The Christian Science Monitor reported that an Applebee’s waitress in St. Louis was fired Jan. 30 for posting a photo of a customer’s receipt with a handwritten complaint on it.
The customer was angry with the 18 percent automatic gratuity added to his bill and responded with an angry note on the receipt. The photo went viral, and the employee was fired shortly thereafter for violating the customer’s privacy. Since the incident, there has been a lot of negative public response to the firing.
You’ve been hit with a mandatory gratuity of 18 percent. What do you do?
Well, Pastor Alois Bell left a biting note on her Applebee’s receipt: “I give God 10% Why do you get 18?”
“I had no intention of starting a witch hunt or hurting anyone. I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting,” she said. “I come home exhausted, sore, burnt, dirty, and blistered on a good day. And after all that, I can be fired for ‘embarrassing’ someone who directly insults their server on religious grounds.”
Obviously, Chelsea Welch might have handled the pastor’s snub differently, especially if she’d known that her job was on the line. But how else might Pastor Bell have handled the mandatory tip? When did a tip become something that a customer had to pay, instead of a reward for good service?
Read more at the Christian Science Monitor.
