Many fast food restaurants or convenience stores have self-serve drink stations, which means the honor system is in full effect.
If you ask for a water cup, you’re supposed to get water—not sneak a different drink. But one Panera customer wasn’t too happy when an employee called her out for doing just that.
TikTok user Totsionna (@wesickandtired) shared her experience in a video that’s now racked up over 1.4 million views.
Panera manager steps in
“The cashier at Panera told the general manager I asked for water cups and didn’t get water,” she wrote in the video’s text overlay, providing context to what’s happening.
In the clip, Totsionna films herself while a Panera general manager gives her a warning.
“It costs money, so you shouldn’t be taking the juice if you asked for water cups,” he tells her. “So you can keep them today, but please don’t do it again, OK?”
She wasn’t having it. As the manager finishes, she adds text over the screen: “I spent $35; I don’t care.”
Then, as she walks out, food in hand, she turns her attention to the cashier—the one she believes “snitched” on her.
“You thought you was gonna lose your job over this?” she asks. “What was the point of that?”
In the caption, she doubled down: “You know I had to say something to her on the way out.”
Does filling water cups with soda really matter?
Soda is one of the most profitable items on any fast food menu.
It costs restaurants just a few cents per cup, even with ice, yet they charge anywhere from $2 to $4 for it.
That massive markup means that even if some customers take soda without paying, it doesn’t exactly cut into their bottom line.
Because of this, many employees don’t care enough to enforce the “water cup” rule, especially if their pay isn’t affected.
However, others—like the cashier in this case—might follow the rules more closely, whether to avoid trouble with management or simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do.
While some restaurants have started getting rid of self-serve soda stations altogether, most still rely on the honor system. Whether it’s enforced, though, depends on the employees working that shift.
Commenters heavily criticize the TikToker
In the comments, most users weren’t exactly on Totsionna’s side, saying she should’ve just paid for the drink.
“Getting mad at the worker because they embarrassed you is insane,” one person wrote.
Another questioned why she didn’t just buy one, writing “I don’t understand how you spent $35 and couldn’t buy yourself a drink.”
Still, not everyone thought it was a big deal. “People be way too serious,” one user said. “The way I wouldn’t care if a customer got water or juice.”
@wesickandtired You know I had to say somethin to her on the way out 🤣 #fyp ♬ original sound – TOTSIONNA
The Daily Dot has reached out to Totsionna via email and Panera Bread via contact form for comment.
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