Man sparks controversy with reason for refusing to tip his waiter: ‘They’re literally just doing their jobs’

A man refused to tip after a restaurant refused to serve his wife a drink. 

He asked Reddit’s “Am I the A******? (AITA)” forum if he was in the wrong. His wife forgot her ID and was denied alcohol at a restaurant. Her solution was to sip from his drink. But when a server saw it happen, they refused to give him more alcohol. 

“So my wife (34, female) forgets her ID, and I (33, male) order a drink at a restaurant we frequent often,” he wrote. “Obviously, they wouldn’t serve my wife a drink because she couldn’t present an ID. We could be considered regulars with how often we are there. [We] regularly spend $150-200 a night and tip 20-30%. The people working tonight are not the regular staff.

“My wife has maybe three discreet sips of my drink (not in front of the server), and I want to order another drink. The server refuses to give me another drink because he says we are sharing drinks and watching our table like we are little kids.”

The Reddit poster felt like the service was poor after the incident. 

“Mind you, the whole time, he sets up people in the restaurant to police us and watch our table when he can’t,” he said. “[He] barely gives any service except when we’re done with our food. I have no problem with them not serving my wife because, yes, the law says no drinks if you don’t have ID, but you deny me, a grown 33-year-old man with a wedding ring, a second drink.

“Even if the liquor board is there, they check to make sure people who are drinking are ID’d. They’re not going to make a fuss if someone has a sip who is obviously over 21. [It’s] none of your business what happens at our table. You’re not top-flight security. [We] left a $0 tip.”

Redditors felt the poster was indeed in the wrong here. 

“They’re literally just doing their jobs. If they don’t enforce these rules, they could face legal consequences,” a person commented

“It’s your wife’s fault, not the server[‘s]. Alcohol laws are strict, and businesses can lose their license over people like you,” another wrote

“If you forget your ID, you cannot drink,” a user said

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