Waffle House Cook Goes Viral After Feeding 12 Customers Alone, Sparks Debate

If you've ever worked in the foodservice industry, then you know just how insane the workload on any given shift can get. While fast-food employees are used to churning and burning out orders (which still takes time) there are other sit-down restaurants that require a bit more of a waiting period to prepare meals. Which can be a problem if you're constantly understaffed.

Sure, having a single short-order cook is fine for the "slow" periods of the day where they're getting only a handful of customers walking in to order food during any given hour, but what happens when you get that party of 8 that decides they just need some sizzlin' fajitas at 2 p.m. and nothing else will do?

Some dining establishments seem to get it worse than others, and if you're a fan of late-night Waffle House excursions, like any cultured individual would be, then you know just how slammed the chain's employees can get.

Waffle House is usually one of the only places open during the ungodliest of hours for denizens of the dark to grab a decent meal. From drunks to degenerates, to long-haul cross country truckers, night-owls, or late-shift employees, there's always an interesting assortment of folks at the house, and all of them want grub.

But what's a line cook to do when they're the only one working at 3 a.m. and there are 12 hungry people at their establishment?

TikToker @rlozada25 was super impressed with the work ethic of one Waffle House employee who was doing just that. He uploaded a clip of a woman manning the grill at one of the franchise's locations, with a caption that reads, "This lady deserves ALL the tips. She's cooking it all for 12 people by herself."

He also wrote in the comments, "Bro it was crazy how busy it was and she was the only one." And while there were a lot of commenters who applauded the industriousness of the employee, many of them criticized the TikToker for not just walking out of the store after seeing how busy it was. You know, because there are plenty of folks online who want to flex their superior morals.

"Damn she by herself and you still decided to order? Idk I would've walked out that door the moment I realized it," one commenter wrote.

There were also lots of other commenters who questioned why the Waffle House employee was working there and said that they would've probably quit on the spot if that many people walked in and they were expected to cook for all of them.

"She should've walked out. Running yourself into a breakdown from exhaustion is not worth your life. Unionize and protect yourself," another commenter wrote.

There were many folks who speculated that the employee was more than likely underpaid. According to GlassDoor, the average salary for a Waffle House cook is $13 an hour, but it ranges from $10–$23 an hour.

TikToker @rlozada25 took to the comments to respond to the criticisms he received, stating that it wasn't other people's business as to why the employee decided to work the late shift and he added that he and his friends each tipped 20–50 percent of their bills as they were in awe of the woman's work ethic. He also added that he was dining with a friend who works in the restaurant industry and could sympathize with the woman behind the grill.

What do you think? Should the man have just found himself a convenience store and gotten something to eat there instead? Or do a lot of the commenters need to mind their own business and let someone order food from someone working hard if they want to?