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Imagine working at a restaurant. What would you do if a customer insulted you and didn’t leave you a tip? Would you brush it off and hope the rest of the day goes better, or would you follow the customer outside to yell at him?

In this story, one server is in this situation, and she chooses the second option. The guy was really rude, so I don’t blame her.

Later, his friend called and shared a piece of information she didn’t know earlier. I’m not sure this changes anything though. The guy was still rude even if he had a good reason for not being in a good mood.

Keep reading for the whole story.

Diners, dudes, and dead dads.

I was the closing server/MOD on this particular shift and had a five top come in fairly late. They all got their drinks and food, I checked in on them regularly to make sure everything was cool, and all seemed well.

When it came time to settle up, one guy wanted about $70-ish of the tab on his card.

I dropped off the cards and slips, thanked them for coming in and wished them a good night.

As I started walking off, I had the following exchange with the guy who paid the majority of the bill:

The guy was pretty rude.

“Hey!”

“Yes, sir?”

“The next time someone orders a drink, maybe make sure there’s actually some booze in it.”

“I’m sorry, were the drinks not…”

“You don’t need to say anything. Just walk away.”

OP makes three points.

Number one, the guy was a jerk.

Number two, he was in clear view of the bartender, who was obviously the one making the drinks, not me.

Number three, he was throwing back Moscow Mules, which are just vodka, ginger ale, and lime juice. They’re not exactly supposed to taste super booze-y.

I had never been spoken to so rudely at a job and didn’t really know what else to say so I just left it alone.

It got worse.

After they left and I went to clear off the table, I noticed that he not only stiffed me, but he also drew a picture of a male body part in the space where you’d write in the tip.

I was freaking livid.

I’ve dealt with annoying and even obnoxious guests before but this sent me over the edge.

I went outside, saw him down the sidewalk, and yelled, “Hey, thanks a lot! That was really cool of you, you jerk!”

But there’s something she didn’t know.

A while later, one of the other guys from the table called the restaurant to talk to me. He apologized for his friend and said the guy’s dad had just died.

I thanked him for calling but I didn’t really feel bad for the jerk.

I had a hard time after my dad died but I didn’t feel the need to act like a piece of garbage to other people.

The fact that the guy is mourning doesn’t give him a free pass to be a jerk, but it was nice of the other guy to call, apologize and explain. If the jerk can’t control his temper and his bad attitude, he shouldn’t go to restaurants.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person doesn’t think she should’ve chased the guest.

But this person thinks firing her would be a really bad idea.

Going through a hard time is not an excuse to behave badly.

Another person shares what their friend said to them when they were grieving.

Sadly, my dad also passed away years ago. I don’t know that I’ll ever be completely over the grieving process, but it’s better now than it was at the time. I don’t remember feeling angry at anyone though. It’s not like I had the urge to insult strangers. I was just very sad.

Going through a hard time does not give anyone the right to be rude, or in this case, a downright horrible customer. No tip. Awful picture. Rude words. I’d want to ban him from the restaurant.

It’s too bad someone else didn’t pay the bill.