A TikTok video from creator @jorlala shows a restaurant employee recalling an incident involving three or four teenage boys who she says deliberately mispronounced a menu item before leaving her a one-cent tip.
She said the group was laughing throughout the interaction and appeared to be waiting for a reaction from the worker once she noticed the tip amount.
The employee said the boys came in and began deliberately mispronouncing an ingredient in a breakfast sandwich while laughing with each other. She said she repeatedly asked what they wanted as the boys deferred to one another over who would order first.
One of the boys ordered a sandwich and a cup of water, then asked the others if they wanted anything without giving them time to answer. The bill totaled $6, and she stepped away to prepare the food.
She then heard the card reader repeatedly beeping while it was out of her view, which she believed meant the boys were entering a custom tip amount. "That's the only time that, like, those buttons go off," she said, adding that the beeping continued as the group laughed.
She said she already had an idea of what had happened before checking the receipt. "I literally think to myself, they're gonna tip me a penny right now," she said. When she returned with the food, she saw that the receipt showed a one-cent tip, and the boys appeared to be watching for her reaction.
The group then asked for three additional cups of water. "Yeah, sounds about f------ right," she said, complaining about noticing similar behavior among teenage boys of similar age. She did not name the restaurant or provide additional details about the group in the video.
Reactions to the video included input from people who said they had faced similar situations while working in food service or delivery. One commenter said they disagreed with the behavior, despite being a teenager themselves. They wrote, "As a teen I hate how other people make us look bad."
Another commenter shared a sarcastic example from their own experience with a customer and a small cash tip, they wrote, "customer total: $4.97 customer hands: $5 bill customer says: 'keep the change.'"
Another commenter, who identified themselves as a delivery driver described receiving a similar tip, he wrote, "I am a delivery driver and I had a person tip me only a penny once. I left a penny on top of their order when I delivered it."
Another commenter related the story to their own workplace, which they said is near a school, they said, "the coffee shop i work at is next to a boys private high school its a nightmare" [sic].
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the details of the interaction described in the video, including the restaurant's location or the identities of the customers involved. The details above reflect @jorlala's account shared on TikTok.
