Food servers have to put up with a lot. Some customers can mistake the waitstaff’s job—taking their order, being courteous, and getting their food out on time—as a demand to wait on them hand and foot.
And some customers can react badly when their preferences aren’t met. However, a viral TikTok seems to show a customer going beyond the pale when it comes to reacting to whatever is or isn’t on the menu.
Simply put, is it OK to literally hiss at a server if you can’t get your preferred side dish?
A video posted by Missouri TikToker Lauren Scott (@laurenscott776) seems to show a server’s worst nightmare—a customer who is so disappointed by the menu that they resort to actual catcalling—in the form of hissing at the server.
Most of Scott’s videos are dedicated to her journeys and days with her fiance. However, in a recent post, she captured an extremely untoward server interaction at the popular chain restaurant Applebee’s.
Scott posted the footage on March 11. Since then, it has picked up 949,500 views and counting and has viewers in disbelief at the patron’s behavior.
The video is captioned, “Just another day at Applesbees with Karen hissing bc they don’t sell baked potatoes.”
In it, Scott is shown with a disbelieving expression as a couple in the booth behind her appears to react extremely negatively to the waitstaff.
The woman sitting in the booth seat closest to Scott begins hissing, much like an offended cat, in response to undiscernible dialogue from a man who appears to be a server. The woman hisses audibly several times as Scott reacts with a horrified expression.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Applebee’s via email for a statement.
The woman continues to hiss throughout the video, even holding up her hands, outstretched in the likeness of claws, to emphasize her disappointment.
Throughout the interaction, the person sitting opposite the hisser sits in the booth, apparently unfazed.
So, what’s up with that?
While there is no one reason that customers are rude to servers, Dr. Daniel Redhead, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, told The Guardian, “Social hierarchy has a big role in whether individuals are rude to others.”
“Waiters may be thought of as taking a subservient role and where clientele may have power over them,” Redhead continued. “These asymmetries in power can lead certain people to act more dominantly – behaving more rudely or selfishly, and being manipulative – because they believe that this clear hierarchical structure legitimizes such behaviour and do not believe that they will face any repercussions for their actions.”
@laurenscott776 just another day at applesbees with Karen hissing bc they dont sell baked potatoes #funnyvideos #funny #karen #karensgoingwild #applebees #restaurant #comdey #fyp ♬ original sound – Lauren Scott
Surprisingly, one of the video’s viewers claims they were the person waiting on Scott.
“H” (@annabe1lee) commented on the video, “I was your waitress! Thanks for posting this, Gosh I still laugh.”
Another viewer responded, “I would’ve DIED right there! There’s nothing that I could’ve done to contain my laughter.”
“OMG i thought it was staged or they were joking. … What happened after? Lol Did she Continue hissing,” another viewer commented.
H responded that the couple left before they got any food.
Another viewer stated, “As a former Applebees server. I’m sure this wasn’t the first time this server has encountered something like this.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Scott via TikTok direct message and H via TikTok comment for further information.
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