A pair of TikToks appearing to show a Stewart’s Shops employee refusing to serve customers unless they greet her has divided opinion on the app, with users debating whether it’s fair to put customers in that position.
In the first TikTok, which has over 700,000 views and was posted by Winter (@winterwitch22msze1), the person filming asks to pay for gas but the worker at first ignores them before saying, “OK, I won’t be serving you today. Next customer, please?”
Winter aims to provide more context with on-screen text, which reads, “This girl refuses to wait on people who don’t say hello. There are many reasons why some may not be able to, this isn’t OK and could cause a bigger issue for someone just trying to pay for something!”
A second TikTok, which has amassed nearly 100,000 views, appears to show the aftermath of the server doing the same thing a second time, Winter claims via on-screen text. Winter also points out that at the end of the video, the worker purportedly says, “Has he learned to say hi yet?”
In the description of this TikTok, Winter adds, “For those who have disabilities or anxiety, this is not OK. I have seen this happen four times now.”
In the comments across both TikToks, many appeared to take the TikToker’s side. Some commenters said that the server was acting “entitled” and deserved to be fired, while others claimed that her own greeting to customers didn’t sound genuine either. “It’s more of a point she’s trying to prove,” one commenter theorized.
Multiple others also agreed with Winter that this demand from the worker made things difficult for those with communication issues related to disabilities or mental health conditions. “So many people have anxiety and even just paying for things and being in public is a struggle,” one comment read.
However, not all commenters agreed that the employee was in the wrong. One commenter said, “How long does it take to say ‘Fine, and you?’ Good Lord, who raised you all?” Another suggested that the user was showing a double standard in terms of how customers generally treat public-facing workers, writing, “So don’t complain when they don’t say hi to you.”
Multiple other viewers said it was basic politeness to greet a worker, even if they didn’t necessarily agree with this one employee’s approach. One comment read, “She going about it the wrong way but STILL if she saying hello to you why not respond it’s common sense and she’s a worker helping YOU?”
Winter added in a comment that they called up corporate to complain about the worker, and tagged Stewart’s TikTok account in both videos, but it is unclear whether any action has been taken.
Stewart’s and Winter didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via online form and TikTok comment respectively.
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