A North Carolina waitress was fired after she posted a viral video on TikTok of a man eating dinner with a blow-up doll inside her Charlotte restaurant.
The woman, identified as on social media Tara Eve Bjork, said in a video she posted on TikTok “Ok, I’m not supposed to be making TikToks at work, but this calls for it.
“I work at a nice restaurant in Charlotte, and I need you guys to see what just came in the door.”
The camera then turns and zooms in on a man eating dinner at the RH Rooftop Restaurant in Phillips Place with the plastic doll, which appears to be too big to fit in the chair opposite him. The two each have drinks as the man looks over the menu like nothing is strange about the sight.
The camera then turns back to the server, who holds her forehead in disbelief. She titled the video “No words” and posted it on May 27. It has since garnered 2.5m views.
People on TikTok questioned the man’s choices and praised the waitress for posting the video.
“Thank you for risking your job for this,” one person wrote. “She looks tired and fed up,” another said, although it’s not clear if the comment refers to the doll or server.
Speaking to The Charlotte Observer, Bjork said she prepared herself for one of two scenarios when posting the video: “It would get no views and I would be fine, or it would blow up and I would be fired.”
When the latter happened, she said she “was ready for new opportunities, so it wasn’t too much of a shock, thank goodness. Sort of shocked at HOW viral it went though! My friend’s parents were telling me they’ve seen it.”
The woman posted another TikTok of her reaction to the viral story as it was recounted on 96.1, a local radio station. She said the man was not sitting in her section during his visit.
The customer, who posted hisown video on his Papi Chulo TikTok account, said he took the doll out after losing his fantasy football league. His video included an image of him sitting across from the doll with the caption “I want to cry.”
He ordered her salad and a glass of water. In one photo, the man was seen smiling as he posed for a picture with his “date.”
“IM CACKLINGGGGGG you ordered her a salad and all,” one TikTok user wrote.
“It’s been a rough day…. This helps. Thank you,” another poster added, as most seemed to find the humor in paying up on the fantasy football loss.
In a video posted on June 1 in an update regarding the situation, the waitress said that she had no regrets about her decision even though it ended with her losing her job.
