A server is calling out customers who stay at restaurants past closing time despite clear signals from employees that it’s time to leave.
In the video, Ariyanai (@ariyannaaii) is seen waiting inside a restaurant for a handful of customers to leave since it’s already past closing time. She zooms in on at least three distinct tables where patrons are eating or chatting away, seemingly unaware that they’ve overstayed their welcome. The Daily Dot reached out to Ariyanai for comment via TikTok comment.
@ariyannaaii i just wanna go home 😔 #fyp #serverlife #foryoupage #serviceindustry #resturantlife ♬ Summer Background Jazz – Jazz Background Vibes
“Is it not rude to sit in a restaurant past the time they close? Like why are you sitting here talking and laughing as if we’re not closed?” the text overlay on the video reads.
Ariyanai goes on to share that the restaurant staff had already turned off the televisions, swept, and mopped—yet the customers didn’t get the hint that it was their time to leave.
“Why aren’t you leaving?” Ariyanai said.
By the time the server filmed the TikTok, the restaurant was already 45 minutes past closing, she said.
“I just wanna go home,” she said in the caption.
The top comment on the video was from a person sharing how they gently but firmly let customers know that it’s time to go.
“The line ‘we’re closing in 20min can I get you anything else or just the check,’ was invented for this reason.”
The video has nearly half a million views and hundreds of comments. Since the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when interactions decreased and power dynamics amplified — a lack of quality customer interactions with those in the service industry has increased, according to Time magazine.
Several commenters shared their thoughts on people who come in close to closing time.
“Like why do ppl even think of coming in right before closing time at all I’ve never done that at any restaurant and never will lmao,” one person said.
“People expect top tier service when they come in before close too,” another wrote.
Others shared their perspective as a server and how they typically approach the situation.
“The people saying ‘Just tell them’ have never worked in [hospitality]. We once had people stay almost an hour past close, told them constantly,” a commenter wrote.
“It confuses me so much. I literally aggressively mop next to them and they still don’t get it,” another said.
“In extreme cases, I would turn off the lights lmao,” a person shared.
