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The Daily Dot

Stacy Fernández is a freelance writer, project manager and communications specialist. She’s worked at The Texas Tribune, The Dallas Morning News and run social for The Education Trust New York. Her favorite hobby is finding hidden gems at the thrift store, she loves a good audio book and is a chocolate enthusiast.

Stacy Fernandez

‘They’re counting on you not seeing it’: TikToker issues viral PSA to customers after restaurant includes ‘labor surcharge’ on receipt

Moises Mendez II is a recent graduate from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He is a freelance journalist based in New York City writing about everything from music to LGBTQ issues.

Moises Mendez II

Unclick

‘I know you think you’re helping when you do this’: Restaurant worker shares what ‘helpful’ customers are doing wrong

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw was a staff writer at the Daily Dot, covering geek culture and fandom. Specializing in sci-fi movies and superheroes, she also appears as a film and TV critic on BBC radio. Elsewhere, she co-hosts the pop culture podcast Overinvested.

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Viral TikTok shows restaurant workers hiding from customers behind counter just so they can eat

Brooke Sjoberg is a freelance writer who graduated with her Bachelors in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020.

Brooke Sjoberg

“This is 6 weeks of ‘pay’”: Server receives 1 penny on paycheck

Dan Latu is a freelance journalist writing about the internet and culture. Previously, his work has appeared in the Real Deal and Columbia News Service.

Dan Latu

Customers help clean understaffed Waffle House in viral TikTok

Restaurant worker says she was fired after someone changed customer’s tip to her

Clara is a full-time digital nomad writing about culture, food, and music. Her work has been featured in publications such as Refinery29, the Austin Chronicle, USA Today, and NiceKicks. She aims to be quicker on her feet than Borat&#8217;s lawyers.

Clara Wang

young woman in bathrobe split screen with young woman eating in restaurant with captions "Hi. That's me singing." (l) and "Doing my best. Have a great day." (r)

Diner rolls eyes, makes faces while listening to waitress sing in viral TikTok—it backfires

Rachel Kiley is a writer who sometimes writes things and sometimes is based in L.A., but is definitely always on Twitter @rachelkiley.

Rachel Kiley

‘Your name should be something with an -isha or an -equa at the end’: Black restaurant server says customer refused to believe her name is Marjorie

Nahila Bonfiglio reports on geek culture and gaming. Her work has also appeared on KUT&#8217;s Texas Standard (Austin), KPAC-FM (San Antonio), and the Daily Texan.

Nahila Bonfiglio

TikToker says Texas restaurant seated Black people on one side and white people on the other

Karen uses purse to hold place in line Chili's

‘Karen’ uses her purse to gatekeep Chili’s in viral TikTok

Tricia Crimmins is a former Senior Reporter on the politics and tech team covering discrimination, identity, and the 2024 election.

Tricia Crimmins

TikToker says she was falsely accused of dining and dashing in viral video (updated)

‘If my table did this, I’d probably quit’: Men flamed for pretending to take nap to get waitress’ attention in viral TikTok

‘Don’t hate the kids. Hate the parents’: Viral TikTok of kids playing on floor at Cheesecake Factory sparks debate

grown woman throws a drink at another patron in a restaurant

Karen throws drink at Black diners in hibachi grill restaurant in viral TikTok

Samira Sadeque is a New York-based journalist reporting on immigration and mental health, and will sometimes write about memes and dinosaurs too. Her work also appears in Reuters, NPR, and NBC among other publications. She graduated from Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for SAJA awards.

Samira Sadeque

A man screams 'give me a cop' on the phone

Restaurants