While most restaurants will charge for bottled water, a majority of American restaurants and bars will happily provide patrons with a glass of tap water for free.
However, a majority is not all restaurants—and as a result, there are still plenty of destinations who will attempt to charge customers an arm and a leg for what comes out of the faucet.
One such case was recently noted by TikTok user Sean (@seanie2blondie). In a video with over 253,000 views, Sean says he was at a club when he needed a drink of water. Upon going to the bar, he was met with what he describes as his “least favorite f*cking thing.”
“She turns around and comes back with a bottle of water,” he recalls. “She looks me dead in the face and says that’ll be $8.”
Sean quickly refused and asked if they had tap water, to which the bartender responded by directing him to the bathroom.
“She’s not telling me to go and stick my face under the faucet to get water, right?” Sean says.
Sean then asked for a cup to get tap water from the bathroom, at which point he was told that the bar “[doesn’t] give out free cups.”
“So I was like, ‘Oh, it’s clear to me now. She’s just being f*cking difficult,” Sean states.
Instead of paying for water or buying a drink, Sean opted to go to a different bar at the same club and ask for tap water. He was promptly given tap water.
“I’m just like, is it not a law that bars and restaurants have to offer you free tap water? I thought that was a thing,” he shares. “It’s just like, why are you trying to make me jump through so many hoops? Like, it’s just a f*cking water!”
In the comments section, many users echoed the idea that providing free water was a legal requirement. However, this isn’t actually the case, at least not at a federal level in the United States.
As noted by author Conal Yarwood-Frost, “As it currently stands, there are no laws concerning free water for American businesses.”
Yarwood-Frost further states that there are several countries where free water is a requirement, especially when a business is licensed to sell alcohol. That said, the United States is not among these countries.
@seanie2blondie It’s counterintuitive too because it’s in the bar’s favor to keep people hydrated while they’re drinking #drinking #club #bartender #gay ♬ original sound – Sean
In the comments section, many users voiced their opinion that businesses should be required to provide free water.
“It’s insane because it’s literally dangerous to drink without hydrating,” wrote a user.
“I’m not normally a speak to the manager type of person, but you really should contact them via email about what happened,” echoed another. “It is dangerous to drink alcohol and not stay hydrated.”
Sean agrees.
“All bars should have a self-service water station because some bartenders are such f*ckers when you ask them for water,” he says at the beginning of his video. In the caption, he adds, “It’s counterintuitive too because it’s in the bar’s favor to keep people hydrated while they’re drinking.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Sean via email.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.