Teenager customers already have a bad reputation in the restaurant industry. From being accused of being poor tippers to disruptive behavior, they can’t seem to catch a break. For this Nashville server, how a group of young patrons acted raised eyebrows.
What did this server experience?
Nashville server Addy Grace (@addygrace.k) recalls a recent incident while sitting in her car at night to more than 146,000 viewers. Her video has since been removed.
“I’m in what my restaurant calls ‘back bed.’ So, that’s where all the back sections get their drinks and hang out. That’s where the dish pit is,” she says.
When she turned a corner after a rush, she noticed a group of patrons, specifically, an 8-top that appeared to be, as the server described, “high schoolers.” Confused, she decided to greet them.
“Weird vibes immediately, “ she says. “Also, somehow I didn’t notice that they didn’t have menus.”
Then, one of the males in the group requested a drink menu, which left her with more questions than answers.
“‘Did you guys talk to a host?’” the content creator recalls asking him. “‘Were you guys sat here or no?’”
Before the guy frantically “confirmed” it, she knew he was being dishonest because it was reserved.
Since Addy wasn’t buying it, she spoke with the host, who was just as puzzled.
“‘I didn’t seat you an eight-top,’” she remembers the host replying. “‘Maybe the manager sat them. Ask her.’”
When she did, her manager was confused. “Nobody sat them,” the server says. Subsequently, she watched the manager take matters into their own hands by confronting the group.
“‘Do you guys know what the host looked like that sat you here?’” she recalls the manager asking the group.
What did the table do?
According to her, none of the patrons could give a description. Later on, the server’s curiosity piqued, and she questioned her manager about the table.
“Whatever happened to that table?’ What was their deal?” she asked. “‘Clearly they sat themselves, and they’re lying, but did anything happen?’”
Addy’s manager gave the group the option to be on a waitlist and asked if any of them were 21 due to their hours for admission. They claimed some of them were and showed their ID as “proof.”
“But apparently one of them showed her an ID that was so fake, I laughed,” Addy says. “They were just so weird from the get-go.”
What’s her moral of the story? “If you’re gonna have a fake ID, don’t be sus. Don’t be weird, don’t be standoffish, don’t seat yourself,” she says. “And don’t lie to your server’s face. Don’t lie to the manager when she comes. And that’s my server life lesson of the night.”
Addy adds in the caption that a big rule to this is passing for a certain age. “If [you’re] gonna use a fake, make sure [you] look like [you] could at least drive a car first,” she writes.
‘Self seaters are my mortal enemies’
Addy’s story can be a reason for ire, and not just because it breaks etiquette. When patrons seat themselves, it can create chaos, including disrupting the flow of service, sitting at uncleaned tables, and delaying service, according to Tasting Table. So it’s understandable why this is the bane of servers’ existence in the comments section.
“Nothing p—- me off more than when people seat themselves. Like HELLO CAN YOU NOT READ OUR SIGN,” one viewer commented.
“Self seaters are my mortal enemies,” another remarked.
“I’ve had plenty of people seat themselves but I don’t think I’ve EVER had someone lie to me about having someone seat them,” a third stated.
Furthermore, others have known someone who has encountered people with fake IDs.
“Will never forget my coworker immediately knowing an ID was fake because he had the exact same one,” one commenter shared.
“I walked by with drinks for my table and they were comparing their fake to their real one and I [just] had to stand there while we stared at each other in silence before walking off again,” a second revealed.
Legal consequences of fake IDs
Across the United States, there are federal consequences for those who use fake IDs. Under Tennessee law, forging a fake ID to buy liquor is a Class A misdemeanor alone. However, the punishment depends on their age. Justia states that those who are under 18 can face a $50 fine or 20 hours of community service, whereas those who are over 18-20 can face a $50-$200 fine or 5-30 days in jail or the workhouse. If convicted, the outlet states the person may face these ramifications, along with denied driving privileges.
