Waitress Says Customer Asked Her to “Spot” Them $50 for Their Dinner Bill
Published Sept. 28 2023, 8:49 a.m. ET
On TikTok, user @sassyserver0529, whose real name is Steph Carlisle, uses the platform to share horror stories from her time working in the restaurant industry. Needless to say, her tales are very bizarre.
In a TikTok video posted on Sept. 24, 2023, Steph recalled a time when a guest asked the host and the waitress for $50 to cover their bill. The interaction with the customer named Mr. Williams started innocently enough. Here's what went down.
A customer asked a host and waitress to spot him $50 if needed to cover his bill.
The customer, Mr. Williams, entered and the restaurant the host approached him like normal. The host asked the man if he would be dining as a party of two, but the man suggested he was meeting another couple for dinner at the restaurant. “We’re meeting another couple here and I fully intend on them paying the tab tonight. But should they not, can you spot me $50?” the customer asked. Adding, “I’m dead serious. Money has been really tight lately. Can you spot me the $50 just in case?”
An hour into the meal, Mr. Williams asked the host a second time to borrow $50 but she denied his request. “I do not have $50 I can spot you,” the host said. “If money has been tight then please don’t dine out.” Mr. Williams then said he would ask the waitress to lend him the money, but the meal was later paid for by the other couple. The ordeal has gotten TikTokers up in arms, as most are siding with the restaurant workers who refused to let Mr. Williams borrow $50.
The internet agrees that Mr. Williams should pay his own bill.
Most of the internet seems to agree that Mr. Williams should be responsible for his own restaurant bill. The video has garnered more than 10,000 views, as TikTokers are shocked that Mr. Williams would ask employees at the restaurant he was eating at for $50.
And while Mr. Williams was a regular at the establishment, others pointed out that he appeared to be overly comfortable with the staff at the restaurant.
Meanwhile, others made their point very clear, suggesting that Mr. Williams should avoid dining at restaurants if he can't pay the bill. Steph even replied to a commenter and explained that Mr. Williams’s request was “the most outlandish thing anyone has ever asked.”
And of course, there was one person who wanted to know why Steph didn't lend Mr. Williams $50. Asking, “So why didn't ya?” Really? What would this person do if they were put in the same situation?
Other servers have gotten even stranger requests from customers.
Steph isn't the first restaurant employee to receive a strange request from a customer. In June, TikToker Mitchell Todd (who goes by @mitchii.moo on the platform) recalled a weird encounter with a customer. The incident occurred during a brunch shift at the restaurant where Mitchell works. The customer, who Mitchell said was “extremely attractive,” was polite at first. Mitchel admits to being flirty with the customer during their interaction, which may have prompted the strange request.
“He’s like ‘I have a weird request. I was wondering if you could spit in my food?’” the man asked. Mitchell denied the man’s request and explained that it was against company policy to spit on someone’s food. Mitchell suggested that the man ask the restaurant manager if the spitting would be OK, and the manager obliged.