Eating out sure does have its downsides sometimes. I mean, sure, the food and experience could be nice, but sometimes things just don’t seem to go your way.
Long queues, loud patrons, incorrectly cooked food, a rude server…
Today we’ll be talking about one of these not-so-stellar encounters at a restaurant in Melbourne, when a customer found a rude note accidentally left on their receipt.
More info: Reddit
A dinner at a restaurant can go two ways, either being super fun and exciting or a lost evening to quickly forget
Image credits: Antoni Shkraba (not the actual photo)
A person took it to the r/Australia community to share the receipt her friend group got for dinner with some pretty rude comments
A group of customers went to The Cornish Arms restaurant in Melbourne last month, hoping to relax and have a good Saturday with some tasty food, vegan specialties, and, of course, some wine.
We can only guess that things went well at the place, considering that the post sparking this entire issue was made weeks later.
You probably didn’t miss it (thank you, huge orange circle!) - the customers were called bogans. And for what? What? Ice in their drink? With an expletive to boot? That’s a bit uncalled for from your restaurant server, wouldn’t you say?
Image credits: PlanetaryEulogy
The main word to take offense at is "bogan", the Australian equivalent of "redneck" or "chav"
Now, if you’re not from ‘ole ‘Straya yourself, you may be at a loss for what that word means. Doesn’t sound like a synonym of “good person” from the get go, though.
Now that word, dubbed “Australia’s greatest cultural export” by some commenters, is an Australian or New Zealand slang for someone whose speech, clothing, attitude and behavior are considered unrefined or unsophisticated, according to Wikipedia, at least.
If you still need an equivalent, consider the US “redneck”, “white trash”, “hillbilly”, those kinds of terms. For the more European and British variant, it would be “chav”.
It’s likely that no matter from what country you’re from, you’ve got some kind of word very similar to this term. Prejudice truly has no borders!
Some people don't really see it as something to take offense at, saying that it's just banter and nothing serious
Although the term has more recently been subverted by some to indicate pride in being rough around the edges and “cool”, some people still rightly take offense to it. Once again, according to Wikipedia, people under 30 considered the term a positive descriptor, while folks over 30 said that it was generally more negative.
So we can’t be sure what the poster thinks of being dubbed one, but they do say about themselves that “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” seemingly indicating that they do find it quite humorous.
Whether they do find it funny or not, it still doesn’t excuse Amelia for her rude habits.
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
According to the restaurant's Instagram page, Amelia was reprimanded and placed on probation for 3 months, which many disagreed with
Rooting around The Cornish Arms’ Instagram page, we can actually find a statement made by them with only a couple of likes and not a lot of traction at all.
They elaborate that they received the complaint on the 25th of July, going on to say “Staff were spoken to and reminded of their workplace responsibilities, the junior staff member then came forward to management and was very apologetic. She has been spoken to and placed on a 3 month probation. Her comment in no way reflects the values of the Cornish Arms and we will continue to educate and train staff to ensure the business evolves.”
This statement was criticized by many for exposing Amelia’s reprimand, which isn’t ethical, but perhaps not blurring out her name on the original post also wasn’t the nicest thing to do.
They finish off by saying that they’ve spoken to the customer and they “will be returning for a meal, on us, soon”. Imagine if they get Amelia for round two, now that would be fun!
Going even deeper, many comments said that the restaurant isn't a very good place to begin with, pinning it on really bad management
The story may end here, but. But! a A chain of comments on a repost in r/Melbourne dubs the restaurant as a “cesspit” and that seems to be putting it lightly. These are people coming out with first and secondhand experiences of working there.
These comments point a superheated finger at the place’s manager, saying that he’s racist, misogynistic, homophobic, the whole deal, all nine yards of it. This behavior, if not prevented by the allegedly crazy turnover of the staff, trickles down to the rest of the staff, perhaps even having a hand in today’s incident.
Taking a peek at their lowest reviews, it seems to be evident that this is not hearsay or an isolated incident. “Staff unwelcoming”, “making obscene hand gestures to other staff and local customers”, “[fellow restaurant patron] threw up 3 times in the night after” don’t seem to really reflect the 4.1 star rating that it has on Google reviews.
Image credits: Ksenia Chernaya (not the actual photo)
With all of that in mind, let’s briefly talk about a common sentiment that you may have picked up on while analyzing this story. “I stand with Amelia” and “free Amelia”, many comments shout, beating their chest.
But what if this was another remark, instead of “bogan”? Something racist or sexist? If it stays in the server’s head, that’s okay – not right, mind you, but okay. But when something like that is plainly written down for the customer to see, that could ruin a whole evening, worse.
Who cares if it’s “bogan” to get wine with ice in? It’s the same argument as “pineapple on pizza, ew!” Just let people enjoy what they enjoy, thanks.
The post collected over 12k upvotes on the Australian subreddit, with over 1.7k comments. The commenters were mainly engaged in a superheated battle of “free Amelia” and “it’s on her”.
What are your thoughts on the story? Which side are you on? Make sure to share your opinion down below!
The community was torn, some saying that what Amelia said is true and justified, while others said that you shouldn't call people names, ever
