The fact that the
pastor paid the 18% gratuity and not a penny more is not the underlying issue.
Because not adding in an extra tip beyond that is acceptable according to Applebee’s
policy. The waitress that snapped the
picture of the receipt showcasing what the pastor had written, did go against
policy by going against the safety and privacy of their guests. With the name
of the pastor being visible on the receipt as it went viral it created a safety
problem for the pastor as the public and media out slashed her.
Don’t get me wrong
what the pastor wrote on the receipt was childish and devaluing to the
waitress. She clearly didn’t know company policy about the 18% gratuity for
groups of 8 or more. But that is a social contract that is not talked about but
what you are expected to know. We all
have those moments where we get after our waiters or waitresses and would like
to leave a note but don’t and now due to this I wont.
As I read the ABC
news article on this it said when the pastor called, she wished all employees
working and not working that day be fired… If that isn’t a little harsh,
Applebee’s clearly took action and fired the individual that posted the picture
online. But for those working who didn’t know about this receipt being posted how
is that fair to them? Its not.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/02/applebees-fires-waitress-who-posted-nontipping-pastors-check-online/ (I discussed more in depth topics from this
site)
Let me ask this question, what
percent do you add on to your bill for tip?
Clearly the pastor
doesn’t know the difference between a tithe and a tip. A tithe is 10% of your
income and a tip is a percent of the total on your bill for the service that
you have requested such as a meal and refills on your beverages. For those of
you that don’t tip your waitress or waiter, shame on you. I tip regardless. If
I have a bad waiter or a good waiter because I know that we all have our good
and bad days and we cant be chipper everyday of our lives.
I know that the
pastor wrote the note and that was not nice and I know the waiter posted it
online which was not nice also. But if I were an employee of Applebee’s I would
taken all precautions like blurring out the name of the customer and making
sure that it could trace back to me. I understand the waitress point of this
being rude and funny at the same time and wanting to share it but as we grow up
we have to be adults and not share everything we would like to.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christianpiatt/2013/02/a-breakdown-of-infamous-applebees-pastor-tip-gate/
(Information from this site was useful)
A little personal
insight, I ate at Applebee’s over the weekend with a group of friends. I would
have to say our waitress was slow at refilling drinks, and bringing out our food. She also was not
personable in anyway and it seemed to be more of hassle that we where
there. As I watched the other waiters
and waitresses they seemed the same as our waitress, they all ending up in the
back corner of the restraint talking about their family and work related
issues. I know this because I could hear them, the manager got after the young adults
to mid aged multiple of times. I felt bad for the manager picking up all the
slack as this night was busy.
The point to this
story is I could have wrote on my receipt to give my tip the manager for all
the work he was doing but I didn’t. Not
because I didn’t want to (because I kind of did) but being the adult I am, I left
a tip and left. Reading these articles I am glad I did just that.
