Restaurant etiquette is something that often leaves folks divided, from how to order to how much to tip and more. One debate that was recently stirred up on TikTok is how or if you should tidy up your table when you leave after your meal.
The conversation was brought up by TikToker Nicolas Conquer (@nicksmostcommonw), who recorded a video of himself speed-cleaning his table with a text overlay that read, “POV: [you’re] a customer who has worked in the service industry so not only do you tip but you clean up after yourself like a grown up.”
In the comments, Conquer added, “Some people don’t realize this is what is adults do. I posted this as a bare minimum reference.”
The video has been viewed over 848.6k times since it was posted on March 13 and responses to Conquer’s video run the gamut, from saying that it’s just good manners to finding customers like him annoying.
One commenter agreed with the TikToker, saying, “I do this too. And I pick up every piece of food my kids drop. Used to drive my ex crazy, but it’s not their job to clean up after my kids.”
Service industry folks chimed in too, saying that it was “the right and respectful thing to do” to clean up if you make a mess at the table and calling Conquer a “good human” for helping them out.
Where it can get annoying is if the restaurant has a specific method of clearing tables that doesn’t work with how customers stack their plates and things to be “helpful.”
One restaurant server in the comments asked that if folks did this to “please put all trash/food on the top plate or we’re gonna have to separate it all anyways.” They also said that while it is well-intentioned, sometimes it creates more work for the server who then has to “unstack everything” to clear away food and dirty plates properly.
A TikToker replied to the video saying, “I’ve seen people do this only to have the waitress disassemble the stack because it wasn’t stacked right,”
Another person added, “I have straight up had servers ask me not to arrange stuff cause it messed with their system lol.”
A number of people asked the TikToker if he was looking for an award for posting his video, but in a follow-up video he said that he was happy that his post about “common decency” had gone viral.
“I’m just glad I have never gone viral in a negative light,” he said. “Don’t plan on changing my positivity posts.”
