Man refuses to leave a tip to 'avoid spending over the limit' but later changes his mind

Social interactions can be awkward for some. Especially dealing with the waiter or waitress at a restaurant. Right from placing the order to paying the bill, one is constantly afraid of being judged in such social situations. u/NobleWarriorHD shared a post on Reddit asking for people’s opinions on his actions during one such interaction.

He explained that he went to a restaurant with his girlfriend. His girlfriend was broke due to certain issues and he was paying for the outing to make her feel better. He went on to say, “I hadn't paid much attention to how much we spent until the bill arrived and realized we had spent $108.77. I've been taught to always leave a minimum tip of 20% or more when you can afford to as a courtesy to the waiter/waitress.” And rightly so, that’s what many of us are taught.

However, u/NobleWarriorHD mentioned, “I didn't want to spend an extra $21 on top of an already expensive meal so I just paid the bill.” He proceeded to do just that and left when the waitress called out to him. He mentioned that she asked whether she had done something wrong due to the absence of the tip. The man replied saying, “ I apologized saying that I hadn't intended to offend and that she did a fine job. I explained that I was lacking attentiveness to the amount I would comfortably pay so I made a judgment call to not leave the tip.”

u/NobleWarriorHD went on to write, “I could've afforded the extra $21, but I was uncomfortable with spending over my normal limit.” He asked for the opinion of fellow Redditors on whether he'd been wrong and they did not hold back. u/missenow2011 said, “Stay at home and make your romantic evening. It’s rude to expect someone to serve you and not leave a tip.” Several users commented about the harsh payment mechanism towards employees who have to live off tips. u/Frogboner88 said, “It's only weird in America where your labor laws are so bad that the customer is expected to pay the wages of the employees.”

The post received over 4.4k upvotes and 10k comments but that’s not all. u/NobleWarriorHD went on to analyze the response to his actions and update the post. In his first update, he said that he was planning to apologize to the waitress. In his next update, he said, “Tipping is the right thing to do, but it promotes a broken system that allows us to be abused and I don't agree or stand for it.” He also mentioned how the rule to tipping causes discomfort for those who cannot afford it.

Receiving mixed signals from commenters, he posted a last update of a picture of a new bill with a $55 tip. He captioned it saying, “Update, I returned and left a $55 tip.” He went to the restaurant and looked for the waitress. However, unable to find her, he spoke with the management and ensured she got the tip he gave. This time the comments flooded in to support the man for taking accountability and doing something about it. u/Terri2112 said, “An A**h*le doesn’t try to improve themselves. It takes a lot of courage to admit you were wrong and even more courage to go and do the right thing. I bet you made the server's day.”

u/NobleWarriorHD raises a question about the wages paid to such employees and how their livelihood depends on the tips alone. It also leaves us a message to at least take account of the fact that we have done something wrong when we do and try to make up for it in some way.