Working in customer service or the food industry sometimes means working with bad customers, but one waitress in South Carolina dealt with some seriously sh*tty people. Instead of receiving a monetary tip from a couple she had been serving, she instead got a hand-written note on a napkin. And it basically told her to get back in the kitchen where she belonged because she’s a woman.
The note, pictured above, essentially tells the waitress that her working is a disgrace to her family, her husband and of course, America. In its entirety, it reads:
“Dear (waitress’ name), The woman’s place is in the home. Your place is in the home. It even says so in the Bible. You may think that you’re contributing to your household by coming into work, but you’re not. While you’re in here ‘working’ this is the reason your husband must see another woman on his way home from a long day at his work. Because you should be home taking care of the household duties, you may think what you are doing ‘working’ is right, it is really essentially a disgrace to his manhood and to the American family. So instead of coming to your ‘job’ and looking for handouts to feed your family, how’s about going home and cleaning your house and cooking a hot meal for your husband and children, the way your husband and God intended, and help make America great again. Praying for families and our nation. Love, (Guests’ last name)”
I’m sorry, did we just lose 50 years of gender equality progress or am I losing my mind?
Beyond the blatant sexism that prevails the letter, the couple uses some seriously false logic. The Bible may “say so” but the Bible also says to not wear linen and wool at the same time or eat shellfish. So unless the Bible literally dictates your life, there’s no ground for that argument. Worse, the couple assumes that the waitress is married (she’s not), and has children (she doesn’t) and her husband is cheating on her because she works (he wouldn’t). If her non-existent husband’s manhood is threatened by her waitressing job, then she deserves far better anyways.
And of course, to top it off with a cherry, the couple invokes Donald Trump’s slogan to “make America great again.” As much as we try to be, we’re not surprised in the slightest.
Although the waitress and her friends wanted to remain anonymous when reporting this story to WYFF News 4 for fear of losing their jobs, it didn’t stop them from being righteously pissed about it. The waitress describes the couple to be in their mid-50s, and is unsure if they were local to the area she lives in. According to her, they were polite and friendly as they left, only to come back and leave the napkin on the table they had just vacated.
“I felt mortified, embarrassed, humiliated even,” the waitress shared with WYFF News 4. “I felt hurt, and a bit heartbroken. It is a bit disheartening and discouraging that things like this happen at this day and age.”
One of her friends posted the picture of the note to Facebook with her own response to the couple and it’s great:
“Dear lovely guest, “You cannot demean a worker that provides a service that you enjoy. Without my coworker, myself, and the countless others females in the service industry, you and others with your same mindset would not enjoy the ‘excellent service’ that we provide. May I ask why you were eating out, instead of eating the nice meal that your wife obviously must have prepared for you at home? “Do you write this lovely note to every female server you have? Every woman who is a single mom supporting her children? Every woman whose husband has passed away and is struggling to make ends meet? Every military wife who is trying to pay bills while her husband is away? And God-forbid, every woman who enjoys working? How dare they, what an outrage! Your server makes $2.13 an hour, and deserved to be paid for the service she provided for you. To someone who comes from a generation that often complains that those younger than him have everything handed to them, you seem awfully entitled. “Sir, you have no idea about the life your server lives. The server you wrote this to, for example, does her job because she enjoys it, does indeed cook dinner for her boyfriend, and keeps her house immaculate. And if she didn’t? There would be nothing wrong with it. “So how’s about instead of writing demeaning and hurtful notes to your servers in lieu of a tip, you stay at home and save us all from the experience of waiting on you. “Sincerely, A female server who loves her job, and doesn’t give a rat’s furry behind if you think it’s ‘appropriate’ for me to work.”
Honestly, there’s not much more to say than that. Tip your waitresses and stop giving unsolicited advice about what women should or should not do.
[H/T: Elite Daily]