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Deaf server reenacts exchange with a disrespectful customer: ‘This would’ve made me cry’
Dealing with difficult customers is sadly nothing new in the restaurant business. But one server says she’s had more than her share of “s***** interactions” with customers over the years — not because of her performance as a waitress, but because she’s deaf.
The 24-year-old server, who goes by Lo (@llosoncy), recently shared one of her worst encounters on TikTok, and a lot of people were honestly stunned by the story.
According to Lo, she always begins by introducing herself to a new table and being upfront about the fact that she’s deaf to avoid any confusion.
“Just a heads up, I am deaf, so I rely on lip reading or if you can sign, that works too,” she says in a friendly manner while reenacting the recent exchange. “But basically, if I can’t see your mouth then I can’t hear you. Hope that’s okay.”
After asking the table if they’d like something to get started, Lo probably expected to take down some simple drink orders. But instead, one of the customers at the table immediately started questioning her in a rude and uncomfortable way.
“Wait, you’re deaf?” they asked. “How did you get hired if you’re deaf?”
“I mean, me being deaf doesn’t really stop me from doing my job,” Lo explained. “I can still serve tables.”
“Oh, that’s cool I guess,” the customer replied before sharing that they knew a bit of sign language themselves.
But when Lo asked if they preferred to sign their order, the customer quickly clarified that they really only knew one gesture: The middle finger, which they promptly gave her before laughing.
Lo could have handled the jaw-dropping moment in a lot of different ways but decided to calmly tell the customer that she doesn’t like “jokes like that” and no longer felt comfortable waiting on the table. Instead, she informed the diners that she’d send over another server to wait on them and made her exit.
“I hope you have a good one,” Lo said before walking away. “Or, have the night you deserve.”
A lot of people in the comments section couldn’t hold back their shock.
“this is insane,” one person wrote.
“The second hand embarrassment I felt,” added another.
Others applauded the waitress for handling the whole thing with such grace and said they wouldn’t have been able to do the same in her shoes.
“I would have pretended to be feral and bite his finger off,” one person admitted.
“I would’ve walked away and told no one,” said someone else. “They can sit there for hours.”
A ton of others merely apologized for the lack of common decency some people show other humans.
“I’m sorry ppl are jerks!” one TikToker told her.
“This would’ve made me cry I’m sorry bby,” said someone else.
Another person said they hoped Lo was “doing okay” after being subjected to such cruelty.
As hurtful as these experiences are, Lo appears to be handling them the best she can. She’s even started a series exposing similar interactions as a means of educating others about what deaf people have to endure on a sometimes daily basis.
“The way you can keep your composure,” one person wrote. “I respect that because I would’ve fought someone.”
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