A woman has sparked a debate after sharing how much she earns after working 70 hours serving customers at a bar. Aaliyah Cortez, who has worked at a sports bar for over a year, took home $9.28 (£7.38) after having social security, Medicare and fed income tax deducted from her pay packet.
Earning $2.13 (£1.69) an hour, she has taken to TikTok to urge customers to tip their servers. In her video, which has been viewed almost one million times, she said: "This is why you should always tip your bartenders, servers, anyone who waits on you or provides a service for you.
"This is my hourly for two weeks, I worked almost 71 hours. I get paid $2.13 an hour as a bartender and a server. I should have made $150.81 but because I have to have social security, Medicare and income tax taken out, I was paid $9.28 for 70 hours of work.
"Of course, I got tips but this is what I got for my hourly. This is why you tip."
After posting her video, Aaliyah was inundated with comments from users telling her to get a new job if she doesn't like the pay.
In response, she said: "All of you telling me to get a new job need to shut up.
"I like my job - bartending, serving, it's fun.
"However, I don't agree with the state laws that allow restaurants to pay under minimum wage and expect the customer to pay our wages.
"I make great money in tips - I am able to afford my lovely apartment, I am able to afford my bills and food for me.
"However, this is not the case for all workers in the service industry. Why? Because customers aren't tipping even though their state is expecting them to tip. So educate yourselves."
While most users agreed her pay packet is a "joke", others slammed America's tipping culture saying it's "broken beyond repair".
In response, one user said: "Thank you! I was a server for years and some people are just so ignorant. If you aren’t going to tip, there’s a McDonald’s for that."
Another user added: "We. Don’t. Have. To. Tip. Here’s a tip: I hope you don’t talk to people like this."
A third user said: "You are so on the point - great work."
One more user added: "What about teens we barely make enough money to buy the food I mean we try to tip we try but..."
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