Pastor Refuses to Pay Tip Because She Gives to God

[Coconut Flan]

Looking at the receipt, it appears the pastor tried not to pay the 18% gratuity by scribbling through it and writing the total without it on the total line. If she also left the $6 in cash, I find it amusing that she ended up giving much more than she intended.

Did they merely order soft drinks to have so low a bill for a larger party? That seems odd. What is weirder to me is that the 18% was $6.29 and she objected so strenuously and then says she left $6 in cash?

So many things that sound off. I wonder if we'll ever know the straight facts.

[debrand]

Even if it's within their rights, given that Applebees itself is guilty of posting a positive letter that was sent to them online, with the customer's name visible, it does come across as hypocritical.

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I did not know that Applebee had printed a customer's name. That does seem very hypocritical

[heidi]

Looking at the receipt, it appears the pastor tried not to pay the 18% gratuity by scribbling through it and writing the total without it on the total line. If she also left the $6 in cash, I find it amusing that she ended up giving much more than she intended.

Did they merely order soft drinks to have so low a bill for a larger party? That seems odd. What is weirder to me is that the 18% was $6.29 and she objected so strenuously and then says she left $6 in cash?

So many things that sound off. I wonder if we'll ever know the straight facts.

She tried to split the check into separate checks to avoid the 18% tip.

[valsa]

I did not know that Applebee had printed a customer's name. That does seem very hypocritical

Yep

[Ramona]

Ramona, many classes of jobs in the US are exempt from minimum wage laws - the biggest is that many agricultural workers are exempt, and all seasonal workers (so agricultural workers, groundskeepers, etc) are exempt from overtime rules and rules about what counts as "full time" for benefits.

The thing about the waitresses only making $2.15/hour though?? That's CRAZY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mi ... _in_Canada

there's a couple of notes on that chart for lower mins for "liquor servers" (whatever that means - bartenders? waitresses in a restaurant that serves alcohol?) and a couple other exceptions, but nothing is anywhere that nuts.

[Ramona]

Yep

...and I have yet to see them explain this.

People were saying that anytime it's posted on their fb page, it's deleted.

[SilverBeach]

Outrage isn't the same thing as hate. I think the pastor deserves the outrage because (1) she behaved badly, and (2) when caught out she didn't apologise in any appropriate manner but compounded the problem by her crass statements.

Appropriate New Testament behaviour might include any or all of: asking forgiveness, turning the other cheek, repaying seventy times the debt that she stole "in her heart". Instead she had a temper tantrum and has been publicly shamed for it. Shit happens.

ITA, the "pastor" should have just paid and shut up. Even if you pay under protest you are still cheap. Besides. God doesn't need our money he already owns everything, I hate it when churches equate giving them money with giving to God. Talk about manipulation. "Pastor" wouldn't know appropriate new testament behavior if it ran her over in the street.

[SilverBeach]

To me, a true mark of character is how someone who treats people who work in the service industry. If someone treats waitstaff, baristas, cashiers, receptionists, salespeople, etc. like absolute shit, then that person is of very little character.

YES :clap:

[salsa]

I did not know that Applebee had printed a customer's name. That does seem very hypocritical

not if they got the customer's permission first. do you know if they did?

[valsa]

not if they got the customer's permission first. do you know if they did?

Seeing as the picture has since been deleted from Applebee's Facebook, I'm guessing they did not.

[Bloo]

The only time I had a waitress who deserved no tip was when the waitress forcibly and intentionally smacked my brother's hand into a bunch of catsup, laughed in his face, and literally ran away from us.

In my opinion, some of the outrage is because she's a pastor- she's supposed to show people how to love as Jesus did. This outs her as being elitist and of poor character.

[salex]

I did not know that Applebee had printed a customer's name. That does seem very hypocritical

My understanding is her table had a bill of roughly 200 dollars. to avoid the auto tip for tables of more than 6 or so, she had them split the check, but she was still going to pay for all of them. So, if she left 6 bucks on the table, it likely was for all the checks, so roughly 3%.

Charming.

[DistantStar]

I regularly go out to breakfast after church with a varying group of people, usually six to eight of us, and while we get separate checks the restaurant still sticks the auto-grat on there most of the time. I wish they wouldn't, because theirs is 20% and while I am a pretty generous tipper I will usually round up, if anything, not just stick to the flat percentage - makes the math easier if nothing else. But if they add on the 20% precisely, well, that's what they're getting. I don't mind giving them that, but in my case if they didn't, they'd probably get more.

The food is great, though. Well worth that minor annoyance. I don't understand mistreating people who bring you food on any basis, let alone bringing God into it. I like people who bring me food. I am happy to pay them. I would rather the restaurant pay them, but given the system we have, well, I'm stuck so I do it.

[Dixiebelle]

not if they got the customer's permission first. do you know if they did?

According to what Applebee's says is in the employee handbook, they need to get permission from someone higher up (not the customer):

“Employees must honor the privacy rights of APPLEBEE’s and its employees by seeking permission before writing about or displaying internal APPLEBEE’S happenings that might be

considered to be a breach of privacy and confidentiality. This shall include, but not be limited to, posting of photographs, video, or audio of APPLEBEE’S employees or its customers,

suppliers, agents or competitors, without first obtaining written approval from the Vice President of Operations. The policy goes on to specify: Employees who violate this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

I have no idea whether they did that or not.

Anyway, I am not saying they were right to fire the server, just that they were within their rights. I think both sides are wrong, and I also believe no one deserves the amount of hate that is flying around. The rest of the story is just hearsay that varies from article to article, even in "quotes" from the same person. The server did something she knew could get her fired - she got fired - I really don't get why people are making this such a big deal.

[salsa]

I don't know if yours was a rhetorical question, but I found it interesting, so I thought about it a moment and here is what I came up with:

Folks are making it a big deal because most of us have worked or are working in those low-level jobs and know what it feels like to struggle financially while people use you as their whipping girl/boy. The story gets juicier because it's not just any jerky Christian; it's a pastor, which riles everyone - either because it's evidence of the shadiness of pastors or because they would have expected better behavior from a pastor.

And then Applebee's came down on the employee in a way that most of us find too harsh.

And then there is the hypocrisy that they *have* published at least one customer's name when it was a positive note and we don't know who, if anyone, OK'd that breech of privacy.

Legally, the Applebee's franchisee was within his rights, but our sympathy is with the server. We want to champion the underdog.

[SilverBeach]

I don't know if yours was a rhetorical question, but I found it interesting, so I thought about it a moment and here is what I came up with:

Folks are making it a big deal because most of us have worked or are working in those low-level jobs and know what it feels like to struggle financially while people use you as their whipping girl/boy. The story gets juicier because it's not just any jerky Christian; it's a pastor, which riles everyone - either because it's evidence of the shadiness of pastors or because they would have expected better behavior from a pastor.

And then Applebee's came down on the employee in a way that most of us find too harsh.

And then there is the hypocrisy that they *have* published at least one customer's name when it was a positive note and we don't know who, if anyone, OK'd that breech of privacy.

Legally, the Applebee's franchisee was within his rights, but our sympathy is with the server. We want to champion the underdog.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: