Rocket science, neurosurgery, and genetic engineering are one thing, but tipping science is a whole other level of complexity. You might say to simply put 20% of the bill down as a tip whatever the circumstances, but sometimes you have to factor in the actual quality of the food, the level of service, and a million other factors that can affect your experience.
Enter Florida man and TikToker @youngam904, who is probably not going to be welcome back at a local restaurant anytime soon. He went out to eat with friends, and the four of them were left with a $500 check. He went on to leave a $40 tip, saying:
“We were happy we can be able to give our server something, but her reaction was the opposite.”
According to him, the server said that a $500 check deserves a $120 tip, 24% of the bill. He promptly asked to see the manager, who played damage control by assuring him that the server had been joking. But “she wasn’t smiling at all”.
“Cheap and insulting”
As with all things tipping, a huge debate ensured. First up, by the simple rule of 20% tipping, a $40 tip on a $500 check is way too long. By rights, the tip should have been $100, but if you were feeling a little cheap, I suppose you could go as low as $80 without raising eyebrows.
Comments on the video agreed, with one writing that $120 is a “perfectly reasonable amount. The customary minimum of 10% would have been $50. $40 is just being cheap and insulting,” Another said, “80 to 110 is fine, 40 is an insult.”
And then came the unhappy serving staff, united in a chorus that a $40 tip on a $500 bill is insulting:
“as a server, i dont think yall understand that we try to provide good service for the tip. if im not getting tipped, there is no incentive for me to refill that water for you.”
Finally, and inevitably, the dreaded no-tippers arrived. These disgusting creatures reject the very concept of tipping, saying “I don’t care if anyone gets upset”, “why am I paying your salary on top of my bill?”, and “tipping is OPTIONAL”.
I mean, yes, technically tipping is optional. But the restaurant economy is such that food prices are kept low by the restaurant not having to pay its serving staff a high wage, as they can rely on them being subsidized by tips. So you’re both punishing the employees and potentially making your food more expensive in the future.
No sane person would design tipping culture. And, indeed, pretty much everywhere else in the world either has minimal or no tips (try to tip in Japan and you’ll just get a disgusted look from your server). But, flawed though it may be, tipping isn’t going anywhere, and servers have bills to pay just like everybody else, so just factor in an automatic 20% to the bill and don’t think too much about it.
And, for the record. Yes, a $40 tip on a $500 bill is insulting.
Published: Mar 26, 2026 09:36 am