Waitress fired for posting this online

IMO, in every job there's a negative. Being a server, you're bound to get someone NOT to tip you appropriately. I'm sure it's happened more than once. Bad judgement for posting it online. I don't think that employer was out of bounds.

Personally, unless the service was horrible or it's a pick up order, I always tip 20%.

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I don't think it was about the tip. It was about the retarded *kitten* comment she decided to scribble on the receipt. I doubt that's the first time that waitress ever got stiffed on a bill.

Do you think the server would have posted it if they got say 15% in tip?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yes I do think the server would post. From what I understand, the server that posted this was not the server that waited on that table, it was another waitress. The horrible comments you can get when working in restaurants is much worse than the horrible tips you can get in a restaurant!!!

It's always been my opinion that if you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat at a restaurant.

hear hear

A Pastor, and he didn't tip a cent? Not very "Christian" of him.

Having been a waitress myself, my answer to that EXTREMELY rude pastor's comment would be:

a) You could give God more than 10% if you wanted...it has nothing to do with me how much you choose to give or not give.
b) Tips are part of my wages. I make $2.40 an hour. Not tipping is causing me to make less than minimum wage.

These were my thoughts exactly! You can give whatever you choose to God...10% is Biblical. But it's not an issue of God needing the money! God needs NOTHING from us. It's an obedience issue there. As with the waitress....it's her job! You are paying her for her work. To tip nothing.....just not Christian like to me and upsetting to see this kind of behavior from a "spiritual leader" in the community.

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The pastor was way wrong, but she should have scratched out his name before posting it online. That's a huge privacy violation and thus illegal, and that's probably why she was fired, and rightfully so.

Mr. Pastor there though may want to reconsider his profession if a measly $6 is enough to set him off like that...the money from tithing doesn't go to "God". It goes to the church in order to do good deeds for those in need - and trust me...waitress need there tips to live on. He's a messed up man, obviously, but he still didn't deserve to have his name splashed around the internet.

i didn't read every post, but i wanted to clear something up up:

the waitress DID get a tip. since the pastor's party was more than 8 people, an 18% gratuity was added automatically. this is pretty standard practice in US restaurants. the pastor crossing it out and writing "$0" didn't change that.

that being said: the pictures i saw of the receipt didn't show the pastor's name. i'm assuming that Yahoo! edited it out, and that the full name was posted on reddit. i can understand that that is a huge violation of privacy, even if there is nothing in the Applebee's handbook about it. should the waitress have been fired? probably not, without an actual rule or procedure in place within the organization. but i can understand why they arrived at that conclusion.

and let's not pretend for a second that this pastor feels bad for what she did or actually wants to apologize. she got called out for using God's name as an excuse to stiff a hard worker, and that's unexcusable in my book.

i feel really bad for the waitress, and i hope she is able both to find a job with customers and supervisors who treat her better in the future, as well as exercise more discretion in these types of situations.

I personally think it is disgusting that a Pastor would use God as an excuse to be uncharitable! Ok the waitress was wrong to publish the details, I agree with her getting fired but it is really sad that Waiting Staff earn such little in the first place. They should at LEAST get paid minimum wage and keep tips as a bonus on top. I have worked as a Waitress and it is really hard work! I hope the Pastor is ashamed, I really hate how people use God to excuse disgusting and unfair behaviour!

the signature was probably the reason. She violated privacy. Had she blocked it out, it might have been a different story.

So lets get this clear - is a tip a suggested amount of money to be given for good (or even standard) service

or

Is it the staff wages that must be paid whatever shi ty attitude you receive

I've had good service I have had bad and I am quite happy to stand by zero for bad

Companies use an excuse like this to solve problems

Applebee's general policy is that if a customer complains about the gratuity for a large party, they will remove it. No *****y comments necessary on the tab from the customer. The server doesn't get to decide which large parties get it added though. It is automatic and needs to be removed by management.

I don't even understand... how do you give God 10%? Is God accepting credit cards now? Or serving lunch? There's no parallel. And obviously, the waitress didn't choose how the receipts are printed or to have the "auto tip" on there. That's just a bunch of self-rightous BS. IMO, that is ;-p

ETA: though I would have blacked out the signature, personally.

Traditionally, the 10% is given to whatever church you attend and the idea is for it to be used in the church ministries and missions. However, I personally believe that if you use the 10% to meet a need for a total stranger that God is just as pleased with giving in that way. What this man did was TOTALLY out of line, and I'm embarrassed, angry, and disappointed that a professing Christian would do something like this...especially a pastor. NOT Christlike behavior at all. Please keep in mind that someone can call themselves a Christian, but it doesn't mean they truly are. There's a whole lot more to being a Christian than just believing in the existence of God.

I was going to say the same thing about the waitress not being the one to add the tip to the receipt. Not to mention, even if he doesn't agree with a restaurant doing that (I don't agree with that, btw. I've had too many situations where the waiter/waitress gives horrible service and a bad attitude. In that case, it should be my decision as to how much they get, but I always leave SOMETHING even if it's only a couple of bucks.), he should've at least given her SOMETHING, and the little comment was COMPLETELY unnecessary. I think she was out of line for posting it, but firing her was a little drastic.

Since she is a pastor....doesn't that mean she gives 100 percent to God?

I keep seeing a lot of people referring to the pastor as "he". The pastor was a woman. The one thing the pastor got wrong, is that the 10% to your church is 10% of your income. The 18% tip is only 18% of the meal total. Big difference there. The pastor then called Applebees and demanded the woman get fired. She'll be judged one day.

This is what applebees said about it on FaceBook


Applebee's Mike, I understand that you're upset. Guest personal information - including their meal check - is private, and neither Applebee's nor it's franchisees have the right to share this information publicly. Unfortunately in this situation the Guest's right to privacy was violated. Really do hope you reconsider. We don't like that this happened anymore than you do.- ARA

Too bad she got fired for posting this on her Facebook page, but she clearly violated company policy.

Not every aspect of your life needs to be posted on FB. Especially when everyone can see it, including your Employer. Hard lesson to learn.

Should have stuck to clicking on the " Like" button, Posting "OMG" and "LOL" and "Which shoes do I look cuter in?" and all the more important issues like the rest of the Facebook Generation.

Always reminds me of the scene from Reservoir Dogs with Mr. Pink. I wholeheartedly agree, privacy issues aside...tips are earned not given. I don't care if you make $2.40 or $8.40 an hour. You chose that profession and even if it is the ONLY job you could get, fine...but keep in mind to get a solid income it's based on your service.

I have many friends who work as servers and they do great and make very good money. They also happen to be amazing people who have the common sense to realize they get paid based on quality of service. Too many times I've had a server who acted as if they were doing me a favor by bringing my food to me or were outright rude...no tip! But, there are always d-bags who don't tip regardless of the service.