An Arnold Palmer, a mix of lemonade and tea named for a professional golfer who made the beverage his signature, is a classic drink enjoyed by many. However, a young server who was unfamiliar with the drink says a customer reported her to her manager for not knowing that it is non-alcoholic and asking to see their ID.
In a video that has drawn over 3.3 million views on the platform as of Saturday, TikToker Steph (@itsstephielin) shared that she was trying to uphold her restaurant’s policy, and likely compliance with state law, of asking for ID for all alcoholic drinks.
@itsstephielin Sorry I didn’t know what an Arnold Palmer is stink 😞 #fyp #fypシ #serverlife #serverproblems #servertiktok #viral #drinks #arnoldpalmer #49ers #cowboys #horrify #dallascowboys #suprise #id #photography #beyonce #mascara ♬ WHY YALL USING THIS SOUND OML – CYRUS
“When I was a new server a table ordered an Arnold Palmer and I asked for their ID and they said, ‘for what?’” the text overlay on the video reads. “I said, ‘We ID for all alcoholic drinks,’ and they said, ‘an Arnold Palmer is half lemonade and half ice tea,’ then they asked to speak with my manager.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Steph via email regarding the video.
She isn’t alone—many viewers responded to the video with their own experiences of learning what an Arnold Palmer is for the first time.
“No that is not as bad as a man asking me for an Arnold Palmer and I said ‘I’m sorry he doesn’t work here,’” one commenter wrote.
“Someone asked me for an Arnold Palmer and I rung them up for a calamari,” another viewer said.
“It’s ok my first time I said ‘we don’t have that’ and he says ‘you have tea, right? And you have lemonade, right? Then you have an Arnold Palmer,’” one viewer shared.
On the customer’s end, several viewers shared that they had been ID’d for other non-alcoholic beverages with distinct names.
“It’s ok. I got ID’d for a Shirley temple once lol,” one commenter wrote.
“My old coworker ID’d a lady for a Shirley temple,” another user offered. “Because she told him it had grenadine & he thought that was liquor.”
“I did this with a roy rogers like bro who even says that,” a commenter wrote.
