Working as a server is not for the faint of heart. First, servers have to walk—a lot. While the average American takes about 5,000 steps per day, servers take around 23,000. Assuming average stride, that’s over 10 miles in a single day.
Second, as they’re doing all of this walking, they’re taking care of customers. Sometimes, these diners can be difficult. From eaters who don’t leave a tip to guests who are just plain gross, there’s a lot that a customer can do to make a server’s life a nightmare.
TikToker David (@daavviidd.__) recently experienced a group of difficult customers—but it was what came at the end of the meal that shocked him the most.
What Went Wrong During This Server’s Shift?
In a video with over 2.3 million views, David explains that, while serving at a restaurant, he encountered a customer who said she was “allergic to dairy products.”
This was a problem because, as David explains, the menu was pretty dairy-heavy.
“It was really, like, five items out of our whole f—ing menu that she can get,” he says.
When David followed up with the customer, her response surprised him.
“She’s like, ‘Well, you’re not letting me get anything,’” he recounts. “I’m not letting you get anything? The f—?”
David then left the table and waited for them to call him back when they were ready to order. When he returned, the table quickly accused him of forgetting about them, something he denies.
Things Get Worse
After the table placed their order, the husband asked if he could have cheese on his salad.
“There’s only one salad at the table, and I literally, like, waited for the mom to say something, and she didn’t,” he recounts. “So, I put cheese on it anyways, because she only ordered soup. She didn’t order ‘soup and salad.’ She only ordered soup.”
The mother then proceeded to get upset about cheese being placed on the salad, even though she was given ample opportunity to prevent it from happening. David brought another salad.
When the entrees arrived, David began to pass them out, not adding any cheese, given the previous experience. However, once the entrees had been passed out, the husband requested cheese—forcing David to perform an awkward stretch over the table in order to grate it.
The mother at the table with a milk allergy did not like this.
“The girl, she looks at me and she goes, ‘Oh, so you’re just gonna do that all in my face?’” David recalls. “Huh, b—-? How about you don’t come to a f—ing restaurant where Parmesan cheese is leaking to the f—ing carpets?”
Did They At Least Tip Well?
By the time the meal ended, David was clearly ready to send them off. After bringing them a final tiramisu, he tells the group their final total: $72.75.
“She gives me all the cash. ‘You can keep the change, sweetie,’” remembers David.
When he counted the cash, David realized that the group left him a tip. It was just 25 cents.
“This b—- gave me 73 f—g dollars!” he says. “You gave me a 25-cent tip after you just cried about f—ing being allergic to dairy products.”
“How the f— was I supposed to know that?” David continues. “I treated this table for two and a half f—ing hours! You took up my f—ing section, b—-, and tipped me 75 f—ing cents!”
How Much Are You Supposed To Tip Servers?
In this situation, a typical tip would range between 20 and 25 percent. Even if the group believed that David provided poor service, many experts agree that the lowest a tip should go for poor service is around 10 percent.
This means that the group should have tipped David between $14.55 and $18.19. Or $7.28 at the very lowest.
Why is tipping so heavily encouraged? In the United States, servers often earn the federal tipped minimum wage, which is just $2.13 per hour. Servers make the rest of their income from tips, which is why many recommend tipping even if one has received poor service.
@daavviidd.__ I still come to work everyday lol #restaurant #server #freaky #chickfila ♬ original sound – david ?
Commenters Are On David’s Side
In the comments section, many users speculated about where David worked, with some saying they had similar experiences while working at Olive Garden.
“I’m gonna assume u work at olive garden, i hated working there,” said a user.
Others simply recounted their own miserable experiences as a server.
“Same thing happened to me except they were allergic to salt/pepper. 90% of items on the menu have salt/pepper. They stiffed me because they were extremely limited,” recalled a commenter.
“One time i had the rudest table EVER like was so bothered by my existence, handed me 100 dollars and said yeah the rest is for you. their check was 99.98,” offered another. “i will never forget that.”
“I was tipped two fake hundreds,” shared a third.
The Mary Sue reached out to David via TikTok and Instagram direct message.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
