A couple said “yes!” to fooling an entire restaurant full of people.
On March 6, Los Angeles, California resident Jaela Bumpas posted a video showing a trick she and her husband pulled at a restaurant located in the the Moana Surfrider resort in Honolulu, Hawaii. The now-viral clip has sparked a fierce debate in the comments.
“My husband fake proposed to get us free drinks last night 😂,” Bumpas posted on X.
In the 18-second video recorded by an onlooker, restaurant patrons excitedly watch Bumpas’ husband get on one knee and “propose” to her.
Cheering, clapping and whistling echo in the pillar-lined eatery as the couple gets up and twirls in divine duplicitousness. They kiss, and no one is the wiser — until she posted about it.
The moment went massively viral on X, with more than 38.2 million views and 462,000 likes, and people were decidedly split on whether it’s an acceptable thing to do.
“You steal from the restaurant you were at, you’re proud enough of doing so to post it on X, and 347,000 people liked the post,” wrote one X user before it got even more likes. “Sad commentary on a lot of levels.”
“lmaooo i love when people with the same sense of humor date,” wrote another, in stark contrast.
“Technically not a scam because you did get married,” posted someone else.
“Before y’all start judging, have you never faked a birthday to get free dessert?” wrote one more.
“No. I consider that theft,” responded one user, and another added, “god forbid a man has fun and gets to enjoy a sweet treat through his own mischievous schemes.”
Bumpas says her video started racking up views almost immediately, and then, over time, the comments took a dark turn.
“A lot of people reached out which felt good, but then it was also a frustrating experience due to the racism,” Bumpas tells TODAY.com. “It made me want to delete the tweet a lot of times because it started becoming more racist.”
Bumpas, who is Black, says people called her husband the “n-word with the hard R,” even though “he’s white.”
She and her husband have been married for four months and say that the vibe that night in the restaurant was positive.
In other videos viewed by TODAY.com, Bumpas can be seen dancing with people in the video long after the viral clip was captured. There’s also one thing she wants to clarify.
“The hotel didn’t give it to us,” Bumpas says. It was actually another customer that bought them margaritas.
Regardless of where the drinks came from, this couple is far from the first to fake an engagement for freebies.
TikTok is littered with videos on the subject, where couples suggest fooling fancy restaurants this way, and even folks who maybe aren’t dating at all have played this trick on unsuspecting crowds.
“You know, a lot of restaurants will actually have bottles that are just meant for occasions like this,” Sol Bashirian, co-owner of Italian restaurant Sunday Gravy in Inglewood, California, tells TODAY.com, adding that eateries and bars often keep inexpensive or rail alcohols reserved for freebies.
Bashirian says that while no one has gotten engaged (or fake-engaged) at his restaurant yet, he knows exactly how he would react.
“You still want to show that hospitality and show that extra attention to your customers,” he says. “Make sure you appreciate them and live in the moment, but you’re not going to crack out the Dom or anything.”
In June 2021, another pair of lovebirds on vacation took this fake-engagement scheme to its logical extreme.
“Pretending we ‘just got engaged today’ on vacation to get free s---,” says TikTok user @kenzielynnsmith in a video showing off the day of freebie foolery. “I feel guilty.”
The deceptive duo show that they were in fact able to secure multiple cocktails and drinks, Dunkin’ treats, pizza, cake, a full dinner and much more. The comments section is full of critics, though.
“don’t take advantage of ppl willing to give,” one user wrote.
