Hooters Waitress Shares How Much She Makes From Tips, Raising Unexpected Controversy

A Hooters waitress, @leah_fennelly decided to spill the beans on how much she made in tips in a single day causing huge controversy on social media.

The girl took breaks throughout her working day took breaks to tell viewers how much she was making in tips, counting the cash, and showing receipts to prove her numbers were accurate. 

Based on the play-by-play of her tips, it sounds like she served 22 tables who tipped, with the highest being $100 sent to her from a regular customer later via an app.

Other highlights included receiving just $7 from an unnamed baseball hall-of-famer who attracted attention from other customers while at the restaurant, and a $31 tip from a customer who Leah says asked for her number.

After working an eight-hour shift on a Thursday, she counted the total — a whopping $382.

Or as Leah put it: “$382. Not bad!”

Service industry workers in America hold a weird position where they are making far below the average minimum than their employer, however, with the potential to make more, they cover a big part of it from the tips, but this too depends on the factors like where they work and what hours are they covering.

Leah’s video ignited the usual debate surrounding the restaurant industry — whether tipping culture has gotten out of hand, whether certain people are more likely to make that kind of money than others, and other common refrains.

“I’m an engineer and this girl makes more than me lol, I’m never tipping again,” wrote @rickyl22, a sentiment echoed by @jeffmurphy96, who added, “I’m a nurse and you make more than a starting nurse in a 12-hour shift.”

“attractive girl = easy life mode,” claimed @tirlie.bryson.

But another viewer also hit back at “ppl saying she has it so easy” by pointing out “she’s literally working a job and on her feet for 8 hours. They sometimes don’t even have time to eat during a shift.”

Leah didn’t specify how the monetary amount she received in tips that day compares to an average day, and some viewers who also work service jobs at places other than Hooters said they sometimes make that much as well, while another person claimed to only make $60 a night working at Denny’s. 

All-in-all, her TikTok mostly seems to help prove that there is no standard when it comes to working at restaurants, contributing to the strangeness of tipping culture in the U.S.

“Here in the UK, staff get paid the living wage, and customers tip for good food and service, and not for the sake of it, or to subsidize poor pay,” wrote @sonnyd46.