“We Spent $700… My Night Was Ruined!” Woman Loses It After Staff Try To Save Dying Woman Instead Of Serving Her
The ‘internet mob’ can be a dangerous and hateful phenomenon, with social media allowing localized disputes to quickly take on a global scale. In the name of righteous vengeance, the person who committed a wrong can suddenly find themselves bombarded with death threats, their place of employment bullied into firing them and their reputation in tatters, a new form of public shaming that can often be more hateful than the original offense. (Facebook cover image: Gail Frederick)
Image credits: Gail Frederick (not the actual photo)
This story from 2016 was a perfect example of this. After a women left a heartless and misguided rant on an Indianapolis restaurant’s Facebook page, the internet responded with fury. Yes, her post was hateful and selfish, and the restaurant manager was well within his rights to admonish her in the way he did. But people soon found her profile and business page online and began sending death threats and abuse. Some even found strangers with the same name and harassed them as well. The woman was soon fired from her job and has since disappeared from social media.
Now the post is going viral again, starting a new round of outrage and indignation about an isolated incident in a restaurant 3 years ago. What is it about these stories that keep us coming back for more? Do we just like the idea of ‘doing our bit’ in the fight against bad behavior and injustice? In an interview with The Telegraph, Dr. Guy Aitchison of University College Dublin believes this might be the case. “It’s a relatively low-cost way to feel like you are doing something noble,” he said. “But there are also darker motivations at work: the psychic pleasure in seeing someone else brought low and humiliated.”
While online shaming does set social standards, sending a powerful message about the need for compassion and kindness through stories like this and the likes of BBQ Becky, for example, perhaps it’s time we began to think about the real-world consequences of ‘destroying’ people for their mistakes, and ask ourselves if there’s a better way to go about it.
Here’s what people had to say about the incident
"Now the post is going viral again, starting a new round of outrage and indignation about an isolated incident in a restaurant 3 years ago. What is it about these stories that keep us coming back for more?" I'm wondering that, too, BP. But you don't have to share with us every similar story (be it old or new) that is "going viral". Although I'm glad for the update that it helped the old lady's gofundme campaign.
They actually answer that in the same paragraph lol: “In an interview with The Telegraph, Dr. Guy Aitchison of University College Dublin believes this might be the case. “It’s a relatively low-cost way to feel like you are doing something noble,” he said. “But there are also darker motivations at work: the psychic pleasure in seeing someone else brought low and humiliated.”
Load More Replies...That woman sounds so nasty I actually feel violated knowing she exists. The way she express herself, talking about "some junkie" and jumping to the conclusion that that "junkie" overdosed while she herself claims she has the right to good service...? I've worked as a waitress years ago and this woman is exactly the type of guest who we (me, collegues, and the resturants/cafés I worked for/with) would ask to take their business elsewhere. I thankfully have a nicer and calmer job now but I keep taking sides with service staff and I keep reminding people to act nice = get treated nice. Service staff are in no way obligated to put up with asswipes, remember that! The resturants response is just 👌
These stories are all about ugliness. Why does Boredpanda revel in such nastiness?
"Now the post is going viral again, starting a new round of outrage and indignation about an isolated incident in a restaurant 3 years ago. What is it about these stories that keep us coming back for more?" I'm wondering that, too, BP. But you don't have to share with us every similar story (be it old or new) that is "going viral". Although I'm glad for the update that it helped the old lady's gofundme campaign.
They actually answer that in the same paragraph lol: “In an interview with The Telegraph, Dr. Guy Aitchison of University College Dublin believes this might be the case. “It’s a relatively low-cost way to feel like you are doing something noble,” he said. “But there are also darker motivations at work: the psychic pleasure in seeing someone else brought low and humiliated.”
Load More Replies...That woman sounds so nasty I actually feel violated knowing she exists. The way she express herself, talking about "some junkie" and jumping to the conclusion that that "junkie" overdosed while she herself claims she has the right to good service...? I've worked as a waitress years ago and this woman is exactly the type of guest who we (me, collegues, and the resturants/cafés I worked for/with) would ask to take their business elsewhere. I thankfully have a nicer and calmer job now but I keep taking sides with service staff and I keep reminding people to act nice = get treated nice. Service staff are in no way obligated to put up with asswipes, remember that! The resturants response is just 👌
These stories are all about ugliness. Why does Boredpanda revel in such nastiness?
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