Waitress Confronts Man for Embarrassing His Daughters About Their Periods in Front of Her (Exclusive)

A waitress is sharing how she confronted a man for making uncomfortable comments in front of his daughters while they visited her restaurant.

Savanah Pierce, a 27-year-old server from Knoxville, Tenn., took to TikTok to share a recent interaction with a customer that has since gone viral.

Pierce starts the video by saying, "I had to put a father in his place tonight at work," describing a family of four — a mother, father and their two teenage daughters — sitting in her section on the night in question.

Pierce, who recently spoke to PEOPLE about her experience, says that she "usually really enjoys serving families" and has a "really fun time with them."

In the video, Pierce recounts how she approached the table, giving the family her opening spiel and asking how they were doing that evening. She also notes that nothing seemed to be wrong or off with the family when she greeted them.

In response to her pleasantries, however, the father's comment caught Pierce off guard: "Other than women and their periods, I'm doing great."

Pierce says she was "taken aback by the whole thing" but, despite her feelings, says she is not the type to "discipline her tables" while serving.

"I'm not necessarily a people pleaser, but I'm there for their experience," Pierce says of her serving style. "So I'm trying to take them whichever way they want it to go. And so I did, the first time, try to, like, not make it a big deal and not make him feel bad about it because I also don't know their family dynamic, and I don't know what's normal for them."

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In the video, Pierce says she also tried to empathize with the girls at the table, hoping to make them feel less uncomfortable.

After taking the table's drink orders, Pierce asked one more time if there was anything else she could get the table or if they were okay with her leaving them for a few minutes to put in their orders.

The father responded again, "Other than women and their periods," she recalls.

"Once he came around to the second time of making a comment about it, I just felt like it was making me uncomfortable, to a point where I'm like, 'Are you wanting me to dog on these girls too?' " Pierce says. "I just couldn't figure out what the guy wanted, and though it is unusual for me, yeah, I gave him push back."

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In the video, Pierce says that she looked at the father and, keeping her tone light and joking, asked, "Are you feeling good about embarrassing your daughters right now? I gave you the first one, but I might have to give you a little pushback now."

Pierce says the girls at the table were relatively quiet throughout the interaction, but she thinks that keeping her response light and humorous helped keep the atmosphere at the table mostly positive.

"Throughout the meal, everyone seemed happy," Pierce says. "It didn't make the table awkward or anything."

And, despite his comments, Pierce was still able to extend some graciousness to the father. “Even that dad, he may have thought he was trying to make a connection with me and just missed the mark,” she says. “It’s a good opportunity to remind people we’re all human.”

After posting about the encounter on TikTok, Pierce received an outpouring of support from commenters, many of whom shared similar stories, she tells PEOPLE. The video now has more than 380,000 likes.

“One of the comments that came up on the TikTok a lot that empowered what I was feeling, was a couple of people saying, 'Those girls are going to think about you the next time their dad does this,’ ” she said. “That’s going to stay with me for sure.”

Pierce also reflected on her own upbringing, contrasting it with the family’s dynamic.

“I had a dad who would never in a million years embarrass me or try to build camaraderie with someone by putting me down,” she says. “Anytime I get the opportunity to do that for a young girl, especially in the South, and especially relating to her reproductive health — that's not something someone needs to be shaming her about. I’m happy to be that person and put myself on the line. Even if it means I lose a tip." (In this case she didn't; she notes the family did tip her generously.)

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Pierce, who often posts about her experiences serving on her TikTok page, shared her story to the platform in the hopes that it might inspire other servers to stand up for themselves and their beliefs, even while in a customer service role.

"It doesn't mean that we have to let people go unchecked and that we have to embrace people's bad behavior," she says of working in the industry. "I think there's always a fine line to find where you can be nice and be gracious but still stand up for what you believe in and the right thing."

Read the original article on People