In the restaurant industry, the “service with a smile” culture and reliance on tips often leave servers dangerously vulnerable to harassment and assault.
Data confirms this. A 2021 study reported that more than 66% of restaurant employees described experiencing some type of sexual harassment in the last six months.
Recently, a young server shared exactly how these situations tend to develop and how the perpetrator often suffers zero consequences.
A Server Shares Her Experience
Florida-based TikTok creator Kaley Price (@kaleyprice_) shared a storytime video of what she described as her “worst night as a server.” The clip has racked up over 124,600 views at the time of writing.
She describes a Saturday or Friday night at her serving job, filling in for a colleague and initially thinking her section would be easy. “I should never taken that section, because this was literally the worst night that I have ever served,” she says.
Kaley says her section included two four-top tables and one two-top. About two hours into her shift, a couple (a man and a woman) sat at her two-top table.
At first, things seemed to be going well. “They’re super nice… they keep calling me super cute, telling me I have such a cute smile, telling me that I’m such a good server,” she recounts. “They were, all around, just a super easy table to take care of.”
Then, The Interaction Turns Inappropriate
When it was time to pay, the couple chose to do so with a card. Kaley took the man’s card, and as she was returning it to the table, she found the man sitting there alone. She approached him to drop off the card and the receipt.
“He’s like, ‘You know, girl, like, you’re gonna break someone’s heart,’” she recounts him saying. Kaley says she tried to brush it off and leave.
“Here, I’m gonna give you this,” the man told her. “Go fill up your car
with some gas and go have some fun with some boyfriends.”
Then, he did something unexpected. “He pulls out money and slips it into my back pocket and grabs my butt,” she says. Kaley says she was frozen in shock, not knowing what to do next.
“What do I say to that? In any other circumstance, I feel like I would have yelled at somebody, but it’s my job,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of froze up and then walked away.”
Kaley calls the man’s behavior disgusting, saying it ruined her mood for the rest of her shift. “I didn’t go back over to their table, and I didn’t talk to them again,” she explains. “I just let them get up and leave.”
As if that weren’t enough, she says later in the night she dealt with a difficult party of four who complained about another table receiving their food first, criticized the quality of their meal, involved the manager, refused to pay the full amount, and ultimately left her a $10 tip on a $200 bill.
“But yeah, that’s basically my worst night that I’ve ever had serving,” she concludes.
What Can Servers Do In Similar Situations?
These are serious offenses that should be reported to management immediately, while the customer is still present. Management can then handle the situation by either asking the perpetrator to leave or banning them from the restaurant indefinitely.
Employers are obligated to take action to protect employees from an unsafe perpetrator under both federal and Florida law.
What Kaley described is also not just harassment, though; it could be considered battery. In this situation, she was well within her rights to call the police and report the incident. The punishment for this crime in Florida could include imprisonment, fines, restitution, and more.
Commenters Sympathize And Share Their Own Stories
“It’s always the shifts you cover that ALWAYS end up being the worst,” wrote one viewer in the comments.
Another expressed sympathy, writing, “I’m so sorry that happened. No one deserves to get sa’d.. ESPECIALLY AT WORK.”
“Damn girl you were literally violated i hope you’re okay that’s terrible,” said a third.
Other commenters focused on the second part of the story. “People don’t understand that food takes longer depending on what you order,” explained one. “I work at b dubs and wings and wraps are normally fast but burgers take way longer and people don’t get it I swear.”
@kaleyprice_ lmk if u guys want more #storytime #relatable #serverrant
BroBible has reached out to Kaley via email for comment and more details.