Hooters waitress reveals how much she typically makes in tips, with one shift netting her as much as $408 on top of her $2.13 hourly wage

Zahra Tayeb

Sun, October 24, 2021

• A Hooters waitress posting a TikTok video discussing how much she says she makes in tips. 

• In one shift, she said she earned $408 - and $60 of that came from just talking to a customer.

• The tips she earned are on top of her hourly wage of $2.13. 

A Hooters waitress, who recently discussed the differences in the Hooters Girl short designs, posted a new TikTok video revealing how much she typically earns in tips. 

Kirsten Songer, who said she works at a South Carolina branch, went viral after she posted the video. It detailed what she earned on top of her $2.13 hourly wage across multiple shifts. 

"This is how much I make in a week at Hooters," Songer said in the clip. "This is a really good week to show, 'cause I had some really great shifts and then some not-so-hot shifts."

She said that in one shift, she earned $50 in tips but another one netted her $408, with $60 of the latter figure coming from a man who tipped her just for talking to him.

According to a calculation by Indy100, her total tip earnings during that week totaled $1,308. 

Across a year, Songer's earning potential could be close to $70,000, the outlet said. The average median salary for people in South Carolina is $54,672, it added. 

The video has been viewed more than 240,000 times. Hooters did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Songer's reported hourly rate of $2.13 is the federal minimum wage for servers and other tipped employees in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, and Nebraska. Despite this, some TikTok commenters were still surprised that her hourly rate was not higher. 

Hooters has hit headlines recently after an employee backlash over the company's new, more revealing shorts, Insider's Bethany Biron reported. 

Servers and bartenders were largely against the idea of wearing the new shorts, which many compared to underwear, Insider's Mary Meisenzahl reported. The company later adjusted its policy to make the controversial shorts optional. 

TIPS ARE A PITY WAGE, GIVEN TO WORKERS DUE TO THE CUSTOMER KNOWING THEY GET SHIT WAGES. SERVERS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA SUFFER THIS DIFFERENTIAL WAGE BASED ON THE EMPLOYER RELYING ON THE CUSTOMER TO PAY FOR THEIR MEAL AND THEIR SERVICE WHICH IS DELIBERATELY POORLY WAGED.

AS FOR THE SIXTY DOLLARS FOR TALKING TO A MALE CUSTOMER OTHER SEX WORKERS ALSO REPORT BEING PAID BY LONELY MEN JUST TO TALK. 'HOOTERS GIRLS' ARE A FORM OF SEX WORK, WITHOUT SEX, LIKE STRIPPERS, THE COSTUME IS THE SEXUAL FANTASY.