If you’ve worked as a restaurant server, then you’ve probably experienced the tedium of having to roll silverware. While some people find the repetitive nature of the practice therapeutic, others can’t stand it for this very reason.
No matter what one’s opinions on the act of silverware rolling are, it doesn’t change the fact that it needs to get done. Customers need silverware to eat with, and washed/dried utensils need to be put in a napkin and rolled up, ready for use.
Typically, servers are responsible for prepping the triage of fork, spoon, and butter knife into a cloth napkin, and they have a set amount they need to complete before the end of their shift. When they don’t complete these tasks, that duty falls on another co-worker.
However, a restaurant employee named Jordan (@jordanzoll) wasn’t having it with a co-worker of hers who decided to go out to a bar after their shift without getting their silverware rolled. So after finding out where he was having a grand old time, she barged into the bar to bring his abandoned work right to him.
And she recorded the whole thing in a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 900,000 views as of Tuesday morning.
“POV: You forgot to roll silverware before going out after work,” a text overlay in the video reads. The clip begins on a woman dressed all in black, presumably one of the server’s co-workers who is about to get ambushed with the big bin she’s carrying in her hands.
And what’s in the container of that bin? The yet-to-be-rolled silverware the employee was supposed to roll up before heading out to get their party on after work.
The worker in question, who is standing at the bar and conversing with a group of friends turns around and sees the bin before him. He looks at it, mouth agape as the woman hands the bin over to him. He takes it before the clip ultimately cuts out.
TikTokers who responded to Jordan’s video had varying takes on the co-worker’s utensil rolling stunt. Some people said that if they saw someone get handed a tub of silverware to prep, they’d gladly sit at the bar and help them out. Another said that they would much rather roll silverware while out, having a good time than do it at a restaurant.
“No but I do love rolling silverware, it was my fav side job to help my server friends w,” one user wrote.
“I would prefer rolling silverware at the bar tbh,” another remarked.
However, some said that they would quit their job on the spot. “POV I just quit, and you have to pick up abunch of silverware and napkins,” one joked.
@jordanzoll #serverlife ♬ original sound – jordan
Some TikTokers, however, said that they understood where the employee who delivered the silverware was coming from, noting the frustration with co-workers who are apparently allergic to completing tedious side work others are expected to do.
“The level of petty lol this was bro’s 6,000 time ‘forgetting,’” one person wrote.
“It’s really this deep,” a further TikToker wrote, presumably cool with the idea of hunting someone down after their shift to get silverware rolled.
“Work one week in a restaurant and you will understand completely,” someone else said.
One commenter thought that the video was a good example of a gag between work friends: “It looks like they’re a group of friends that work together. He’s laughing and smiling.”
While some viewers said they enjoy rolling silverware, several servers have lambasted the practice in their blogs or on social media. Several have stated that it’s a facet of the job many people don’t consider as a responsibility when they accept a server job. It’s especially frustrating if one is performing these duties in their final hour at a restaurant—because if they’re getting paid a server’s hourly wage which includes gratuity, chances are they’re only making $2.17 for that final hour.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jordan via TikTok comment for further information.
