Pastor Apologizes For Snide Remark On Meal Receipt

[Ichingcarpenter]

ANUARY 31--The St. Louis pastor responsible for the credit card receipt heard ‘round the Internet termed her snide scribblings a “lapse in my character and judgment,” adding that the Applebee’s employee who posted the receipt online was fired yesterday after she lodged a complaint with restaurant managers.

In a TSG interview, Alois Bell said that the online firestorm created by the receipt has left her stunned. “My heart is really broken,” said the 37-year-old Bell. “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.”

The Applebee’s receipt, which was posted earlier this week to Reddit, includes Bell’s handwritten notations referring to an 18 percent tip added to the bill (for groups larger than six). “I give God 10% why do you get 18,” wrote Bell, who scratched out the tip and added a zero in its place. She also wrote the word “Pastor” above her signature.

The January 25 meal came after an evening service at the Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries church, said Bell, who added that five adults and five children were in the group that dined at Applebee’s (a traditional post-service destination for church members). The subsequent bill was divided up amongst the parties.


More: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-apologizes-687234

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. Not before calling to complain and getting the waitress fired though.

Her first reaction was to lash out at the waitress, not apologize to her for stiffing her in a smug way. Somehow that makes this apology ring hollow to my ears.

[EOTE]

10. Seriously. I hope Redditors make this awful woman's life a living hell.

And this awful woman claims to have turned to Christ when she was pregnant and homeless. Then she turns around and fucks over the poor and seems to show glee for it. Fuck Applebees and fuck that pathetic excuse for a Christian.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

19. I don't doubt she was proud of her note until it became public

Then she became outraged for her "lapse in judgment" being exposed.

Notice how in the article above she has zero remorse for having a waitress fired. Zero! She's only sorry people are judging her note harshly.

All I have to say is now that it's known who she is she's taking her chances going out to eat. You don't act the ass to people who serve you your food.

[RKP5637]

57. Without all of the publicity she would have gone her way feeling good about how she

scorned the employee, and smug in her church and "her" god beliefs. Another reason I never trust or like to be around religious people.

[LostinRed]

58. Seriously what a saint this woman is

Hope she's proud of her stingy self. Hope that server gets her job back.

[lsewpershad]

77. That's right

Apologizing doesn't cut it. Ask and insist Applee rehire and apologize to the employee.

[Laurian]

2. The comments on this article really

came down hard on the Pastor and showed support for the waitress.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

3. Her "church" has fifteen members

It's not a church.

My guess is that she's using her tax exempt status as a tax dodge.

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. The video of her preaching

at the link is now removed.

I saw it and thought of snakes on a plane with preachers.

[Arkansas Granny]

4. And how does she feel abut the employee who was fired when she complained.

Is her heart broken about that, too?

[MNBrewer]

11. She requested that it be done!

Prayze Jayzuz and Holy Gawd AWLMIGHTIE!!!

[dsc]

13. the story doesn't say that

[MNBrewer]

22. um... so?

Google can be your bestest friend, sometimes.

EDIT! Sorry, snark overload. I humbly apologize, dsc! Hugs.

http://consumerist.com/2013/01/31/waitress-who-posted-no-tip-receipt-from-pastor-customer-fired-from-job/

[msongs]

5. she is sorry she got caught nt

[sad-cafe]

66. exactly

they are all that way, they mean what they say until there is a backlash then they are sorry....they got caught

[MNBrewer]

7. Embarra$$ment to her church and mini$try is more like it

$he's got a good $cam going and doe$n't want the gravy train to $top. Preacher$/prie$t$/prelate$ are $uch good con arti$t$.

[EOTE]

8. Her apology is pretty much worthless.

Have that POS pastor start tithing to the poor woman who lost her job and maybe she can start to atone for her sins. Dear god the fundy nuts in this country disgust me. She probably still thinks she's a good christian, too.

[Angry Dragon]

9. this bell is broken

[Dawson Leery]

12. Tithing to religious institutions is the longest running scam in human history.

[Kolesar]

54. They used to order me to bring in dimes for the church "building fund"

I didn't even get an allowance and I was supposed to find a dime to give to the church at age ten.

[Robb]

14. I didn't see an apology in there. Did I miss it?

"Sorry I got called out" isn't an apology.

[quinnox]

15. just another so called christian who seems to do the opposite

of what Christ taught. I'm sure she is very sorry, for being exposed and caught in the act of what she did.

[Kelvin Mace]

41. Didn't you read the Bible passage

about how Jesus got the waitress at the last supper fired because took too long getting Paul's curly fries?

[HubertHeaver]

16. So we have here two (2) lapses in character and judgment.

First: Writing the comment in the first place.
Second: Lodging a complaint with restaurant managers.

[riqster]

27. I'd add a third:

Making a non-apology.

[Natemoney2]

79. All around stupid

The fact that she crossed it (the gratuity amount) out and wrote a 0 (zero) but didn't bother to check that her total still had the 18% gratuity in it tells me she is just another stupid self righteous hypocrite who thinks everyone else owes her something in life.

[JNelson6563]

17. Alois Bell of St. Louis deserves much scorn

and I sure hope that people all over the internet heap much scorn upon Alois Bell of St. Louis. A miserable wretch if ever there was one.

Julie

[OldDem2012]

18. She's just another hypocritical "person of God" who fails....

....to meet even the minimum standards of what they preach.

Sickening.

[Raine]

20. WTF?? The waitress was fired for exposing this "christian's" unchristian behavior, geesh! nt

[Kelvin Mace]

42. No, she was fired for showing the receipt

to a co-worker, who took a picture of it and posted it on Reddit.

The "Christian" woman's unchristian actions were just par for the course.

[Taverner]

21. Typical Preacher

God chose THEM so they must be better than everyone else!

[LiberalFighter]

23. I have no sympathy for her.

She didn't have concern about the staff that serve her at less than minimum wage and rely on tips for a living.

She had no sympathy to the woman that was fired because of her behavior and attitude. She should be worried that she will be treated in the future like Sheldon is sometimes when he eats at a restaurant.

She may (I doubt it) give 10% to her god but she does it at tax exempt status. Waitresses don't have that option.

[Kelvin Mace]

43. God works for tips?

Who knew?

[dballance]

76. Yes, and at Tax Time Servers Have to Pay Taxes on Sales w/ the Assumption They Got Tips

whether they got those tips or not. So not only is Alois Bell screwing the server over at the time of service but again at tax time.

She's not the least bit sorry about what she did. As most other posters have pointed out she's just sorry she got caught. Then called out on her less than Christian actions.

[TlalocW]

24. The reason you tip 18%

Is that the waitress is making less than minimum wage, might have to pool tips, might have to report tips to management and get less, etc.

Your 10% tithe is a scam where you're giving 10% of your income to yourself (as a "church&quot and writing it off on taxes.

TlalocW

[pauldemmd195j]

25. Too late, pastor

You're still a greedy selfish jerk. Your "apology" won't change a thing.

[Myrina]

26. Cheap ass!

She should be embarassed. And give that waitress the rest of the tip due her, in cash so she doesn't have to declare it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. +100. She didn't even give the 10%

[librabear]

35. She tipped 18%

Go look at the reciept again!

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. 000ps. thanks. then I cut her some slack.

[librabear]

38. Honestly I hate automatic tips too.

I just figured that is what she was commenting on.

[Kelvin Mace]

44. The "pastor" crossed out the 18%

and wrote in "0".

Her card was still charged the 18%, because that was the company's policy.

[Spider Jerusalem]

70. I just looked at that, I don't see anything "crossed out".

"Tip - 18% and then a line "adtl tip" (which obviously means "additional&quot , and that's where the zero is. She was charged 18% because it was included in the bill as presented. If she'd had the option of removing the charge and then gotten charged anyway then they'd be committing fraud.

[Kelvin Mace]

71. Look again

She crossed out the $6.29 that represented the 18% amount. Then wrote "0" on the additional tip line.

Above the crossed out $6.29, she wrote her snide question.

[Spider Jerusalem]

72. The thing I keep coming back to...

and I REALLY can't quite wrap my head around this, honestly...is that NO-ONE seems to be questioning the practice of tipping; this entire situation and the media attention it's drawn for this one person's "cheapness"? It's because restaurants don't pay servers a living wage. If you're expected to tip, no matter what? Restaurants could raise their prices 20% across the board, since that'd reflect what most people are already paying including tipping the server (and servers wouldn't be at the mercy of the inconstant gratitude of strangers). Personally I see this one person's NOT tipping as less of an issue than the entire system that premises tipping in the first place.

[Kelvin Mace]

75. Well, there you get into a WHOLE

other discussion.

Arguably, tips shouldn't be about income, they should be about gratitude for service "above and beyond".

Unfortunately, our corporate masters and the IRS saw tipping as an excuse to cut wages and increase taxes on the poor, respectively.

In this instance, we have a person who "tithes" to her god, but since she runs the church she is tithing to, she really isn't giving the money to anyone but herself. Somehow, she views this tax avoidance shell game as somehow moral, and the expectation by a member of the working poor that they actually get paid for the money that the IRS is taxing them for (whether they get it or not) is somehow immoral and "unholy".

[Cal Carpenter]

45. No she didn't

She crossed the gratuity out and didn't tip at all. She wrote in the bill amount at the bottom and signed it.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-apologizes-687234

(click on "view the document" on left column to see entire receipt)

[yardwork]

47. No, she crossed out the tip and wrote in zero. She tipped zero.

[demwing]

59. Despite the pastor's cheapness, she ended up paying

the 18%- check the source article.

[yardwork]

63. I saw that, but it wasn't a "tip." Her waiter didn't see a dime of it, and got fired.

[progree]

64. She crossed out the 18% tip. Whether they went ahead and charged her, who knows

The Most Reverend Bell claimed she discovered later that her card was charged the 18% tip, but she strikes me as a chronic liar.

Anyway, she meant not to pay any tip. I'm surprised they went ahead and charged her, when she crossed out the tip and signed the receipt -- isn't it a signed document? What other point is there for the signature on the thing? She deserves no slack. She is a POS.

Oops - on edit I see that she left the "Total: $34.93" (which includes the 18% tip) unaltered, so that's what they go by legally I presume, and charged her card the $34.93. Had she crossed out the $34.93 and/or wrote a different figure, then I don't know how they could charge her card the $34.93 -- they would have to bring out the manager with a couple of unhappy-looking enforcer types in toll and have a little tête-à-tête to resolve the problem.

Edit #2 - all that said, I think she intended *not* to pay the 18% tip.

[Luminous Animal]

73. No. She crossed out the $6.29 tip. The amount of $34.93 does not include the tip...

18% of 34.93 = 6.29

It reads like this:
Amount: 34.93
Tip: 6.29
Adt l tip: (blank)
Total 34.93.

If she had added the tip it would read:
Amount: 34.93
Tip: 6.29
Adt l tip: (blank)
Total: 41.22

[progree]

80. Well, DUH, me = DUH :-( More analysis follows, hopefully with better results :)

You are right.

I got my idea that the $34.93 included the 18% tip from here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/pastor-tip-receipt-155914258.html

A photo of the receipt, posted to Reddit.com, shows a bill for $34.93 that included an automatic 18 percent gratuity ($6.29) above a blank space for an additional tip.

(yes, on a 2nd reading, of the above, it doesn't say the $34.93 includes the 18% tip, but rather says the BILL (the piece of paper) "included an automatic 18 percent gratuity ($6.29) above a blank space for an additional tip". )

and this from http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/tipping-pastor-apologizes-687234

Despite scratching out the tip added to the bill, Bell claimed that she left a $6 tip in cash, adding that she subsequently discovered the 18 percent gratuity had been charged to her credit card.

I should have looked more carefully (well I looked carefully and studied it and all that, but woe is me, I did not see). Apparently she lied on saying the 18 percent gratuity had been charged to her credit card (I don't know how they could have legally charged her the $41.22) ... or maybe she thought the $34.93 included the 18% gratuity. Being a Christian, she would of course not lie.

[Luminous Animal]

74. No she didn't She crossed out the $6.29 tip which is 18% of $34.93.

If she had paid the tip, the total would have been $41.22.

[librabear]

81. I see that now

I just saw the zero where it said "addl tip" and thought she didn't tip above the 18%. NVM.

[Marr]

28. She doesn't "give 10% to god". She gives it to her own ministry.

She gives 10% of the money given to her by her flock of sheep, back to herself.

LOL, religion is a hell of a racket. It's no wonder it attracts the con-artists.

[quinnox]

31. lol, so in a way, she was mad that the waitress was getting a higher percentage than she was

in her job as a preacher. No wonder why the nasty note!

[JEB]

29. God got 10%

not likely, probably just another scam to get money from the ignorant and avoid taxes. Deadbeats, scoundrels and guilty consciences flock to church.

[Downwinder]

32. Applebee’s --- another addition to my boycott list.

Oops, they were already there.

[LibertyLover]

33. The pastor runs a deliverance ministry

which as far as I'm concerned puts her one step above mold. And her actions in this instance are completely reprehensible. Wonder what her Christ thinks of her?

[thucythucy]

34. Seems to me there was this guy a while back

who said if someone asks for your coat, give him also the shirt off your back.

He also made some comment about how, if you truly want to follow God, you should sell everything you own and give the money to the poor.

And then there was this little aside about, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Who said all that, I wonder?

Obviously not anybody this "pastor" has ever read or taken seriously.

[progree]

67. More from that Middle Eastern guy back in the olden days

If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. [Matthew 19:21]

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. [Luke 14:13 &14.]

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. [Luke 12.15.]

Truly, I say unto you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 19:23]

You cannot serve both God and Money. [Matthew 6:24.]

Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. [Matthew 22:21]

http://www.jesusisaliberal.org/

[thucythucy]

68. Wow! Excellent link.

Thanks!

[CreekDog]

36. Jesus wept

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. If she's really sorry, she should call Applebees and demand that they rehire the person they fired.

[TeamPooka]

40. God, I'd like to complain about one of your employees, a Pastor in St. Louis....

please fire her for violating your posted corporate code of conduct.

[Marrah_G]

46. She got a young woman FIRED

Her apology means nothing.

[Zoeisright]

48. Too fucking late.

Get that waitress a better job or you're going to hell lady!

[geek tragedy]

49. Who wants to bet her church offers 'ex-gay' therapy? nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

51. The video that was taken down

of her preaching was more of a holly roller, snake charming(no snakes) but you get the idea .

The photo that I printed makes her look very thin as compared to the video. I would guess around 260 or more.

Applebee and organized religion..... yikes.

[lpbk2713]

50. What a punk.

She only seems to regret having been identified.
Was she at the restaurant for a meeting of the
local Young Republicans Club?

[City Lights]

52. Another "Christian" giving Christianity a bad name.

Jesus wept.

[Kolesar]

53. Truthily Delivering Poverty church

When I dine out, I am happy to pay the working class wait staff.
This phony needs to work on the kindness and charity thing.

[reverend_tim]

55. A good pastor would be boycotting Applebee’s

[Hekate]

56. Can she get the waitress another job? Has she ever been a waitress herself?

Pastor Bell's photo upends a lot of immediate assumptions made here at DU, doesn't it? I'm willing to bet everyone's immediate thought was "white male" -- and here we have a black female.

An unfortunately very judgmental and clueless woman. Perhaps she can learn from this experience. However I think having the entire world of the internet jumping on her at once will probably do more to crush her than it will to help her learn.

The whole thing is a shame.

In the meantime, I hope the waitress finds another job very soon -- one with a better clientele.

[Freddie]

60. Wonder what kind of church

Real Fundie/Evangelical churches don't allow women pastors.

[Bake]

61. She CLAIMS she left a $6 cash tip.

I soooooooooooo believe that. Uh huh. Right.

And she CLAIMS her card was charged 18%. But I didn't see a receipt showing that.

Sounds like the same kind of BS she lays down every Sunday morning.

Bake

[sarisataka]

62. I am so sorry I was an ass

and it got out- fire the person who didn't let me keep being an ass

Apology? not so much

[MrSlayer]

65. Way to play into a stereotype.

Idiot.

[jsr]

69. The Truth in the World Deliverance Minister speaks the Truth

I believe her.

[Natemoney2]

78. Misleading Title to this Story. She did NOT apologize to the server.

It only states she had a lapse in judgement that made her look bad to her peers. Nowhere does it state she apologized for her rude and inappropriate behaviour.