Internet Culture

‘This is actually really sad’: Subway worker falls asleep on sandwich in viral TikTok video

While some thought the video was hilarious, many viewers found it to be ‘really sad’ and ‘heartbreaking.’

Photo of Eilish O'Sullivan

Eilish O'Sullivan

tiktok subway sleep sandwich

A Subway worker was caught nodding off before landing face-first into a sandwich she was preparing for a customer. The customer recorded the incident for a TikTok video that is now making the rounds online.

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The video has since racked up nearly 9 million views, over 1 million likes, and even went viral on other platforms. “I (just) wanted a sandwich bro,” the video’s creator, @ss4xgoku1, wrote on TikTok. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@ss4xgoku1/video/6895597511055117573

While some thought the video was hilarious, many viewers found it to be “really sad” and “heartbreaking.” “This is actually really sad. I can’t imagine how underslept she is. Not to mention the wage people get paid at Subway…. She deserves better,” one TikToker wrote. 

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Others also commented on how fast-food workers often go underpaid and overworked. 

“Poor angel,” another wrote. “She’s probably overworked.”

According to Business Insider, the average hourly wage of a Subway worker was anywhere between $8 and $9 in 2019. And despite being considered essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic, fast-food workers are still going underpaid, according to the Californian Paper.

Being underpaid and overworked aren’t the only challenges those working in the food industry face. Twelve percent of fast-food workers said they were assaulted in 2014, according to a 2015 survey, per Business Insider. And in 2020, in the year of the Karen, food industry workers being abused is evidently, unfortunately, a fairly common occurrence.

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Influencers who came across the TikTok video of the Subway worker dozing off also chimed in. “Poor thing … Can’t imagine how underslept she is, we’re too hard on service workers,” skincare YouTuber Hyram wrote. 

“Man this is more heartbreaking than anything. I hope she’s ok,” YouTuber Garrett Watts commented. 

Other viewers speculated that the woman was on drugs and slammed the TikToker for filming her at her alleged “lowest.” “Maybe ask her if she’s alright instead,” one user suggested. 

In response to Perez Hilton, who speculated that the woman is “unwell or has a medical condition” and asked the TikToker to “please remove” the video, the TikToker alleged that the woman was “high.” “She screamed at me right after and said she wasn’t even asleep,” the user added. 

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