🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A restaurant employee at Texas Roadhouse has gone viral for passing out during a double shift. The security camera video has been viewed 1.3 million times on TikTok to date, and viewers have a lot of thoughts.
The video started with TikToker @whitneynbrand, or Whitney, who is allegedly the one in the video, standing by other servers with a hand to her head as the video zooms in. "Watch me completely pass out in a middle of a dinner rush," the TikToker said in the text overlay. She appeared to rub her head with her fingertips as patrons sat nearby and fellow servers were in front of computers. People walked by, but the TikToker just held her head.
TikToker @whitneynbrand then walked off to the other side of the room and then stopped, appearing to grab her head again. Suddenly, she seems to fall to the floor. Another restaurant worker was right near her when it happened, noticing the strange behavior. She appeared to try and assist her. However, another server carrying a tray walked right by the TikToker who had fallen.
According to the National Restaurant Association, at the end of 2020, there were 12.5 million people working in the restaurant industry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average pay for waiters and waitresses in 2020 was $23,740, or $11.42 an hour. Hours can vary from full-time employment to part-time, spanning odd hours and holidays as well.
People had a lot of reactions to the viral post about everything from the woman passing out to the server who walked by.
"The one server who watched you and knew something was up," a viewer said. "She a real one."
Some had thoughts on the server who walked by as @whitneynbrand had fallen. "Dude with the tray didn't skip a beat," a viewer made note of.
"The fact that your coworker watched you drop and decided the food was more important," another commenter said. "Foul. Terrible priorities."
Others had sympathy for the creator of the video. "This is how tired our workers are," a viewer weighed in.
"I've passed out many times and this is the worst, especially when you aren't around people you can trust," another commenter said.
Some people poked fun at the situation. "When you ran out of excuses to leave work so this is your last resort," a commenter wrote.
Newsweek reached out to Texas Roadhouse for comment and learned that the situation "was medical-related."
"After she fainted, the managers attended to Whitney and took her in the back office to call an ambulance," Travis Doster, the Senior Director of Public Relations at Texas Roadhouse wrote in a statement. "She did not want to go the hospital and attributed the fainting to having not eaten or taken her medication. While resting in the office, they provided her some orange juice and also cooked her a meal while they waited for her brother to come get her. She has since returned to work and is feeling much better and thanked the managers and her Roadhouse family for their help."
