Alexa, play every restaurant worker’s favorite music.
Music journalist and TikTok creator Sarah Alessandrini (@sarahalessa_) recently posted a video featuring on-screen text that reads: “I made a playlist for anyone who works in food service.” Since the song playing over the video is Lily Allen’s “F*ck You,” the direction of that playlist might soon become clear.
The video has more than 332,000 views and almost 65,000 likes.
@sarahalessa_ #greenscreen restaurant work changes you #music #musictok #musictiktok #musicplaylist #playlist #playlistcurator #work #works #foodservice #foodserviceproblems #serviceindustry #restaurant #restaurantlife #servertok #server #serverlife #waitress #fuckyou #lilyallen #angrymusic #villainplaylist #villain #songsfor #songs #song #musiccurator #funny #relatable #abcdefu #angry #rage #ragemusic #spotify #workout #fyp #foryourpage #workoutplaylist #thisiswhywecanthavenicethings #taylorswift #reputation #era #paramore #thisiswhy ♬ Fuck You – Lily Allen
Alessandrini’s Spotify playlist doesn’t disappoint. The title: “to the customer who sent their bacon back 5 times bc it wasn’t crispy enough.” The music within “fuels my rage,” according to the playlist description.
A few of the song’s joining Allen’s kiss-off hit on the 26-track playlist: CeeLo Green’s own song titled “F*ck You,” Paramore’s “Misery Business,” Taylor Swift’s “Should’ve Said No” (among other Swift cuts), Avril Lavigne’s “What the Hell,” and Claire Rosinkranz’s “i’m too pretty for this.”
As Alessandrini captioned the TikTok, “restaurant work changes you.”
The service industry showed out in the comments section. One person commented, “as someone who just started a job at wendy’s, thank you.”
Another commented, “i work at denny’s, and i used to work at ihop. i NEEDED this!”
“As a worker at McDonald’s for 7 months I appreciate you,” someone wrote.
“FINALLY something i can scream in the car ride home without stopping,” another wrote. Alessandrini replied, “That’s what it’s for!”
A few commenters really identified with the playlist’s title, like this one: “There’s literally a customer we have that everyone knows if we don’t char their bacon until it’s falling apart they will send it back.” Another person commented, “as someone who works at subway and does indeed get bacon sent back because it isnt ‘crispy enough’ thank you.”
“I think this can apply to retail too,” one viewer chimed in.
Another commenter stirred flashbacks in the creator’s mind, writing, “as someone who serves food in a retirement home with old cranky people i appreciate.” Alessandrini replied, “That was my old job omg it feels like a fever dream now. I blocked it from my memory.”
If you follow restaurant worker TikTok, you’re probably familiar with the wild customer behavior that fuels playlists like these.
One server recently called out customers who expect their order to be ready immediately. And workers at a BJ’s Restaurant dished on their customer service pet peeves.
Update 1:37pm CT, July 18: “Anyone who works in food service knows a little humor goes a long way in alleviating stress,” Alessandrini told the Daily Dot in an email. “I love that I made something so many could find amusement in.”