Last year, a TikTok went viral in which a customer at a bar ate an orange off of the counter. By the end of the video, they reveal they were charged $12 for consuming a “stolen orange.”
This led to considerable discussion on the topic. Some claimed the bartender was in the right to charge the customer, and others countered that the bartender overreacted.
Now, several bartenders have joined the discussion, one of which being TikTok user Joshua (@driftersjoint). In a video with over 1.4 million views, Joshua recounts an experience he had working at a tiki bar in which some customers got a little too comfortable taking from the garnishes.
According to Joshua, he was working when a “lovely group of people” entered the bar and started conversing with him. However, after a few moments, he says something strange happened.
“The lady that’s sitting in front of me, specifically from this group, gets confident after some conversation. And she reaches in, grabs a nutmeg out of my ramekin, and says, ‘Oh, what’s this for now?’” recounts Joshua. “Because she was so kind, and the rest of her group was kind, I wanted to be polite, right? And I just said, ‘Ma’am, that’s actually for me to grate over my cocktails.’ Nothing more. So she says, ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ and puts back the nutmeg in the ramekin.”
Joshua then had to throw away the nutmeg as it had been contaminated. While he says he was subtle about it, he claims that he hoped the woman would have understood not to further touch the garnishes after this interaction.
He would soon learn this was not the case. While he was preparing another order of drinks, he says he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He says the woman once again was reaching for a whole nutmeg.
“[She] turns around to her group and she says, ‘Have you ever thought what it would be like to eat one of these?’ And pops it in her mouth like an M&M,” Joshua states.
From here, things got worse.
“Now, mind you, this all happened in the span of three seconds, and I didn’t really have time to react,” explains Joshua. “When she pops it in, she bites down on it and cracks her tooth, and lets out a little squeal like, ‘Oh!’”
To conclude, Joshua warns against messing with a bartender’s garnishes.
“But the point, or the moral of the story, is don’t touch the garnishes, right?” he shares. “You’ll save yourself the embarrassment of having a bartender to tell you ‘no’—and possibly the embarrassment of cracking your tooth on a nutmeg.”
@driftersjoint Bar Rule No. 1 Dont touch the garnishes #bar #bartending #bartender #cocktails ♬ original sound – Joshua
Immediately, some commenters began worrying about the customer developing nutmeg poisoning. However, it is unclear whether the customer actually ate the nutmeg or simply put it in her mouth. Placing a whole nutmeg in one’s mouth is generally not enough exposure to induce nutmeg poisoning.
Other commenters suggested laying out the bar differently in order to prevent situations like these from happening.
“Just put a little sign that says do not touch,” said a user.
“Usually when theres a plate of fruit sitting on a table where people eat, its for them. put it behind the counter,” added another.
“Everytime i want green olives i just ask and they usually more than happy to grab a little cup and put olives in for me,” offered a third.
The Daily Dot reached out to Joshua via email.
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