23-year-old waitress confronts impolite customer after he takes away $100 tip: 'I don't think he expected someone to call him out'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 26, 2025 5:00 PM EST

Waiters and waitresses are tired of their customers, but at least during the holiday season, they can expect some tips in the triple-digit range. Maybe their cherished regulars who come in for coffee every morning leave them a crisp hundred as a "thank you" for making their days a little brighter. Perhaps a huge group comes in for a dinner and leaves a generous tip to thank the server for making their family meal go smoothly. There doesn't even need to be a good reason for a customer to leave a big tip — they just get the satisfaction of knowing that they made their waiter's day a little brighter. It means that the waiter can get extra Christmas presents for their kid, or maybe take their own family out for a nice meal around the holidays. It's a win-win, so long as you have a pure heart and kind spirit. 

There's nothing worse as a server, though, than encountering a resentful tipper. This person sometimes manifests as that old story of a man who puts 5 single dollar bills on the table and removes one each time his waitress doesn't follow his commands. Sometimes this type of person will tell the waiter up front that if she does a good job, he'll tip her $50, and of course, that customer will find any excuse to only tip like, $5. Most waiters and waitresses have a pretty good sense of the mindset of their customers who act this way. They're pretending like they'll tip bigly, but it's a lie. They'll instead be totally entitled the whole time, asking for extra sauces and complaining about the quality of their dinner. When the end of the meal arrives, they'll be happy to explain to their server why they aren't getting a big tip, or any tip at all. 

This waitress told her story of this utterly awful-sounding dude, and I'm sending my condolences her way. I hope that she gets some much better holiday tips, all while knowing that in this case, she tried her best. You can't please every customer, and I hope that she got some satisfaction in knocking this oldster down a peg. I hope her customer gets visited by the ghost of Christmas past, who can take him back to this very moment and explain to him just how terribly he treated a fellow human being. Bah humbug! 

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  • 01
    Blonde waitress in red shirt and apron stares ahead, to her right an old man in gray suit talks on phone
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    A little background, I'm 23, blonde (this will be relevant later) and have been serving for 5 years (been at the same place for 4 years now). I also have diagnosed PTSD I'm still trying to navigate with LOTS of inner work, but episodes come once in a while and it takes days to recover.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 03
    I came into work today the day after a horrible episode feeling extremely depressed, brain fogged, physically/mentally exhausted and was struggling with my nervous system trying to reset itself. Despite all of that I went in with a pretty good and optimistic mindset since working distracts me and makes me feel fulfilled. I meet new people, get tons of steps in and it forces me to be social.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 04
    I was having the sweetest tables for the first couple of hours and I was beginning to feel my mood lift quite a bit. I was proud of myself for pushing through and giving great service. Anyways... they cut the opening server so it was just me for 45 minutes until the next server came in. I was doing surprisingly great for the circumstances. I had 8-9 tables inside, and ONE table on the patio that was an old couple.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 05
    They were easy going at first and all they did was drink. They never had empty glasses and I was always ready to see if they wanted another round. I was attentive and they seemed very cool at first.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 06
    However, randomly the opening server (while doing sidework) tells me the guy from my patio table came up to him and said "please send our server out here! I want to give her $100 tip!!" I was taken aback, but then again they were very cool and sweet at first and it's the holidays. Sometimes
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 07
    people like to randomly bless. people around this time and I got very excited for such a thoughtful gift after how difficult this week has been. I finish closing out a table...takes me 2 minutes, and then I proceed to go outside. since they wanted me outside asap.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 08
    Anyways I arrive and ask how they're doing (their beers are 3/4 full, I ask if they needed anything else at the moment and they said no). I immediately had a badddd feeling. The man says "wow so you hear about $100 and you just rush out here after sitting on your ass inside. You're fucking greedy and lazy." I was shocked. I got
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 09
    him to admit he made up that lie about the $100 to manipulate me to check on them at their beck and call even though they didn't need anything AT ALL and said the service was great still. My heart sank. It's not about the money(yes $100 is awesome) but to lie about something like that around the holidays just for fun
    via u/MrsCyanide
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    is...disgusting and disturbing. I asked what he meant by "sitting on my ass doing nothing" and he said that they haven't seen me do anything around them(no fucking shit, you're the only outside table while I'm hauling ass inside on my own so what the actual fuck are you talking about? You can't see
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 11
    me from the patio into the dining room) I tell him I'm the only server on, I have quite a lot of tables at once with no support and they're not the only ones here. I ask "Why did you make up a really messed up lie to get me out here, just for you to admit the service is great and that you don't need anything at the
    via u/MrsCyanide
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    moment. If you wanted me out here for ANY reason all you had to do was tell my coworker you needed me out there. Simple." I confronted it then and there. I told him it wasn't about the money but the fact that he wanted me available to him exactly when he wanted when their needs were constantly met.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 13
    Above and beyond. I told him how hurtful it was to be lied to, getting my hopes up to just tell me I'm stupid (yes he called me that on the sole basis that I have blonde hair...out of nowhere too). I asked what the point of this was because it was disgusting behavior out of nowhere and that he should think before he speaks,
    via u/MrsCyanide
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    that you never know what someone is going through. I said "If you think I'm lazy and stupid on no basis why don't you close out your tab and go to a different establishment where you can find a brunette who hovers over you?" Again they said it was great service. What the ACTUAL fuck?
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 15
    He also said "I don't know why you're so excited about $100 that's literally nothing. Christmas is around the corner and you seem spoiled so I'm sure your family will give you anything you want." I then (not professional on my part tbh) inform him I'm an orphan, have 0 family and will
    via u/MrsCyanide
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    actually be working Christmas Eve & day so I'd be able to pay my rent. I said "I'm really happy for you that $100 means nothing to you, hopefully one day you realize how incredibly privileged you are...but majority of my age range lives paycheck to
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 17
    paycheck." Then he started complaining about how he is also "stressed" about the cost of renovating his vacation home. I couldn't take it anymore and walked away. His wife was incredibly embarrassed and silent. I also don't think he expected someone to call him out on such fucked behavior. I told
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 18
    him it genuinely hurt my heart and that I won't tolerate random abuse for enjoyment. That I'm not a peasant, but a human being who lost my entire respect. I dropped their tab of $33 and I kept trying to refuse the $20 cash tip saying "you need it more than I do for your vacation home". They left it on the table anyways.
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 19
    I have never acted that way with a horribly rude table in my life. It wasn't professional but in the moment I let my emotions get the best of me and couldn't keep my mouth shut. I sincerely hope he learns something from this experience (probably not) but fuck...he struck such a personal level in so many ways. I'm still feeling hurt and I know it won't matter in time but it made me feel so fucking low...
    via u/MrsCyanide
  • 20
    Young woman with blonde hair wears red shirt and black apron while looking forward with solemn expression in restaurant setting
    via Katherine Kromberg on Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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restaurant entitled customers workplace waitress
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