This couple’s tipping trick is terrible so please don’t try it

When it comes to viral stories, the internet rarely surprises us these days. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t get disappointed at the cruelty of some of our fellow earthlings. In a cringeworthy Facebook post that is circulating like wildfire, a husband shares his new tipping trick that he tried with his wife. However, what he thinks is genius is actually cruel and terrible. In his Facebook post, he explains his guide for tipping.

He says, “You put five singles out on the table at the beginning of dinner for the waiter/waitress to see. (Don’t say anything to them) if they mess up, you take a dollar away, and so on. At the end of the dinner, how ever much is left, is their tip.” Ew.

There are so many things wrong with this method of tipping, the first one being how rude it is to taunt your server and openly criticize them for small missteps. In his post, the man goes on to say that at one point their waitress forgot their bread, making him take a dollar away. According to the Facebook post, “she bounced back and gave [them] extra,” so she ended up with the entirety of the $5 tip originally put on the table.

If you want the wait staff to spit in your food, you could always just ask. pic.twitter.com/hED3pjBXMJ

— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) December 8, 2016

Gross, right? There are so many things wrong with this.

This is an experiment that the couple had allegedly discussed for a while and they finally got around to trying it. In the poster’s words, he claims you will “get the best service of your life”, but trust us, that seems highly untrue and also incredibly inconsiderate. Service industry workers are notoriously mistreated, and this takes under-tipping and lowballing servers to a new, well… low.

This couple’s idea to start their server off with a measly $5 seems like an inappropriately small tip for a dinner-for-two and then proceed to overtly pressure the server for top-notch service is reprehensible. Yes, we all want great service when we go out to eat. But we all deserve to be treated with kindness and empathy as well… and that includes our servers.