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Topics: Reddit, US News, Social Media
Emily Brown
A restaurant customer has asked the internet if she was an 'a**hole' for allegedly taking away the $150 tip she'd left to a server after an unfortunate misunderstanding.
The woman shared her story in a post on the Reddit thread 'Am I The A**hole', where she explained that she and her husband had encountered the server while dining out at a restaurant in 'small town Southern USA'.
In the post, the 30-year-old woman claimed she and her husband do 'fairly well' for themselves financially.
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"Not well enough that we have no financial burdens but well enough that we can enjoy nice things and like to help others when we can," she explained.
The woman claimed part of her efforts to help others include leaving a 'large cash tip' for servers when they have done 'particularly well' or they're someone the couple 'really connect with'.
At this particular meal, the couple were served by a 'nice young lady' who the customer determined to be in her early 20s.
After being handed a bill of $46, the woman said she decided to leave a $200 in cash - meaning the server would have got a tip of $154.
The customer continued: "I left cash on the table after the check came and, not needing change, we got up and left.
"Our server ran us down at the door and somewhat angrily demanded we must pay and we couldn't just run out on the bill. I asked her if she had looked at the table and she said she hadn't."
Realizing the server had just assumed the couple hadn't paid, the woman walked back to the table and replaced the $200 with $50, meaning the tip was reduced to just $4.
Explaining her decision, the customer wrote: "I told her I would have appreciated it if she would have glanced at the table first or approached us with a question instead of assuming we were running out on the bill.
"She seemed embarrassed and we parted ways."
After the couple left the restaurant, she revealed that her husband said she should had left the $200 anyway.
However, the woman argued: "I don't think I'm [the a**hole] because I think she could have handled the whole situation better and I don't appreciate being called a thief."
The customer added that crime 'truly isn't a common thing' to see in the area where they were dining.
"The cash was clearly visible on the table and the restaurant was not busy," she added.
After reading her post, Reddit users responded with mixed reactions, with some even accusing the customer of lying about her story, pointing to since-deleted posts which allegedly indicated she was struggling with her finances.
However, other people indicated they believed the story as they shared their thoughts.
"She's [the server] probably just been burned before and caught crap from the manager about [it]. This is my guess from working crappy restaurant jobs for years," one person wrote.
Others agreed with the customer's decision, with one writing: "There were multiple ways the server could have approached the situation that didn't start with step 1: accuse the customer of thievery.
"Your server just received a $150 lesson in how not to deal with customers. "Hopefully it will serve her well in the future."