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.

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.

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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