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.
Dustin, I think it was interesting that you added a story about your own personal experience at Applebee's. Was this to show that you think the waitress should have been fired or that Applebee's is a poorly run organization? The rest of the blog post seemed to point to Applebee's being unjustified in firing her. I really liked your style of writing; it was clear and easy to read. The only suggestion I have is to add an introduction at the beginning. It seemed to start rather abruptly. Other than that, great job!
ReplyDeleteDustin, I think that you did a very good job at looking at this case through both view points. One thing that I really enjoyed about your paper was that you added your own personal experience with Applebee's. I think that really added to the paper. As I was reading the comments that were left on some of these articles I was surprised at how many other individuals have had problems with Applebee's.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the pastor making a childish comment on the receipt. Many times I have been in situations at restaurants where our waitress was terrible and yet we still have to leave a tip. I also thought that the pastor calling Applebee's and demanding all the staff to be fired was over the top but it was interesting how you mentioned in your personal experience at Applebee's that all the waitresses and waiters were too busy talking about other things and seemed less concerned about serving. I like the personal touch of your Applebee's experience it made you blog post more relatable. In the end I always leave a tip to waiters and waitresses because I understand what it likes to work or tips. Very good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog post about the Applebee's case. It is interesting the things people write or say when they don't think it will come back to haunt them. The pastor had know idea that her comment would go viral and that it could possibly affect her image towards her congregation. I think that there was fault in all parties involved. If the Pastor didn't want her reputation tarnished she shouldn't have written the rude message. The waitress shouldn't have posted the picture on the internet and Applebee's should have been more professional in addressing the situation. I really liked how you tied in the experience you had with Applebee's over the weekend. Perhaps Applebee's needs to train their employees better.
ReplyDeleteI like the point you made about the pastor not knowing the difference between a tip and tithe. It's so true that the statement that she is making don't correspond AT ALL! We don't "tip" God, and we don't "pay tithes" to our wait staff. Because they aren't the same thing. Excellent analysis. I really enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDelete