Woman slams 'tipping culture' after being asked to tip for a $17 smoothie

It's no secret that servers - in the US especially - are paid poorly, which is why it's so important to tip well.

However, with the rising cost of living, customers are increasingly resenting tipping culture, something this woman recently complained about on TikTok after paying $17 for a smoothie and being asked if she wanted to leave an additional tip.

Taking to TikTok, Angie - who posts under the name @luckyangie - shared a video of herself enjoying her admittedly very expensive smoothie.

She overlayed the video with the words: "Just paid $17 for a smoothie and an extra $1.35 for a Stevia packet and they had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to tip. Um ma'am I'm all cleaned out today."

Angie went on to stress just how frustrated she has been left by the pressure that comes with tipping culture in the caption, adding: "tipping culture needs to chill."

Unsurprisingly, Angie's video went far from unnoticed since it was posted on 17 February, and at the time of writing, it's been liked by more than 24,000 TikTok users.

However, the comments section paints a much more divided reaction to her view of tipping culture.

Reacting to the video, one viewer slammed: "If you got the $17, you can throw in an extra $2."

"You paid $17 for a drink, you might as well," agreed a second, while a third wrote: "I always tip. It's a thank you. Especially if someone is taking the time to make you a drink."

"My rule is that if I pay over $6 for a drink, I tip too," shared a fourth viewer. "The extra dollar clearly doesn't mean all that much lol."

However, a lot of viewers were sympathetic to the TikToker and agreed that the price was the problem.

"I usually tip at Starbucks, but if the drink is over $7, I won't," shared one viewer.

This prompted Angie to add: "If I have to go order and pick up my own food at a window, I am not tipping you."

"Done with tips until I know they can prove they deserve it," shared another viewer.

A third added: "I never tip at drink places."

However, while people's reactions to the video were mixed, some people said the problem had nothing to do with tipping.

"I mean this isn't really a tipping culture problem it's a pricing problem on the corporations part [sic]," added one person in reference to the smoothie.

"I live in NYC which is expensive AF never have I paid $17 for a smoothie that is an outrage in itself [sic]."