‘I need this lady to tip me’: Woman orders fruit salad from server. There’s just one problem

A server shared a frustrating interaction that occurred between her and a customer. The source of the diner's grievance? Whether these two produce items are vegetables or fruits.

TikTok user Angie (@angiepantuosco) said that she knew the customer was going to be trouble from the get go. And that was before she questioned whether avocados and cucumbers qualify as fruit or vegetables.

Woman orders fruit salad

Angie begins her clip by speaking directly in the camera as she records in her car. "So there's this one time that I was working at a restaurant and this customer walked in," she says. "And I just knew that she wanted me to have a horrible day. I knew that she was gonna make my life miserable that night. And right I was."

Angie continues, "So she sits down she orders the salad that comes with a bunch of fruits okay? Blueberries, strawberries, cucumbers, avocado, the whole nine. Just a bunch of fruit. I think there was some like nuts on it maybe, I don't know. So I went over to her I asked her what she wanted. And she told me that she wanted the salad but with no fruit. And so I wrote in the notes that she wanted the salad, but with no fruit. OK, so the salad comes out to her and it doesn't have any fruit on it."

The TikToker further broke down the structure of the salad to her viewers. "It had the dressing. The nuts. I think there was cheese maybe on it, whatever. There's no nothing else besides that. And she called me over and she was like, 'What's up with my salad?'"

As it turns out, the customer's understanding of what a fruit was ended up resulting in her request removing avocados and cucumbers from the salad. However, she wanted these items on her meal.

Are these vegetables or fruits?

Angie informed the customer that indeed, all of the fruits were taken out of the dish. "And I was like, 'Oh well, well I put no fruit in the notes cause you told me no fruit.' And she was like, 'Well, I wanted the avocado and the cucumber. I didn't have the heart to tell her that those were fruits. So of course I'm like, 'Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I'm fighting for my life, right? I make $2.13 an hour, like I need this lady to tip me. So I'm like can I get you some avocado and cucumber?"

At this point, it seems like the diner was just attempting to get their food comped. They said they didn't want their meal anymore. However, Angie noticed that during the course of her shift, the patron was picking away at it.

"She's like 'No, I don't want it. I don't want it anymore.' She like pushes it to the side and I'm like, OK.' She eats part of the salad, there were shrimp on the salad as well she ate that. She ate like a good amount of the salad. And so when the time came to give her the bill, I thought to myself...she's gonna be a problem."

Next, Angie described how aghast the diner was to discover she was expected to pay for the meal she ate. "So I think I asked another server something, what she thought I should do. And she's like just give 50% off, whatever. So I give her 50% off, I bring it out. She's like and of course she calls me over and throws an absolute fit. Saying that she doesn't understand why she's paying for a salad that she didn't eat. Even though she ate it. And you know what? I could've stood there and been like, you literally ate it."

It's not worth it to argue

Angie wasn't interested in delving into the polemics of a what can be considered a just discount for a clearly eaten salad.

Ultimately, she decided that the amount of money she earns at her job isn't worth that stress. So she ended up just waiving the bill entirely for the patron.

"But again, $2.13 an hour. Don't make enough. So I said you know what, that's fine. Call it a day. But the overarching lesson here that I want you guys to remember for the rest of your lives: Learn your fruits."

TikTokers shared their thoughts

The video has amassed more than 30,000 views. In the comments, one user said that in the world of food service, cucumbers and avocados are vegetables.

They wrote, "Online it says 'For culinary purposes classified as vegetable' for both avocado and cucumber. I don’t think she was considering the botanical classification when ordering a salad."

Someone else made a similar point. "Googled it and it says while cucumber is botanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable in the culinary world," they wrote.

Another echoed this point, however, they stated that this doesn't account for the patron's poor attitude. They wrote, "I think it’s probably best to assume that most people aren’t thinking about cucumbers and avocados when they don’t want fruit. (Even though they totally are fruit.) Other than that it seems like you did your best to fix it!!! The craziness is totally on her!"

Someone else thought the server should've double checked before placing an order for the salad. "Probably would have been a good idea to clarify that beforehand," they penned.

One TikToker addressed the tipping conundrum. "If a meal is comped, then I usually tip at least that," they wrote. In this case, Angie replied, the patron did not.

@angiepantuosco another day another server story #storytime #historytime #servertok #restaurant #fyp ♬ original sound - angie

The Daily Dot reached out to Angie via TikTok comment for further information.

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