Here's a tip... just kidding!!!

Picture this... Applebee's, January 25th, 2013.  You're a waitress.  You make a whopping $3.50 an hour and depend on your tips (which are taxed) in order to even break minimum wage.  Perhaps you're having a smooth evening and all the planets are aligned perfectly and it's just a super day!  Perhaps you're running around like a circus monkey on methamphetamine trying to grab the last banana from your banana thieving brothers and sisters *shakes fist*.  Regardless, you're tending to all of your customers, taking their orders, making sure their drinks are filled and their empty plates are taken from the table, and keeping a bright beaming smile on your face.  In comes a party with 20 people, and you keep doing your groove thing and take care of them.  Everything seems to be moving along, and you receive this:

W...T...F?

In case you haven't heard of this (which, if you spend any time at all on Facebook or Twitter, you've probably seen it posted about at least eleven million times.) on January 25th, a woman by the name of (pastor) Alois Bell dined at an Applebee's in St. Louis and left this on the receipt. Now, there is misinformation going around that the waitress that tended to the pastor's table was fired, but this is not apparently the case.  The pastor's waitress had showed this receipt to a coworker, Chelsea, who later on took a picture of this receipt and posted it on Reddit "as a lighthearted joke", saying she "thought the note was insulting, but also comical."  The pastor, upon hearing about her new internet fame, called the Applebee's, and Chelsea was promptly fired.

The pastor claims she "used bad judgement" in writing her note, but claims her heart is broken due to the embarrassment she brought to her church and ministry, and also that people don't know the whole story... that she left $6.29 on the table (which is conveniently the amount she crossed out on the receipt) and that her credit card was also charged the tip amount. (I'm doubting this for some reason, perhaps it's her winning attitude.)  There's more though!  Chelsea also says that sometime Wednesday, the customer who left the receipt contacted her Applebee's location and demanded everyone be fired, from the servers involved to the managers.

Regardless of what the actual facts are, I can understand (did not say I did or did not agree with, just that I understand) Applebee's reasoning in firing the waitress in question.  Chelsea could have at least blocked out the pastor's name, people could get a laugh, and everyone goes about their day.  I understand they want their customers to know that their information is going to be safe and their privacy respected... I get that.  But I'm also slightly torn because, well, this pastor lady is a total douchenozzle and a very poor example of how a "good Christian" should conduct themselves... especially a pastor of a church!!!! A pastor, or anyone that is in a position of leadership with people following them should lead by and set a good example for others to follow.  Yes I realize there's a metric fuckton of people who do not follow this rule (*cough* politicians for one *cough*), but one in such a position should conduct themselves in a manner that portrays a good example for others to follow and not act like a freaking twat.

I mean really... what the hell was the point or message she was trying to convey here?  It's not the waitresses fault that Applebee's autofuckingmatically adds an 18% gratuity amount to any tables with more than six people (the bill for everyone was higher than the $34.93 listed, they had asked for the bill to be split up possibly in an attempt to circumvent the automatic gratuity).  Did she think the waitress used her Jedi mind powers to hack into the computer system and make it automatically add the gratuity to their bill for her own personal gain?

If anything, she should have taken up her issue with the gratuity with the manager, not left an incredibly ignorant message on a receipt with a waitress only making a whopping $3.50 an hour and depending on her tips to attempt to pay her bills.  Chelsea had explained that after sharing her tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, she makes (or made rather, since she has since been canned) less than $9 an hour on average before taxes. And what was her purpose for emphasizing that she was a pastor?  Does this automatically put her above anyone who is not a pastor?

I was a waitress for like... a week or two. Maybe three, but definitely no longer than that.  "Why such a short period of time?" you may ask.  Part of it is that I have a love/hate relationship with people.  I love people, I just strongly dislike anyone who has no common sense and is an idiotic, self-centered twat who thinks they deserve anything and everything simply because they breathe and who can accept no blame if they are in the wrong or make a mistake... but I digress.

Please, if you eat out/order delivery/etc., don't forget that these people often work for less than minimum wage.  They often have to deal with really shitty, nasty people (as I'm sure you do too). There's no reason to treat them like a slave, or like you're better than they are.  They're just trying to work and pay their bills / get through college / whatever... they're people too.  And more often than not they are depending on those tips in order to even make minimum wage, and it's often shared with other bussers, hosts, bartenders, etc that are working that night.  Don't be a douchenozzle... k?  <3