Waitress's 'tip shaming' of NFL star backfires spectacularly
The old debate about how much to tip at a restaurant appears to have two sets of rules — those for most of society and those for celebrities.
Of course, that's unfair. And doesn't take into consideration the service rendered.
Consider the current plight of Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams. Williams was called out by a server and put on public display for what she said was a cheap tip — 75 cents on a bill of $128.25. She went on social media to vent, figuring that shaming him would have more damage to his reputation than to hers.
Well, she was wrong. The manager of Ledo Restaurant in College Park, Maryland later fired her. But that was after Williams heard about the server calling him out and launching into his own Twitter tirade, defending his actions.
You right I tried to leave exact change but couldn't I waited on my food for over 1.5hours got the order wrong then https://t.co/rCqpGGdxmv
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) September 12, 2016
She never asked for refills and took a dish back removed what was on it and left a shrimp tail in my salad https://t.co/rCqpGGdxmv
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) September 12, 2016
I went over that order 4 times and not only that our food came out with our salads and it wasn't a complex order https://t.co/p7O0EoA8Ql
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) September 12, 2016
So it takes 1.5 hours for u to get me 3 salads and pasta and it's not packed at all and slow by her standards https://t.co/zQL7tQRrIP
— DeAngelo Williams (@DeAngeloRB) September 12, 2016
People are still coming after him. And though there are some athletes who probably rightly have earned the reputation for being cheap tippers — no matter what their salary is — we're guessing that Williams shouldn’t be one of them based on the lengths to which he's defending himself.
Yes, servers often get paid small hourly wages. The waitress in question claimed she earned $4/hour, which puts that in perspective. But note how other servers came to his defense on Twitter based on their experiences with Williams.
I get tipped well anytime @DeAngeloRB comes into the restaurant I work at. Guess the service was just that bad!!!
— Aleasha Groothoff (@aleashalynn1228) September 12, 2016
Right now we are on Williams' side. The manager fired the employee for her actions, and Williams seems pretty damned confident that he’s in the right here.
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