laiken-neumann

Laiken Neumann


Laiken Neumann is a freelance journalist based in Austin, Texas, covering culture, entertainment, and social justice.

woman with arms crossed and caption "tell me a company secret that you can share because you don't work there anymore" (l) taco bell drive thru (c) woman with finger raised (r)

‘Run the opposite way from the shredded chicken’: Worker shares what Taco Bell items customers should avoid in viral TikTok

'Just trust me.'

On Jan 14, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
Chick-fil-A employees wearing portable rainproof units in drive-thru

‘They care about iPads with employees’: Customer claims Chick-fil-A cares about its workers because they are given weather pods, sparking debate (updated)

'One of the reasons I love Chick-fil-A ... they care about their employees.'

On Jan 14, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL
woman with caption "me swiping through tinder on a casual day" (l) tinder profile man with arms crossed and face digitally altered into a mosaic and bio WHITE LADIES ONLY (c) same man with "It's a match!" overlay

‘My 13th reason’: Black TikToker accidentally matches with guy whose bio says ‘WHITE LADIES ONLY’

'Well I’ll be damned.'

On Jan 13, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
young man in room on teleconference software with caption "watch me absolutely destroy this misogynist in my women in music class"

‘Not the teacher smiling the whole time while you casually annihilate the misogynist’: TikToker shuts down classmate who says that Beyoncé is not a good role model in ‘women in music’ class

The teacher's handling of the debate is being criticized by viewers.

On Jan 13, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
Three photos of a woman pouring lemonade mix into a vat and stirring it

‘I thought it was fresh’: Chick-fil-A worker shows how they make lemonade in viral TikTok

'Y’all love Chick-fil-A lemonade.'

On Jan 12, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
chipotle employee with caption "one guy handling 5 customers" (l) chipotle employee on break with caption "4 employees on break" (r)

‘Bad management. Someone didn’t properly schedule breaks for employees’: Viral TikTok of all but one Chipotle employee on break sparks debate

'Full staff takes a break while one guy does all the work.'

On Jan 12, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL
three photos of a woman working at mcdonalds and telling customers that it's cash-only

‘Don’t care if y’all do this, as long as I get what I ordered’: Former McDonald’s worker says she told customers it was cash-only, then pocketed the money

'If people would pay minimum wage workers a living wage they wouldn’t have to do this.'

On Jan 11, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL
three photos of a woman pouring a bottle of Dawn dish soap into another one

‘Walmart is not ripping me off’: TikToker fills Dawn dish soap up by taking from another bottle at Walmart, sparking debate

'Now you just ripped someone off lmao.'

On Jan 11, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL
man refilling drink with ice with caption "when a customer wants their drink filled up"

‘When a customer wants their drink filled up’: McDonald’s worker shares what they do to fill customers’ drinks, sparking debate

'Not you acting like it comes out your paycheck.'

On Jan 10, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
people in car eating fast food with caption "When our customer only tipped $4 for a 30 min drive so we ate they order and telling dash support we ain't get it"

‘When our customer only tipped $4’: DoorDash driver says they ate customer’s order after they left small tip in viral TikTok, sparking debate (updated)

'Jokes on u I don’t tip on the app I tip in person.'

On Jan 10, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL Tech
Fast food soup being made.

‘You Panera people really pay almost $6-$9 for this’: Panera worker prepares the soup in viral TikTok, sparking debate

'Not worth the price.'

On Jan 7, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL
A woman crawling on the floor of a fast food restaurant.

‘When a customer pulls to the window before open’: Viral TikTok shows Dairy Queen worker hiding from drive-thru customers by crawling on floor

'You can bang that window all you want. 5am is 5am.'

On Jan 7, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
Woman yells at Panda Express workers, throws food in viral TikTok.

‘The fact that she’s in a onesie is perfect since she’s acting like a baby’: Woman yells at Panda Express worker, goes behind counter to throw food

'These fast food employees don’t get paid enough for this.'

On Jan 6, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL
Former server says she used to add coupons to cash tables for bigger tips in viral TikTok.

‘If they actually paid servers then they wouldn’t have to hustle’: Server says she added coupons to cash tables after they paid so she could get bigger tips

'I was making money one way or another.'

On Jan 6, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

Internet Culture IRL
image of a man washing dishes (l) image of a woman moving bread loaves (m) image of a man drying dishes (r))

‘That’s the first sign it’s gonna be a bad job’: TikToker says they were put to work the day they walked into Subway looking for job

'When you come in looking for a job and they put you to work on the spot.'

On Jan 5, 2022 by Laiken Neumann

IRL