When it comes to tipping, servers usually get the short straw—and that’s what happened to TikToker and server Syd (@poorandhungry) as she shared a real-life experience she had while dealing with a customer.
Syd is a content creator who shares insights and reenactments from her job as a server with her 269,400 TikTok followers. And in this video, which has amassed 691,300 views as of Saturday, she shared what is perhaps her most shocking story yet.
She begins the video by reenacting a recent experience she had, where one affluent customer announced that they’d be paying for the meal all on his card before then informing Syd that he wouldn’t be giving her a tip.
“‘I’m not gonna give you a tip. I’m gonna give you a LIFE tip,’” she recounts him telling her. “‘Here’s my business card, go back to school.’”
“I do appreciate that, I am currently in an MBA program,” she says she responded. “So I appreciate the business card but won’t be needed.”
@poorandhungry THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED ONCE #server #serverlife #customerservice #restaurant ♬ original sound – $yd
To which he replied, “‘You don’t need to get defensive. It’s 2pm. I know you’re not in school.’”
Syd says he then told her that he was the Assistant Dean of this “really not good college”, to which she replied, “‘Unfortunately, I already have the degree that you’re admitting for. So this it’s just not helpful for me. I’m in my master’s program. So I appreciate the life tip I’m actually a couple of steps ahead of you. But I’m going to walk away now and well that’s life sometimes. At least I know a degree from your school would pay really well clearly.”
In the comments, viewers couldn’t believe the audacity of the customer.
“It’s a very confusing philosophy they have because it’s like, do you not want any servers at the restaurants you go to?” one asked.
“I have never paid my rent with a LIFE TIP!” another said.
“I had a regular tell me months ago I needed to have a life plan for them by Valentine’s Day for them to approve,” a third commenter shared.
The Daily Dot reached out to Syd via contact form.
