I worked in the restaurant industry for like 20 years. Started in fast food while I was in high school, waited tables and bartended throughout college, and bartended on the weekends while working full time up until recently.
When people were dicks and ordered Sprite, I purposely gave them soda water. I’d also give badly behaved kids soda water too—that was usually my favorite because they either couldn’t explain what was wrong with their drink or their parents wouldn’t believe them because they were being bad.
It was the perfect crime, I could always just say “Oh I guess the syrup was out, sorry about that, I’ll go fix it!” and give myself a little 3-5 minute break in the back, then I’d give them the Sprite.
Glad to get that one off my chest.
Edit: Guys, I didn’t do this solely because someone ordered Sprite. This was reserved for the people who started off rude and happened to order Sprite.
Comments
bartender here. i’m borrowing this trick
That’s diabolical. And brilliant. And now has me questioning every time I’ve been given a soda with no syrup…
If you did that to me there’d be more than words to be had.
If you want to come back to the table to fix your own mistake and repour a drink sure why not 🙄
Hahaha. Everyone got decaf when I was a dinner wait. No one needs caffeine that late!
Didnt they notice? Because I would, anyone whims not having it with a mixed drink and can tell the difference would know
I’ve never been a Sprite drinker but what’s wrong with people ordering Sprite?
you probably saved the from diabetes
I feel like this is just more work for me. When serving more-so. (Bartender&server)
I love it and I thank you for your service
I mean it seems like more work for you honestly
Its the little wins
This sounds like r/UnethicalLifeProTips lol
Your a problem. You won’t stop at just spiking their drink.
I am a sprite, 7-up and ginger ale drinker. I don’t understand why you would feel I needed to be punished for it. Guess you think my money is bad, so I will keep your tip to myself.
Just why? Seems like you are being a dick.
Your saving lives
OP lives a sad life. I hope you get help.
convinced that nobody in this comment section knows how to read
this is just creating an extra interaction with people you already don’t like. weird.
i used to bend the tops of their togo boxes a bit if they’d already checked out, but give them a bag. then i’d just avoid them asking for a new box until they got annoyed and left.
And servers wonder why people are bad tippers.
i do the same but gas light them into thinking it tastes fine
My husband was given soda water instead of Sprite the other day in his rum and coke he tasted it right away, and he’s a delightful person.
He said to the waiter, "oh I think I’ve been accidentally given soda water instead of Sprite"
and the waiter said, "Yes it is soda water."
Then they both stared at each other until the waiter said, "let me give you some Sprite."
Edit: He ordered a rum and Sprite not a rum and Coke!
Everyone saying more work but eh, I get it. Gotta do something to get through the shift
I used to use light lemonade instead of regular lemonade for those who looked like they could do with less sugar 😬
I personally prefer plain soda water to almost any other beverage. There are a couple fast food places that have it on their soda fountains and best of all it’s usually free. So serve me up. I won’t complain about sparkling water on ice.
Is there a difference in sugar content? Could be dangerous for diabetics
My kids must be dicks because this has happened a couple times to them. They’re fine with water now. Thank you.
You just seem like a jerk
At a breakfast diner I worked at servers would give jerks decaf coffee only.
I don’t trust ppl that mess with someone’s food/drinks tbh no matter how small of a thing… it’s still very weird.
Waitstaff for over a decade before quitting. I can confirm I’ve done the same with some badass kids.
You should never fuck with peoples food/drinks different from what they ordered no matter the reason. It’s a matter of health safety. That person could have needed the sugar and you put their health at risk.
Messing with people’s food/drink and I bet you expected a tip, too.
Hope you found something where people don’t have to deal with you.
I hate sugary sodas, and one time when I ordered a sparkling water/soda water, they gave me a sprite… nearly spit it out lol. Most likely was just a new server, and they were busy at that time too.
On a side note though, I honestly cannot understand how people drink those things XD
All these confessions of those in food service are putting your tips in jeopardy. There are some that already dislike tipping as is.
Thank you for telling us-but a lot of us know how petty & mean spirited some humans can be. Adults that are spiteful & sneaky mean to children are on a different level tho.
psycho behavior
I knew you fuckers were doing it on purpose. And the two straws with the four drinks were just to sow conflict and strife too. I knew it.
It’s a spite sprite
Meanwhile, I will order a vodka and soda and be too afraid to be like, "I meant soda water, " when I get Sprite.
your an asshole hope you got fried
dude wtf why kids
That is a pretty perfect crime 😆
And yet people like you cry about tips. You ruin the industry for others.
Good thing i cannot fucking bear sprite.
This sounds like something somebody would say that has never actually worked in the restaurant industry, but thinks they’re clever and has come up with a great way to stick it to the assholes in a hypothetical situation that they’ve never been a part of. As a career bartender/server, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Or maybe you’re just not that bright, and you think you’re being clever when everyone else is like, whatever. There is no buying yourself a few extra minutes when you have 8 tables, or a full bar, all wanting something, and taking extra time with one gains you nothing. If you had ever really been in this situation, you’d be gar more petty
Ok, but have you ever given people Sprite instead of (flat) water?
Cuz a waiter did that to my mom a week ago and we’re still so baffled by the mixup, she literally looked at us with the pitcher in hand and went "water, right?", tipped the water (soda) in the cup, and then disappeared until it was time for the check
I created an account just to comment on how dangerous this behavior is for disabled people. As a type 1 diabetic, in order to consume carbs, I need to take insulin. If I don’t, within a couple hours, my blood will slowly become acidic and eat away at my organs until I die a painful death. Sprite has a lot of carbs and therefore requires insulin; soda water does not. If I take insulin expecting to consume a food/beverage with carbs and am given a drink with little to no carbs, my blood sugar will drop precipitously, leading to hypoglycemia. This can cause seizures, coma or death. By purposefully lying to the consumer about what they are getting, you are contributing to the possible deaths of innocent disabled people. I don’t care if they were rude. That does NOT give you license to attempt to murder them. You don’t know if they have a health condition that may be impacted by getting something other than what they ordered. You should be ashamed
Spite Sprite
I worked at a restaurant once, and my stomach wasn’t feeling the best. Was thirsty but didn’t really want much, especially not something sugary that will make my stomach worse. A little while later a coworker said they had an extra sprite they poured and asked if I wanted it. In the moment I just said sure, because I was thirsty, but was also worried it would make my stomach hurt more. I take a sip and it’s soda water. The person looks at me with a smile thinking they were so funny for pranking me. But jokes were on them because I love soda water, and have a soda stream I use all the time. That soda water helped with my thirst and my stomach actually started feeling better afterwards. They thought they got me good with a prank but actually just did me a genuine favor.
One time I had a very rude regular who always treated myself and my employees like garbage. So over the course of two years I adjusted her mountain dew to eventually be half mountain dew and half diet mountain dew. Eventually I left that job and one day went in as a customer only to have this lady flag me down and demand I show the employees how to "make it the right way"
I then had to show five people that it’s a half and half mix specifically because of her attitude.
When I worked at Domino’s if you were cool I just tossed the stuff on, plenty of everything. If you were rude or one of the people who likes to stand and stare the food maker down, I pulled the scale out of the back and gave you a dominos branded corporate pizza. And then got sauce over the entire crust so it would burn.
I think your soda water swapparoo was fair and deserved.
🫡
Them canadians ordering sprite
Harmless petty revenge, I love it!
Sprite drinkers are the worst kind.
And this is the type of person who:
If they were Phelbotomist, would purposely miss the vein, over and over, would randomly swap blood vials or mislabel them, just because.
If he was firefighter, he would likely start the fires.
If he was pharmacist, he would replace heart meds with sugar pills.
If he were a cop, he would shoot your dog.
If he was doctor, he would misdiagnose cancer patient, just to let people suffer.
What we have here people, is genuine psychopath…