The majority of US servers only earn a base hourly wage of $2.13 an hour. According to the U.S. Department of Laborbecause they are expected to get tips that lead to average salaries it is usually higher than minimum wage.
However, hints are not guaranteed.and on a recent TikTok, user @swagg0d claimed to get revenge by exchanging drinks with non-tipping customers. As of Wednesday morning, his videos had over 131,400 views.
@swagg0dd Then I take the rest of the pour and take a shot of it myself #fyp #bartok #bartendertok #bartender problem #bartendersoftiktok #service industry #bartender meme #bartender ♬lowER – Destinyrenee
In the clip, @swagg0d recorded someone lip-syncing saying, “When they go low, so do I.” A glass was then filled with soda water and a small amount of alcohol before pressing the glass against the customer.
But his revenge didn’t stop there. “Then I pour the rest and take the shot myself,” @swagg0d wrote in the caption.
The Daily Dot reached out to @swagg0d via a comment on TikTok. At the time of publication, it was unclear if he was joking and/or which bar he worked at.
Still, leaving a small tip, while it may be unkind to the server, is nothing new. For example, some believe that a server working in a buffet style restaurant should not receive a 20% tip.recently reddit threadanother user posted on the r/unpopularopinion sub of the site boldly declared bartenders didn’t even deserve a 20% tip.
But @swagg0d isn’t the only bartender to admit to shortchanging cheap customers. One viewer shared his own method of enforcing revenge.
“Fr. Your Bombay Gin Martini will be olive juice and a quarter ounce of vermouth,” wrote the second commenter.
“Believe me, we had a couple come in three times this week on their honeymoon and each time they were stiff so we did the same thing,” said another bartender.
Admittedly, not everyone tolerates this type of behavior. Some viewers said this is the type of thing that makes them think twice about going to bars often.
“Why I don’t drink in bars,” wrote one commenter. “I’m fine and they’re still doing this.”
Another person said, ‘The reason why I don’t drink unless I see what I’m making.’
*First published: May 3, 2023 8:17am CDT
Jack Alban
Jack Alban is a freelance journalist for the Daily Dot covering trending human interest/social media stories and how real people react to them. He’s always trying to incorporate evidence-based research, current events, and facts related to these stories to create not-so-average viral posts.