If you feel like your server or bartender is speaking a secret language, they probably are.
In a now-viral TikTok, a restaurant worker shared the “unspoken code” between servers and customers.
In a video with over 617,300 views by Wednesday, TikTok user Indie (@indie_kay) shared her secrets. The Daily Dot reached out to her via TikTok comment.
“I thought there was an unspoken code where if I leave food off your ticket order, things that you ask for of extra off, extra bacon, I thought maybe that would tip maybe $1 maybe $2,” she said.
“Not nothing. People want the most for free,” she concluded.
@indie_kay And then she pulled a bible out and read it for over an hour
♬ original sound – Indie
In the caption, she wrote, “And then she pulled a bible out and read it for over an hour.”
Many users agreed with her philosophy of, “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.”
“This is the code,” one commenter wrote. “My bartender picked up a beer for me, the cost of that beer went into her tip.”
“If you comp me a $10 item, you get $10 added to your tip. Period,” added another.
“I literally gave a server over $25 for leaving one item off. It was over 40% of the bill. Do people not realize this?” wrote a third.
But a lot of people shared that they miss the code because they don’t check their receipts. “I DONT LOOK AT MY BILL I WOULDNT NOTICE. I tip anyways but still,” a user commented.
“i don’t always look at the itemized receipt,” seconded another. “Friend, I have anxiety and just look at the total to leave immediately. I am sorry, please don’t be angry with me,” shared a third user.
There was anger from users toward the people who don’t read between the lines. And to those who willingly take advantage of the code for some free items.
“Customers who don’t understand the code really wasting time at the table,” a user shared.
“If I get free food I immediately add that total to the tip wtf is wrong with people,” shared another. “People who pay the least expect the most,” observed a third.
Finally, some believe that this unspoken code should get talked about more in order to be effective.
“The code is you speak it to the customer ‘hooked you up extra bacon’ more tips,” they said.
