A server has gone viral on TikTok for criticizing a popular content creator who made a video about how helping servers is poor etiquette.
The video was uploaded by TikTok user Trey (@treyburry7), and starts with a stitch from popular content creator Caterina Valentino (@caterinavalentinovip).
In Valentino’s clip, a customer attempts to help her server by piling all of the leftover food onto one plate and stacking it atop the empty ones. Valentino indicates that the customer was wrong to help the server using a red “X.”
The video then cuts to Trey, who disagrees with Valentino’s thoughts. “Girl, fuck you, respectfully and your etiquette,” Trey says. He expresses extreme gratitude toward customers who stack plates, and notes in on-screen text that Valentino has “clearly never served a day in her life.”
Trey elaborates in the video’s caption, writing, “When I’m in the weeds and I have 10 tables 4 need refills and 3 need to order and 2 need their checks, this is the most helpful thing a table can do to help me get back on my feet.”
@treyburry7 #stitch with @CATERINA VALENTINO When I’m in the weeds and I have 10 tables 4 need refills and 3 need to order and 2 need their checks, this is the most helpful thing a table can do to help me get back on my feet. #serverproblems #servertiktok #serverlife #servertok #servers ♬ Flowers – Miley Cyrus
The video garnered over 320,000 views as of May 9. In the comments section, many viewers agreed with Trey and shared that they stack their plates to help their servers.
“We do this almost every time we eat somewhere. We usually pile napkins and all up so it’s easier,” one viewer wrote.
“I’m not leaving a big mess. I was a server. I’m stacking plates and making it easy for you to turn over and do again,” a second shared.
“I stack plates, pour all the drinks into the pitcher, and get all the silverware put on the top plate and put it at the edge of the table,” a third echoed.
While Trey and his viewers may agree that stacking plates is the right thing to do, it is a “breach of etiquette,” according to Reader’s Digest.
“Stacking plates when done sends a signal to other diners that the waitstaff is not tending to the table properly and the act of doing so exposes the stackers as inexperienced diners,” the outlet reports. “In addition, the waitstaff usually have a well-practiced system for clearing the plates, utensils, and glassware, and stacking interferes with that system.”
The Daily Dot contacted Trey via Instagram direct message, TikTok direct message, and TikTok comment for more information.
