling that request, Gemma checked on the table again, only to be told to “leave [them] alone now,” rudely.
When Gemma finally brought the man the check while his girlfriend was in the bathroom, he complimented her service, giving Gemma complete whiplash. In the end, they tipped 25%, leaving Gemma confused and flabbergasted about the treatment but ultimately thankful.
@gemma.moro Genuenly idk how I get filled with this much rage it’s lowk embarrassing #rant ♬ original sound – Gemma
How rude were the couple to the server?
Thousands of service workers have stories of rude customers treating them unfairly. The BBC reports that most people have said something they regret to a service worker at some point in their life, with over half of service workers reporting increased incidences of abuse after the pandemic in 2020.
Stress plays a large role in how people approach servers, bartenders, coffee baristas, and essential restaurant workers. They become easy scapegoats for emotional dysregulation because they’re almost faceless.
In this case, the couple was needlessly rude but offered a tip to make up for the difficulty. Still, the stress and frustration can make it hard for those on the front lines in restaurants. Servers often report having low self-esteem and trauma from harassment in the workplace. In that regard, Gemma had a perfectly “valid reason to crashout,” as one user put it.
@Troubled.thorn97 agreed, saying, “Your anger is 100% VALID.”
The Mary Sue reached out to the creator for comment.
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