A waiter has sparked a debate after denying a customer’s request for a candle on her birthday.
In a video shared to TikTok last month by @lifeofperveen, two women could be seen getting a dessert and coffee from a server at their table in a restaurant. As he set their order down, one of the women asked him for a candle, in honour of her friend’s birthday.
“It’s also her birthday so we were wondering if you have any candles?” she asked. However, the waiter shut the request down.
“No, I don’t really have time for that right now, sorry,” he responded to her.
The women could then be heard saying “makes sense” and “yeah you’re good.”
“We cared enough to celebrate your birthday,” Perveen wrote in the caption.
As of 10 March, the video has more than 128,900 views, with TikTok users saying that the server should have gotten the candles.
“L waiter,” one wrote. “Come on bro, it’s her birthday.”
“It’s quite literally his job to get her what she wants,” another added. “How does he not have time?”
Others claimed that the server’s actions should have affected how much he got tipped, one of which said: “Should have left him a note saying ‘sorry, don’t really have money for tips.’”
A few viewers felt like he could have responded to his customers differently.
“I’m a server and I would have just said ‘no, sorry’ if I didn’t have enough time,” a comment reads. “He was being rude for no reason.”
On the opposite side of the coin, some viewers agreed with the waiter and said that he wasn’t required to help celebrate his customer’s birthday.
“[N]ah I understand the waiter, sometimes the place is too busy to give special attention to people who will leave a mess and won’t tip either way,” one wrote.
“Bring your own candles and ask to see the dessert menu,” another commenter said. “Birthdays are not server responsibilities at all.”
Speaking to The Independent, Perveen said that she understood why her waiter said no to getting the candles, as she’s previously worked in food services.
“I’ve worked in the food industry before, so I know how stressful it can be,” she explained. “We weren’t angry at him, if anything we should’ve been more prepared. Closed mouths don’t get fed so we thought why not anyway.”
