<p>“Reading that article, I think that if the server had posted something about seeking fair wages and written up a description of the receipt, in the context of explaining why expecting servers to rely on tips alone is unfair, it would be protected. I don’t think the actual photograph of the receipt would be protected.”</p>
<p>I didn’t post the article specifically for how it relates to this situation but just to illustrate that employers don’t have carte blanche to fire someone based on something they posted on a social media site.</p>
<p>She shouldn’t have been fired. No, she shouldn’t have done it but if it’s not against the rules then I don’t think it should have resulted in her termination. </p>
<p>The pastor though is a piece of work. </p>
<p>What does that even mean “I give God 10%”? Pretty sure God doesn’t need money, so I’m assuming that means to the poor. In which case, most waitresses qualify and I’m pretty sure Jesus would have had no problem tipping. You know, that whole give-freely-to-the-poor thing. Just sayin’.</p>
<p>On a side note, I went to AppleBee’s for the first time in YEARS just a few weeks ago. Greatly disappointed.</p>
<p>It’s a reference to tithing. Giving one-tenth of your income, typically to your church or religious institution. Some people take it to mean donating to charity.</p>
<p>I must be getting old - I thought that this was a general knowledge thing.</p>
<p>BCE, Sorry if it wasn’t apparent but I know what tithing is. It was the rest of that section that was relevant. She’s not actually giving God 10%, she’s giving it to the Church or charity orgs- which help people who are poor (among others).</p>
<p>“I must be getting old - I thought that this was a general knowledge thing.”</p>
<p>DH and I were watching Jeopardy the other night and none of the contestants, who looked to be 30ish or younger, got the final jeopardy question which we thought was super easy. The question was “which musical had a working name of Luckiest People In The World” or something like that. The closest any contestant came was Yentl. Decided it was definitely a generational thing and perhaps Jeopardy needs to have two divisions - one for under 45’s and a senior division.</p>
<p>Bet Applebee’s policies have been updated. I do not think she should have been fired. She was quoted as saying that she thought the signature was unreadable so the pastor would not be identified. </p>
<p>I doubt that the pastor tithes, too. I think she showed her true colors on this one. </p>
<p>The strangest thing of all to me is that I tip 20 percent unless the service is terrible.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading about the details of this case, and I thought I would just clarify a few points:</p>
<p>-They had a large party and the total bill was over $200. In an attempt to get out of the 18% gratuity, they all asked for separate checks, but the gratuity was still applied to each individually. Apparently this pastor Alois Bell didn’t take too kindly to that.</p>
<p>-The original picture posted to Reddit showed the entire signature. I think the picture has since been cropped to remove the majority of the signature. Apparently someone recognized it as her signature and identified her as the pastor in question. </p>
<p>-Applebee’s official take on the matter was that posting the guest’s check with her signature on it was a violation of her privacy, which I do understand. That doesn’t change the fact that the guest in question is a terrible person. </p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of stuff posted to social media recently with people making excuses to get out of tipping at restaurants, including not having discretionary spending thanks to whatever politician they so desire to blame. As long as the wages of waitstaff remain such that they rely on tips to make a decent living, my take on it is that if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to dine out. If the tipping system wasn’t in place, the meals would just cost more in the first place in order to pay the waitstaff at least minimum wage.</p>
<p>The waitress should have been disciplined for posting that online as it was rude and unprofessional and potentially damaging to the business she worked for. She shouldn’t have posted it. </p>
<p>I think it’s ridiculous how people want to post things like this for the purpose of publicly humiliating a person, in this case the pastor, for all to see and laugh at. I hope the waitress got enough pleasure in making a public spectacle of the pastor to make up for her job loss.</p>
<p>Onward - She tipped the automatic gratuity that was on the bill. She wrote an emphatic zero under additional tip, and the party got separate checks to try to avoid tipping entirely. At least, that’s the general gist I’ve heard.</p>
<p>If the pastor was so concerned about her privacy, she should have considered that before putting her nasty attitude and cheapness on display by putting in writing and then compounding it by calling for all the waitstaff on duty when her party was being served to be fired. </p>
<p>As I said before, the waitress effectively performed a public service by revealing the pastor as a nasty cheap hypocrite sore about being caught.</p>
<p>I put myself through college waiting on tables. D survived one summer doing the same. I think some people don’t know that servers make less than minimum wage and need the tips to make up the difference. H and I tip 20%+ for good service and only go the 15% if our service has been terrible. S and D have grown up with that and do the same. S and friends often stop at Applebees for late night half-price appetizers. He had to convince his friends that they should tip on what the bill would have been full price… Also, if you receive excellent service, please take a moment to tell the manager. That can result in some nice perks for the server - a little bonus like a free meal or a free pass to get out of a chore (like filling salt and pepper shakers) and can be a sweet treat at the end of a shift.</p>
<p>Why do people think the pastor was cheap? Do all of you give tips on top of the mandatory 18% so-called “tip” when in a larger group? I think the restaurant has some nerve even providing that line for ‘additional tip’ when they already charge the so-called tip automatically.</p>
<p>I think it was pointless for the pastor to write what she did but regardless, the waitress’s purposeful attempt to publicly humiliate the patron of the restaurant, the person who effectively paid the waitress’s salary, was rude and unprofessional and demonstrated a lack of good or decent judgement and I certainly wouldn’t want her working for me.</p>
<p>Why some people like to tip more than 18%. The reason they require large parties to tip 18% is because there is a calculated hourly wage that has to be paid. If a small party tips poorly the short fall can still be made up. The impact on poor tipping by a large party means that the wait staff will be unfairly assumed to still make the hourly wage or the restaurant will have to make up the difference.</p>
<p>GladGradDad - By all accounts the party split the bill for the explicit purpose of getting out of the automatic gratuity. According to the person who posted the image to Reddit (assuming you believe her), they told the server that her service was fine, they just didn’t want to tip. </p>
<p>There’s also the fact that what she wrote on the check clearly shows that she did not want to tip 18%.</p>
<p>Actually, it looks like she didn’t pay the tip at all. Obviously can’t tell but it looks like she crossed off the required tip and then just wrote the total for the food. </p>
<p>And if you can’t or don’t want to tip- especially according to the company’s policies- DON’T EAT OUT. It’s that simple.</p>
<p>GGD–look at the picture. She crossed out the 18% automatic tip, then wrote 0 and totaled it to the amount pre-tip. She tipped nothing, then added her little snit about tipping God 10%.</p>