Get enough people together and you’re sure to throw a match on quite the powder keg as soon as you bring up tipping.
And while many of us may cast harsh looks at those who say they don’t tip, it’s not impossible to see where they’re coming from because one can argue that the status quo of tipping culture allows both servers and customers to be taken advantage of.
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But it’s also possible to agree with that overall sentiment and still recognize that so many servers and delivery drivers would find themselves in major jeopardy if everyone stopped tipping tomorrow.
From their perspective, not tipping is tantamount to letting them starve. So it’s not so surprising that a lot of viewers wouldn’t find one man’s apparent joke all that funny.
On August 25, a TikTok user who goes by Tony C uploaded a video in which he was apparently dissatisfied with the service at a restaurant.
As we can see from the caption, this apparently involved a messed-up order, long wait times, and attitudes from the wait staff that he apparently found lacking.
So as a result, we can see Tony C. making a point of not tipping while filling in the blanks on his receipt.
And from the looks of it, he was so disappointed that he didn’t want to pay anything at all and wrote a tip in negative numbers to wipe away his subtotal.
That just seems like dining and dashing with extra steps, but whatever.
As you might expect, this video kicked off a pretty heated debate about tipping for disappointing service in the video’s comments.
As Insider reported , some users stated that there aren’t any circumstances in which they don’t tip. In one person’s words, “I always tip even if there are issues. We are human. Mistakes happen. Remember these people live off tips.”
And while another person indicated that not tipping was a sign that Tony C has never worked in customer service, some who had seemed to agree with the video sentiments.
As one such person put it, “I’m a waitress too. If they don’t serve me properly then they don’t get a tip.”
However, it seems that this debate wasn’t entirely needed as Tony C has since said the video was a joke.
As he told Insider, “I always tip 20% regardless, so I did at the place I had dinner as well. Half of the people understood the joke and half hate me now.”
And in case this just seems like a flimsy attempt to save face, there’s a way to verify that he’s telling the truth from the video alone.
If you take a look at the bottom of the receipt, you’ll notice that it’s the customer copy that exists purely for his own records.
Besides, how many people really thought the restaurant was going to let him get away with paying nothing?
h/t: Insider
