Restaurant's post demanding better tips immediately backfires with angry comments.
You know that old business adage? The one that goes something like, never post on Facebook antagonizing your customers — if you've got your own less-than-perfect business practices? It's not a particularly well-known adage, we'll admit, but it's one that applies almost eerily well to an online controversy that recently went viral on Reddit.
It started when a restaurant owner posted this rant to Facebook:
'We at Fireside Grill understand that times are a little tight right now for a lot of people,' wrote the business owner. 'Our serving staff included.'
'Our girls make $3.00/hr (State of Tennessee wage is $2.17/hr). They work hard and they run their legs off for people. Why is it that people have the audacity to not tip them? I know your [sic] getting good service... maybe you should consider not going out if you can't take care (TIP) of the person taking care of you.'
He yells: 'THEY DEPEND ON TIPS FOR THEIR PAY!! The workers in the service industry need to make money too... they have bills, kids, car payments, etc just like everyone else.'
'STOP BEING SO STINGY!! TIP YOUR SERVERS AND BARTENDERS!! THEY WORK HARD FOR YOU! Rant over....
Now, no one disagreed with the heart of the message. Servers and bartenders live on tips. No matter what you think of that system, you should tip them. Most even supported the shouting (TIP THEM!!!). But for some, a few details turned this otherwise just rant into an unjust screed.
It wasn't long before someone pointed out another comment the owner had apparently made elsewhere online, in which he explained that he himself profited from tips on weekend nights:
'I make tips like the staff does,' he reportedly said. And the fact that the owner seemed to profit off tips — while positioning his please-tip rant as purely altruistic — did not sit well with the internet.
Meanwhile, over on Reddit, the outrage focused mostly on the braggadocious claim of the owner to pay his servers a cool 83 cents more than the legal minimum — that, and the use of the word 'girls.'
'The irony is overwhelming,' wrote Squaregogh.
'And they call them 'girls,'' added hufflepuff777.
'Why don't you pay a living wage instead????' wrote Skunket, matching the owner's punctuation-energy.
That was the sentiment of the day.
'Maybe pay 'our girls' a living wage and they don't have to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive....' added another Reddit user, Illustrious_Leader93.
The moral of the story? If you're a business owner, always remember that adage from the top, but maybe keep it even simpler. Never post on Facebook, period. Unless you believe in that other adage. You know the one, about all press...