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So the mother of the 16-year-old made him set things right by going back to the establishment and leaving an additional tip to teach him an important lesson about showing more appreciation to service industry workers who are typically underpaid.
Here's the TikTok clip of young Johnny getting schooled about better tipping etiquette.
WARNING: NSFW language
The video showed Johnny–wearing a ball cap backward–schlepping into Foster's bedroom with a smirk on his face knowing he was in for another one of mom's impassioned reprimands.
The text overlay explained:
"When my son goes on his first date and he goes mom the service was good."
"It was a $104 check and he said he tipped a lot of money—$10.00."
"Yes, he's on the way back to the restaurant."
In the clip, Foster, who is off-camera, tells Johnny what was about to go down as a result of his tip.
"You need to get my wallet, you need to get my Visa card, you need to go to the ATM, you need to grab a $20, and drive your a** back to that restaurant because on a $104 check, $10 is a sh**ty tip."
The teen stood silently and maintained his mischievous grin as Foster asked him to confirm if her instructions were registering.
"Do you understand me? Go now."
"I'm not asking, I'm telling... Do you know that guy may have kids, do you know on $104, he gets taxed on it?"
TikTokers applauded Foster for speaking up on behalf of underpaid service industry workers.
@d.foster.president
@d.foster.president
@d.foster.president
@d.foster.president
Foster is a military spouse whose husband is currently deployed.
She is also the owner of D Foster Consulting–a company that hires military spouses and veterans.
She told Buzzfeed the tipping situation resonated with her since she was once a single mom at 20 and worked three jobs to keep food on the table.
"Two of those jobs I was a waitress," she explained.
"It was extremely hard work, and some days, I walked off an eight-hour shift with only $30."
Because Johnny was going off to college in a couple of years, Foster said she wanted to make sure her son didn't take quality customer service for granted.
"I wanted him to understand the waiter was taking care of them, making sure they had a good experience, and doing an amazing customer service job."
"I also explained that servers make most of their money on tips, and it would be sad for this waiter to realize he made $10 on an expensive bill."
@d.foster.president
@d.foster.president
People had some things to say about the inconvenient protocol prevalent in the US.
@d.foster.president
@d.foster.president
It turns out Johnny wasn't being willfully negligent.
He had apparently used a $50 gift card and paid the rest of the tab with his own money.
He then tipped according to what he paid out of his own pocket–which was 20%–but not for the total amount on the bill.
An honest misunderstanding for sure, but it was one Foster felt needed addressing.
She responded to parents commenting specifically about tipping on top of gift cards.
Foster continued:
"I had so many other amazing parents/people/friends/family members reach out and say, 'Omg, I never told my kids about tipping on top of a gift card.'"
"Yes, Johnny tipped 20% on the bill he paid, he just didn't know he had to tip on the gift card."
"So, I taught him right, but forgot that info. I'm only human."
"I paid the extra $20 to the waiter because I felt it was my responsibility for not explaining gift cards."
According to Paycor, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour while tip workers only receive $2.13 from their employers with the remainder expected from customer tips.