"I'm At A Place Of Employment, Not Here To Play": Server Shuts Down Customer Who Tried To Turn His Tip Into Content For Their Video

You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their servers. When someone believes they’re in a position of power, they’re likely to let slip whether they actually respect everyone else or just pretend that they do. Listen up: your server isn’t your servant, and they’re not there for your entertainment.

Popular TikToker Quinn Pratt, @quinnpratt5, recently went viral after sharing how a customer had set up a game for his tips and started filming him. Less than enthused, Quinn refused to take part in something that was demeaning. Scroll down to hear his thoughts and to see how the internet reacted.

Bored Panda got in touch with Quinn, and he was kind enough to share his thoughts on treating servers as actual people, whether entitled customers can change their ways, and what keeps him passionate about making videos. Read on for our full interview with him.

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"So there might be a video that might come out about me that doesn't really paint me in the best of light, but let me explain what happened. So I was at work, doing my job, being a server, all that fun s**t. And at one of my tables, they were like a YouTuber or a TikToker or what the hell ever, because they pulled out their phone and they started recording and they called me over and they set up some f**king game for my tip."

"They had four or five envelopes on the table and they said, "Well, one of these is going to be your tip. And in the envelopes ranges between $1 and $300. So you pick an envelope and you decide whether you want to keep that envelope or if you wanna swap it out for a new one," and just describing some stupid a*s game, "and whatever envelope you end up with, that's your tip. "I looked the guy right in the face and said, "Dude, I ain't got time for this bulls**t. I am super busy. Whatever you leave me as a tip is my tip. I don't give a f**k. I'm not here to play a little game with you."

"I am at my place of employment, not here to play some f**ked up little carnival game that you've devised and put together in order to get some views and likes on TikTok. I don't go to your place of work to distract you or pull you away from your job. So don't do it to me or other servers. I am not here for your entertainment or your channel. 'Whoa. I'm just trying to give you a chance to get $300.' No, you're using me to further your channel and I don't have time to play this little f**king game of yours. I'm sorry."

"And surprise, surprise, he didn't leave a tip after he left. Listen, if you wanna bless a server because you believe they're underpaid and everything like that, just f**king do it. Don't make a stupid a*s game out of it trying to further your channel, because if you try and do that bulls**t, it's very obvious that this is self-serving. You want to do it for likes and views and attention."

"Hell, you want to film yourself giving a huge tip, by all means, that's awesome, but don't make servers jump through hoops and everything like that, being like your trained little monkey in order to get a nice tip from you. So I don't know if that video of me is gonna come out or not. I don't f**king know. But the guy was pretty pissed off that I didn't wanna play his little f**king reindeer games."

We asked Quinn about what went through his mind when the customer told him to play the envelope game for his tips.

“My first thought was he was incredibly disrespectful as I’m at my place of work and he sees me as a source of entertainment and content for his channel. Regardless of what was in the other 3 envelopes or what his intentions are, it’s dehumanizing and demeaning,” he told Bored Panda.

“It’s like making a homeless person do tricks for you in order to give them a couple of bucks. My thoughts and feelings still remain the same. Servers aren’t servants or play things or a source of entertainment; they are human beings that have emotions.”

According to Quinn, people are disrespectful to servers because they’re used to having them "kiss their feet". This comes from an employee's fear of being fired if someone were to complain to management.

“We can’t change how people think, however, if servers realized their job is just a job and stood up for themselves more often and had managers who backed their servers up more often instead of allowing such behavior from these guests, I think we’d see a massive improvement in the workplace of restaurants.”

Quinn stressed the fact that servers have to be treated like human beings. “Servers are people and just because they’re in the industry doesn’t mean they’re beneath you. In fact, some A-list celebrities used to be servers: Chris Pratt, Chris Rock, Lady Gaga, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Aniston. A lot of important people used to be in the service industry, not just celebrities, people in science, people in our justice system, and doctors. Just treat them for who they are—PEOPLE.”

We were also interested to hear about Quinn as a TikTok content creator. We were curious about where his passion for making videos comes from.

“I stay passionate about TikTok because I love making people laugh and smile through my stories and my comedy,” he said.

“The amount of messages that I get from fans telling me I pulled them out of a dark place or that they needed that laugh because it was a rough day makes me so happy and makes TikTok worth doing.”

Quinn has over 3.1 million followers on TikTok. He didn’t mince his words about just how disrespectful the customer was acting—he called him out for toying with him and for seeing servers as someone beneath him. Someone to be toyed and played with for the sake of getting views and clicks on the internet. Here’s a newsflash for ya—the person taking your order and bringing food to your table isn’t there to entertain you like a court jester.

The peak of irony, at least for us, was that the video content creator who had wanted Quinn to take part in his game didn’t even leave a tip in the end. So much for having a charitable spirit, right? Whenever we feel like we’ve finally got a grip on how the world works and what people are like, someone comes along and makes us reevaluate the depths to which some individuals can sink. The audacity!

Imagine someone barging into your workplace, taking out their phone to film you, and then telling you to pick an envelope. Sure, the economy’s in a weird situation right now and many people are struggling. But asking someone to take part in a game like this is demeaning. It goes against any sense of basic human dignity.

And what is it all for? Someone’s YouTube or TikTok channel where they can brag about what a generous little influencer they are? Instead of sitting down and coming up with creative ideas for videos, some creators simply end up flexing their cash in front of servers.

Whether you’re a supporter of tipping culture in the United States or against it, you can’t deny that situations like this wouldn’t happen if the system were overhauled. For instance, if servers were paid a fair wage and didn’t have to bust their butts for tips, they’d be able to call out rude customers more often. The customer’s always right until they aren’t.

The fact of the matter is that at some point in time, you’ll definitely have to deal with a rude customer if you’re working in the service industry. It comes with the job—not everyone will be kind and polite.

“Keep your cool and remember that whatever abuse they’re giving you is no reflection on you as a person. That customer doesn’t even know you, so there’s no way it could be. But on the other hand, don’t be subservient. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and tell customers that abuse is not tolerated. And if it persists, hand them over to a manager as soon as you can and let them deal with it,” Alexander Kjerulf, from Positive Sharing, previously told Bored Panda about how to handle situations like this.

It’s up to you, as an employee, to figure out what kind of rude customer you’re dealing with. Are they simply having an awful day and lashing out because of this or are they actually entitled and put down others as a way of life?

“You have to remember that, in many cases, a customer who behaves badly is not necessarily a bad person—it can be a good person having a bad day and that’s why they’re acting out. But the sad truth is that some customers act this way because they’ve learned that it works and will get them discounts or preferential treatment,” Alexander told us during an earlier interview.
Meanwhile, Bored Panda recently wrote about how the over-reliance on tips can make servers feel jealous of staff members who are doing better, financially. “Your livelihood depends on tips as a server. You don’t make much in the form of a paycheck, so if someone works the same job as you but makes more money, it will breed jealousy,” a former server at a family restaurant told us that people start resenting you if you’re doing better than them.

“The only way to get rid of it is to get rid of the tipping culture and pay a living wage to servers,” she said. The system in the US is very bizarre because there’s a minimum wage, as well as a tipped minimum… and it varies from state to state. A greater level of standardization would help, as would setting a fair minimum wage and getting rid of tips as a whole.