The holiday season is often a time for generous gestures. One waitress reminded TikTokers about the importance of tipping and passing on that generosity when receiving free meals at a restaurant.
In the video, TikToker @ghostgrls walks viewers through how they didn’t get a tip during a waitressing shift a few days before Christmas due to their manager generously voiding a table’s check but the table not so generously walked out without tipping them.
“OK, so I’m at work right now, and my manager, who’s like the owner of the restaurant, she just voided this table’s check for like Christmas. She was like, ‘Oh let me void that so they don’t have to pay’. Because they’re like regulars they come in all the time. I was like, ‘Oh that’s sweet’. Well it was a $45 check, and my manager voided it, and they didn’t tip. They just didn’t leave a tip,” @ghostgrls states. They include the hashtags “#waitressproblems #waitresslife” in the comments.
The video has over 43,000 views and 224 comments as of Jan. 4.
@ghostgrls #waitressproblems #waitresslife ♬ original sound – lil nug
The comments section shows an interesting mix of people being annoyed with the manager, sympathizing with the guests who didn’t tip, or sympathizing with the waitress.
“Get your manager to give you the tip you lost,” @derek_sheen commented as a suggested solution.
“Maybe they didn’t have cash? So they didn’t know how to ask to run a card for tip,” @story1today questioned. Many other comments noted that they often don’t know how to tip if they don’t have cash and their check gets voided.
“I never ever carry cash. I would not even think to ask (or know) to leave just a tip on a card. Now I know,” @lisar1214 mentioned. This comment shows us how it’s often not common knowledge what is tipping etiquette when the meal is free.
However, other comments state they are always extra generous when it comes to tipping if their meal is free or discounted.
“When my stuff gets comped I always give it back to the waitress in tip,” @smroda59 shared.
“If you get comped an entire meal like that, then the server should get the full amount of the check as a tip,” @continentaldigs emphasized.
However, it’s interesting that the table didn’t tip during the holiday season since many note that they tend to tip more generously during the holiday season. A USA Today study on tipping found that “73% of Americans say they tip more frequently during the holiday season, and 69% say they tip more generously as well.” It seems as though tipping gets confusing when there is not check to pay and that these holiday tipping trends don’t always apply. Still, @ghostgrls reminds us of the necessary courtesy of tipping.
“How can you get a whole free meal for Christmas but then not tip your waitress? Like? And I know they know about tipping because they come in all the time, like. They’re not the best tippers but like, a little something would of been nice,” @ghostgirl states.
What happened to @ghostgrl reminds many of us about being conscious consumers. It doesn’t hurt to ask if you can still leave a tip on a card or if the tip was included in the check.
“This happened to me once and I asked like 5 times to make sure it included gratuity (they said it would) but I still left some cash bc I wasn’t sure!” noted another comment by @alexb1812.
The DailyDot has reached out to @ghostgrl for comment via TikTok.
