Most people who go to bars understand what “last call” means. You order one last drink, you have that drink, and then you leave the closing bar.
It’s the sentiment the Oak Ridge Boys appropriated (albeit much differently than what a bouncer means) when they wrote, “You Don’t Have to Go Home But You Can’t Stay Here.”
But one server who thought she was cruising to an easy end-of-the-night was derailed by a group of customers who ordered drinks at last call, 15 minutes before the bar closed, and then wouldn’t leave.
The video documenting this disaster came from creator Kristina Withers (@krisswith), who documents her life as a server on her TikTok channel. This particular video has drawn nearly 13,000 views since going up Wednesday.
She begins by saying, “Picture this,” before setting the scene. “Busy all night, steady all night, loving it. We close at midnight. Eleven o’clock comes … dead, right? Best-case scenario any server bartender could have in their entire life, because you make great money, the time goes by fast and you see the light at the end of the tunnel that you’re gonna get out like right as the doors are locked. But nothing ever goes in favor of the server bartender, right? Because that’d be too [expletive] easy!”
At 11:42pm, she said, two couples came in, and after she warned them last call was just minutes away, she was happy to get them a drink. They ordered a round of tequila shots, which she served them and which a member of the party paid for her with a $10 tip. This appeared to be going OK, but then, they argued over whether to get a pitcher or a bucket before settling on the bucket—five Bud Lights arriving at their table at 11:47pm. Withers figured, with the rules of engagement clear, they would finish their beers before the bar closed at midnight.
But it was not to be. As she relays, one member of the party talks to the only other bar patron there—a “late-night regular” used to the staff performing closing duties around him—and they’re still there as midnight approaches. She asks them to pay in anticipation of them leaving, and a man in the party paying for the drink “looks in his wallet literally throws a $20 bill in the across the bar and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is what we’re doing.’”
She slides the receipt and the 52 cents back in change to the man, because as she puts it, “Sir, if you’re going to be that cheap. I want you to know that I know that you’re being frickin’ cheap.”
But they won’t leave, and as she shares, “So it was a very, very big surprise to me when I came out from doing my drawer telling them, ‘Hey, guys wrap it up. It is time to go’”—at 12:10am—and they start telling me, ‘We paid for these beers.’”
She then reminded the party of her earlier warning, but wasn’t able to herd them out until 12:22am. She concludes, “And the moral of this story is 11:45, no pitchers, no buckets. No beer. Y’all done ruined it for everybody.”
Commenters felt her pain.
@krisswith Not sure whats going on w my hair here but just shows the kinda night i had. #fyp #server #servers #serversoftiktok #serverstories #serverstorytime #serverstory #serverlife #serverprobs #bartender #bartenders #bartendersoftiktok #bartenderstories #bartenderstory #bartenderstorytime #bartenderprobs #bartenderproblems #bartenderlife ♬ original sound – Kristina Withers
“The audacity of those people,” said one. “If I knew it closed in 15 min, I’d just go elsewhere.”
Another said, “The bar I frequent only serves shots after last call.”
One person working as a bartender added, “People will RUN out of their office job early to get to the bar but god forbid us bartenders want to go home when our shift is over.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Withers via email.
