MoxVlog

A restaurant server who took to social media to voice her frustration at receiving a tip of just over $2 from diners who spent $120 eating out has sparked debate around the current tipping culture in the U.S.

College graduate Grace Mastronardi, 24, took to TikTok, posting under the handle vibewithgracierose, to detail what happened during one of her most recent shifts. The resulting clip went viral, amassing 3.9 million views and prompting a wider discussion around the treatment of workers in the service industry.

An avid content creator who works as a server on a part-time basis while pursuing other passions, Mastronardi is nevertheless one of the many millions in the hospitality sector who rely on tips as a key part of their overall income.

According to 2018 research conducted by the National Employment Law Project, tips accounted for nearly 60 percent of the pay wait staff receive. So you can imagine Mastronardi's frustration when, after she received a tip of just $2.68 on a bill of over $122 earlier this month.

It was a return that left the young worker "on the verge of tears" and wondering what she did wrong. Mastronardi told Newsweek: "I was very disappointed and not expecting them to only leave $2.68. It's upsetting to not get tipped or get a decent tip because then I feel like I worked for free for this table."

According to the video, the customers explained to the server that they were from Germany, a country that does not have the same tipping culture as the U.S., and therefore felt the amount offered was "just fine."

Confused and unsure at how to address the situation, Mastronardi opted to speak to the diners and ask them if there was anything wrong with the service. They told her there was not.

"I informed them that servers get paid in tips to see if they would tip me more but they didn't," Mastronardi said. "I was shocked that they still thought their tip was good and I was embarrassed for even going up to them at all, but I figured it was worth a try."

Mastronardi was keen to stress that her decision to follow up was not simply motivated by the fact she had received so little—the lack of a significant tip from the table impacts others too.

"I do not get to keep 100 percent of my tips," she explained. "I have to tip out the food runner, the bus boy and the bartender at the end of the night based on my sales, not my actual tips. This is why when a table does not tip you, you lose money by having them as a table."

As a result, Mastronardi rejected the notion that, because they were German, they did not need to adhere to the same tipping expectations as those found in the U.S, arguing that there was a need to "adapt to tipping culture" when visiting as "servers do not make a fair wage" here.

Yet, for many of those commenting on the clip, the problem lay not with the diners but with the industry as a whole. "Tipping culture has gotten out of hand in the US," one commenter wrote. "Workers need to unionize and demand better wages."

"Tipping in the US is crazy. just pay everybody a decent salary." a second wrote. A third added: "That fact that they've tricked you into thinking it's the customers job to pay your wage is crazy."

Commenting on this response, Mastronardi said: "I think that minimum wage for all jobs should be $25 - $30 and if servers could get paid $25 - $30 with additional optional tips that would be good."

However, she noted that with many non-server jobs paying a wage of around $13 an hour, work in the service industry is still preferable. "I make more money on tips at my server job than I would making minimum wage at a different job," she said.

"I also think that if I told my employer I wanted to be paid more he would tell me to quit and then would just replace me with someone else," Mastronardi added. "The majority of the people who come to my restaurant tip 20% so at the end of the day I make at least minimum wage. I just get paid from customers and not my employer."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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