She’s tipped off.
An Atlanta-based server went on a TikTok rant this week about why she’s sick and tired of giving sizeable tips to other waiters and waitresses who haven’t demonstrated the worthiness of a 20% gratuity.
The pointed comments from service industry member Jenna Michal, viewed almost 110,000 times, come as Americans have reached a collective tipping fatigue and are pushing back against the guilt of not giving when it’s not warranted.
Michal’s point of view is that she knows what goes into the job and can easily sniff out when somebody’s phoning it in.
“I’m tired of busting my butt to make sure my tables have everything and getting tipped good — and then I go to these other places and I’m tipping these people the same amount when they’re doing a terrible job,” she quipped.
“It’s just not that hard, and if you mess it up, I’m not tipping you 20%,” she added.
Michal isn’t ignorant that the job, like any, has its rough days and moments. Still, her empathy has waned a great deal.
“This job is simple. Does it get hard at times? Yeah. But you’re really bringing people food and making sure drinks are full and bringing them barbecue sauce and ketchup,” she noted.
And while those duties might seem straightforward, Michal says she’s been fed up with recent server incompetence while dining out.
“I don’t get a refill, I don’t get my silverware, it takes 20 minutes to get a condiment or I have to go ask someone else for it,” she explained, saying that lots of servers are messing up splitting checks nowadays as well.
Adding insult to injury, Michal confessed to being an “overtipper” in the past. Those days are long, long gone.
“If you sucked and I had to ask two times for a refill, and I had to get up and ask one of your coworkers because you couldn’t go grab barbecue sauce, I’m not tipping you 20%. I’m just so sick of it,” she fumed.
“I can’t validate it anymore,” she continued.
Despite her very valid claim, which comes as Americans continue being shellacked by absurdly high inflation, plenty of commenters said she should have a heart.
“As a server, [I] don’t think it’s hard, but life is. I’m tipping 20% for bad service and 35% for amazing service,” one replied.
“You never know what people are going through and why they might not [have] been on their game that day,” added another.
But before casting judgment on the irked waitress, keep in mind that she claims to go above and beyond to reward those who go above and beyond.
“It’s at the point where if I actually have a good server, I’m tipping them like 30 to 40% because [I’m] so thrilled to actually see someone doing a good job,” Michal captioned her video.