Anyone who has ever worked in the service industry knows that getting stiffed on a large bill can feel totally degrading and discouraging, not to mention harmful to earning a living wage. Servers live off of tips and generally make the majority of their income through the extra cash they receive on top of a bill. Their less-than minimum wage is a base pay and considered more of a secondary income.
Danielle Foster aka @d.foster.president on TikTok is going viral after her son came home from his first date and informed his mom that he tipped $10.00 on a $104.00 dinner bill. Appalled, she sent him back to the restaurant to make him pay that server the tip they deserved, especially after hearing her son say the service was great.
In the video that has amassed over 2.2 million views, Foster expresses how upset she is with her teen son’s tip at a restaurant. Captioned “I raised him better,” the video is basically Foster yelling at her son and giving him a needed life lesson about the importance of leaving a proper tip.
“Johnny, you need to go get my wallet. You need to go get my Visa card, you need to go to the ATM, and you need to grab a $20 and drive your a— back to that restaurant because on a $104 check, $10 is a s—tty tip,” she yells as her son giggles.
“Do you understand me? Go now! I’m not asking, I’m telling.” Classic mom line!
As her son continues to laugh, she decides to take a different approach and explain to the teen that tips mean a lot to servers income.
“It’s not funny. Do you know that guy might have kids?” Foster asks. “Do you know that $104 gets taxed on it? You’re going to go grab my credit card, get $20, and drive it back there.”
Comments poured in from people in the service industry, thanking her for teaching her son this importance lesson. “OMG 33 years in the food service industry… THANK YOU FOR THISSSSSS,” one user wrote.
Another echoed, “Thank you! A lot of people don’t understand we make less than minimum wage and have to put 40% of our tips into the tip share.”
After the clip went viral, several viewers asked Foster for an update on TipGate.
“My son did go back to the restaurant, and he definitely did tip him the $20,” she explained. “So he gave him $30 on $104. Him paying for that check was money that he saved.”
She then explained in detail just how the entire conversation came about in the first place, detailing why her son left such a lousy tip in the first place since she claimed she’d taught him better.
“He had come home and told me how great of service he had. So I’m like, ‘How much did you tip?’ And he’s like, ‘$10.’ And I’m like, ‘$10 on $104.’ And he said, ‘Well, Mom, I had that gift card for $50.’ He didn’t think he had to tip on the gift card.”
As for the viewers who took up issue with Foster raising her voice at her teen son, she says she’s just a loud person.
She explained, “This is how I talk. Me talking like this right now is kind of, like, quiet and my kid’s probably like, something’s wrong with her. I’m just a loud individual.”
Relatable.
As for the viral video, Foster just wants everyone to know that her son is a good kid and has some advice for those who take up issue with tip culture. “… if you don’t want to tip, don’t go out to eat. That’s really all I gotta say.”
