Wait staff at a restaurant rely on tips to make a living, so when someone doesn’t leave much, it can be upsetting. Even when this happens, however, they need to remain professional.

What would you do if your waitress mistakenly thought you were leaving a tiny tip, so she shouted at you and got upset?

That is what happened to the man in this story, so he complained to the manager and explained the situation. This led to the waitress getting fired, but now the guy’s wife is saying that he shouldn’t have complained at all.

While I personally think that complaining to managers should only be done in extreme situations, I do think that this one qualifies. Read through the full story below and see if you agree.

AITA for leaving an 18 cent tip and getting the waitress fired?

I was dining at an upscale restaurant and the bill came out to $49.82.

Honestly, I can see why she assumed she was getting a small tip. But her response is inappropriate.

I pulled out a $50 to pay, and told the waitress I didn’t need change. Goes without saying, but I was planning on leaving the rest of her tip on the table. I used to work as a server. I always tip generously.

The waitress misunderstood my intentions and said “Really?” loud enough for all the other diners to hear.

Wait staff should never humiliate customers, even if they were giving a bad tip.

Before I could say anything, she said something like “Woooow- thanks for the generous tip”, snatched the payment from the table, and walked away in a huff. All the diners around me were staring daggers at me. It was humiliating.

I flagged down the manager and let him know what happened. He knows me and knows I’d never stiff servers.

I hope that the waitress has learned her lesson.

He offered to comp the meal, but I said it wasn’t necessary. I just wanted to let him know what happened and would be on my way.

The manager insisted that I was owed an apology. Made sense to me at the time. She apologizes, gets her tip, I leave, everyone is happy.

With an attitude like that, she deserves to get fired.

When the manager called the waitress over, both of us saw her roll her eyes as she was walking here.

As soon as the manager saw this, he put on his “you’re about to get fired” face. All the tears and pleading made no difference. It was ugly. People were filming with their cell phones.

I think that complaining to the manager was the right thing to do.

As she was being escorted to the back by some kitchen workers (who probably think I’m the second coming of Satan). The manager insisted on comping our meal and we went on our way.

When we got home, the wife claimed I was a jerk for making a huge scene out of nothing, and getting that poor girl fired over a simple misunderstanding.

The waitress really dug her own grave in this situation.

I feel like all I did was share a legitimate complaint to the manager. She is the one who escalated it by rolling her eyes at us.

Am I being unreasonable? What would you have done in this situation?

AITA?

Talking to the manager was fine, and the waitress really got herself fired. If she had acted professionally, this would have never happened.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose celebratory post-grad school vacation is being ruined by his family’s insistence he’s being lazy.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this unfortunate story.

I think this commenter sums it up perfectly.

All he did was issue a very justified complaint.

He did make it seem like she wasn’t getting a tip. But that doesn’t excuse her behavior.

She needed to remain professional, regardless of the tip.

I agree, the manager should have handled it in the back room.

This waitress was clearly on her last warning as it was. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so the guy really can’t be blamed for it.

While it is entirely understandable that a waitress would be frustrated with a seemingly small tip, that is no excuse for throwing a fit like that. She needs to learn to keep herself under control and move on to the next table.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a family who is resisting pressure from the HOA to remove their tree and lights.