Off The Record

Waitress Gets ‘$0’ Tip On ‘$187’ Bill, Posts A Viral Response On Facebook

Published on April 7, 2024

One Colorado waitress took to social media to shed light on the American workplace.

According to Mic, Taylar Cordova snapped a photo of the receipt and shared it on Facebook after receiving a tip of $0. With her message came an impassioned and well-reasoned rant about her time spent serving.

“You are the lowest of the low,” she stated in her letter to the stiffed customer and everyone else who does not leave a tip. After that, she went on to detail what happens when customers don’t tip correctly:

Whenever you feel like it’s probably fine to not tip your server, that’s one more bill stacking up because they’re short on money. This is food for the week that our families will go without because you didn’t think it was necessary, even after asking for everything under the sun and receiving it free of charge, mind you. This is one less basic necessity my daughter needs because even TWO more dollars is too much for you.

Every decision has a consequence. Servers are paid a base pay of $2-5/hr depending on the employer, so next time you don’t want to tip, regardless of the situation prior to receiving your bill, think about how much you would have to work that week off $2-5/hr to feed your family, not just you. Could you pay your bills based on that pay alone? Could you feed your family AND yourself? Because that’s what happens when you choose to not tip.

Back at that time according to the United States Department of Labour, “An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage.” This supports her claims.

At the end of his post, Cordova offers some recommendations. According to her, if you are unable to leave a tip, there’s no use in entering a restaurant. “There’s a McDonald’s down the street if you’re that cheap.”

More than 15,000 people shared her post, indicating that it hit home with the public.