TikToker bypassed an 18% tip on food, leading to a confrontation with the manager. The internet’s opinion is now divided
Companies should pay their employers more
A man is sparking conversations about America’s tipping culture, using his own experience to do so. In a TikTok video, Maxwell (maxwellsvision) explained that he went to a coffee shop near his place because he craved a bagel with a lot of butter.
However, Maxwell said that after he got to the shop and looked through the menu, he decided to order something else. He asked for a turkey wrap with bacon. Maxwell noted that the lady who was taking his order was “very sweet,” but not for long.
After Maxwell refused cheese in his wrap, he said he asked the woman to add sriracha or hot sauce, but she apparently refused and instead urged him to do it. “In the back of my mind, I’m like, it really takes you four seconds to put Sriracha in a wrap and wrap it up? Why can’t you do it for me?” Maxwell recalled thinking at the time.
After Maxwell was done with his complete order, he proceeded to make payment and used Apple Pay for the same. He said he skipped over the page that asked him to pay a tip and went straight to the payment page. “I’m getting ready to pay, but obviously before I can pay, I have to go through the tipping screen. It says 18%, 20% tip, or 25% tip. I press skip every single time unless they do something outlandish to me,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell then said that after he paid, the woman handed him the receipt, and he could tell she was reading what was written on it. He stressed that he saw an immediate behavior change in the woman and that she was no longer treating him in a nice manner as she had earlier. “She hands me my receipt, her whole attitude change…No facial expressions, no nothing? No nothing. When I walked in, she was the most smiley little old lady in the world. So cute, so lovable,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell said after a while his name was called and he was hoping to see the same woman back at the counter, but that wasn’t supposedly the case. Instead, the manager turned up and apparently confronted Maxwell for not giving a tip. Maxwell spoke about the issue he faced with sriracha and insinuated that was the reason for him not giving a tip. However, the manager alleged that, “in this neighborhood, people tip 18% minimum.”
Maxwell then apparently promised to give a tip the next time he visits. In the concluding statement of his video, Maxwell revealed that the food from the eatery was not good. He also spoke about the ridiculousness of them wanting him to pay 18 percent tip on the food item. “After I got done eating the wrap. I’m just mad at myself for spending this $18 cause it was so mid and they wanted 18% on top of this. America is literally insane,” Maxwell said.
“Everything else is optional”
While tipping isn’t compulsory in the United States, there’s always pressure on customers to pay it. Maxwell’s video received more than 2000 comments. Some people agreed with Maxwell’s criticism of American tipping culture. One person wrote, “Only people you should be tipping are drivers and servers. Everything else is optional.” Another said, “u can’t expect me to tip when I be working 2 jobs to barely survive.”
A few others criticized the system that creates the need to tip workers. One person commented, “if you really want to destroy tipping culture the fight for every worker to have a liveable wage. every worker no matter the job deserves a liveable wage.” Another remarked, “Noooo they need to pay y’all more and stop blaming us for your boss being cheap but at a good restaurant if I sit down yes I tip.”
What do you think about America’s tipping culture? Do you think Maxwell’s reaction to the incident was justified?
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