A waitress has gone viral on social media after revealing that she has used the "shaming" technique currently going viral on social media in order to get customers to tip her more.
TikTok user Tamela - who goes by the handle @tamela.anderson on the social media platform - posted a video of herself confirming that the "shaming" method works for getting better tips - especially from rude customers.
In her video, Tamela explains spoke about her experience serving two men once. She recalled that one of the men paid for the entire bill in cash but only provided a few dollars - accounting for 10% to 15% of the check - as a tip.
However, as she was collecting the man's payment, he made an unwarranted remark about her appearance and said "I've never been a fan of blondes." She then replied: "You know, I don’t really like s***ty tippers."
After her blunt reply, Tamela said the customer added another $10 bill.
Tamela's video garnered a lot of attention from users on the platform. The video has been viewed over 720,000 times and has more than 133,000 likes. However, users of the social media platform were divided over the method.
Some applauded the waitress for her snappy comeback and acknowledged that service workers don’t get paid enough for their work.
One user said: "People that are against you or complaining about your behavior clearly [have] never worked as a server, y’all get real." Another user added: "That’s honestly fair because he came for you first lol."
A third commented: "Unexpected reactions yield unpredictable results."
While other users had questions about Tamela's approach and the principles behind "shaming" customers to receive tips greater than 15% - which many consider the standard tip amount.
One user wrote: "Maybe servers should shame their bosses into paying them a livable wage so they don’t have to depend on tips."
Another chimed in and said: "Tips are a gratuity and not owed. Shaming anyone for a tip is crazy and unprofessional."
A third asked: "10-15% isn’t a good tip? What is?"
A few people under Tamela's comment section asked her to reiterate what she meant when she stated that she no longer felt the need to try and put on a "waitress persona" for her customers.
In a follow-up video, the waitress clarified the misunderstanding and explained that she wasn't being "overly nice" or "using a fake voice" with customers.
Tamela added: "If men are gonna be making inappropriate comments to me, I’m just gonna start making inappropriate comments back to them."
Sounds fair to me!