Waitress reveals why she gets scared when customers leave checks face-down

A waitress has revealed why wait staff feel overcome with a sense of dread when customers leave their food or drink bill face down on the table.

TikTok user Saydie (@therealslimsaydie) posted a now-viral video pulling back the curtain on the way waitresses really feel at work.

She captioned the video: "Anyone else get so scared when the check is face-down?”

The video, which has racked up well over a million views, featured Saydie saying: "They left the tip slip face down. You know what that means … Let’s see if I’m right. I haven’t looked at it yet."

For dramatic effect, she then counts down in preparation of reading the bill.

She reveals that the customer has left a $15 tip on a $93 bill — about 15% — which she admits is 'not the worst, not the best'.

Saydie then explains that customers who leave their checks face down usually do so for the reason that they haven't left a very good tip.

In the United States, the tipping culture varies greatly than of that in the UK, with customers being expected to leave a heftier amount.

A survey by personal finance comparison site Bankrate shows results that almost three in five adults feel negatively about tipping, being expected to tip approximately 15% - 20% of the bill before tax.

Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst, told USA Today: "Older Americans seem to have the most sticker shock about the rising cost of tipping, yet they're still much more frequent tippers than Gen Zers and millennials."

As for who is the most reliable when it comes to tipping, Rossman says it's 'older patrons and women.'

Further, two-thirds of adults said that no matter what, they choose to tip when they eat at a restaurant, compared to 35% of Gen Z, as per a study conducted by Bankrate featuring u2,445 adults between April 29 and May 1 2024.

You may wonder where the expectation comes from, and how it's sustained.

Rossman explains: "Many companies are hesitant to raise prices further, given all of the increases we've seen in recent years.

"Asking for tips can essentially be a way for them to raise prices without acting like they're raising prices. Tipping is a surcharge of sorts that pushes more of the burden on customers, enabling workers to make more money without their employer needing to foot the bill."

He adds: "Tipping is a hot-button issue that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

“As much as Americans grumble about tipping, there's substantial evidence that they're tipping anyway.

"Starbucks says about half of its customers tip when encountering one of these prompts. I'm sure nowhere near that many were putting bills or coins in an old-fashioned tip jar.”