Tipping culture can often be a touchy subject, with many people left divided over what is an appropriate amount to tip (or not to tip)...
Well, a bartender's recent attitude has done just that - sparking debate on TikTok after telling customers to get the "f*** out" if they won't tip bar staff 40%. Talk about a rude awakening!
The video in question - which was uploaded by TikTok user @jsauce527 and has received 4.1 million views and over 470,000 likes - shows a bartender at a bar in Rockford, Illinois, shouting at customers who won't tip 40%.
"If you're not f**king the bartenders, tipping 40%, get the f**k out of the bar. It is 2 o'clock and I'm ready to go the f**k home," the bartender said, before waving the customers out of the bar and urging them to "get out!"
Unsurprisingly, users were divided in the comments, with one person simply saying: "I'd leave no tip after that."
Someone else added that the bartenders may as well be asking for rent money as well, stating: "You want me to pay your rent as well?"
Another user remarked: "I wouldn't leave a tip after that and there would be absolutely no consequences because it's my money [...]."
Other people were on the opposite side of the debate, arguing that the staff at the bar had every right to ask for 40% tips if the bar was closing and patrons were still not leaving.
"Everyone saying 40% is ridiculous… that's the point.. they want you to leave," one person wrote.
Someone else agreed, adding: "These comments ain't it some of y'all shouldn't do the bar scene if y'all are gonna be this precious about it [...] half the fun is the bartender."
Another person recalled their own experience as a bartender in the same situation, commenting: "We used to say that when we were closing too! and then 8 people end up chillin at the bar staring at one another lol [sic]."
Tipping is standard in the US, and adding a gratuity of 15 to 20 percent on top of the bill (before sales tax) is standard, with 25 percent given for great service. However, while it is customary across the country, it can often be a pretty foreign concept to many travelers visiting for the first time.
Outlets like CNBC have reported on the rise in how much people are tipping - detailing how during the 1950s, people commonly tipped 10 percent of the bill, and that this number jumped to 15 percent by the 1970s and 1980s before surging to a whopping 15 to 25 percent more recently.
People have even started to spot that self-service machines often ask if the user wants to tip - despite not having been served by a human being - which many have thought is a step too far for tipping culture.
