Mom Shocked To Learn Son Left a $10 Tip on a $104 Meal, Sends Him Back to the Restaurant

Mom Lectures Son About Leaving a Bad Tip

Photo: Screenshot from TikTok

A 16-year-old named Johnny left what he thought was a good tip on a dinner date—until he told his mom about it. In a viral TikTok video, Danielle Foster scolded her son for leaving a tip that was less than 10% on a meal. The camera is angled from her point of view as she tells Johnny that he must go back to the restaurant and leave a better tip. Her lecture—and lesson—has garnered millions of views and thousands of comments from people on the internet.

Foster gave additional insight via text overlaid on the video. “When my son goes on his first date and he goes, ‘Mom, the service is good. It was a $104 check' and he said he tipped him a lot of money,” she writes. “$10. Yes, he's on the way back to the restaurant.”

The mom is heard telling Johnny that he has to drive back to the eatery and make it right. “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 ass back to that restaurant because on a $104 check, $10 is a s***** tip,” she says. “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?”

Foster’s strong reaction comes from the fact that she once worked in food service to make ends meet. She was a single mom at 20 years old and at one point had three jobs. In two of them, she was a server. Her hard work wasn't always rewarded; some days she would work eight hours with only $30 at the end of her shift. Now, she owns D Foster Consulting which employs military spouses and veterans. (Foster is a military spouse.)

The video elicited a lot of comments with varying points of view. Many people in the service industry thanked Foster for teaching her son the valuable (albeit very public) lesson, while others didn’t think the tip was that bad or felt like tipping has become out of control in the U.S. What do you think?

In a viral TikTok video, a woman named Danielle Foster scolded her son for leaving a $10 tip on a $104 meal and made him drive back to the restaurant and give the server more money.

@d.foster.president 😑 legit he’s driving his ass back there im so sorry legit 😩 I raised him better than this 😑 #momsoftiktok #momofteens #coolmom #tippingservers #waiter #waitress #workfromhome #remotework #momof3 #workingmom ♬ original sound – Danielle Foster

The mom's strong reaction comes from the fact that she once worked in food service to make ends meet. She was a single mom at 20 years old and at one point had three jobs. In two of them, she was a server.

Mom and Son

Johnny and Danielle

D Foster Consulting: Website | Instagram | Facebook

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Danielle Foster. 

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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