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Banker's Remorse: The 1% Tipper Was a Hoax
Well, it was fun while it lasted, but apparently the notorious "1% tipper" was all made up.
The Orange County Register reports that a photo of a receipt showing a $1.33 tip on a $133.54 bill, and a note to the server to "get a real job," was manipulated.
The receipt was allegedly from a bill at True Food Kitchen, a restaurant in Newport Beach, and the photo was posted on a blog called "Future Ex-Banker." The blogger Future Ex-Banker explained that he or she was writing online as a way to vent frustration with the banking industry in which he or she was allegedly employed:
I work in the corporate office of a major bank for a boss who represents everything wrong with the financial industry: blatant disregard and outright contempt for everyone and everything he deems beneath him. On top of that, he’s a complete and utter tool. At the same time, I’m still cashing paychecks, an admittedly willing—albeit reluctant—cog in the wheel of this increasingly ugly industry, so I’ve created this blog as a confessional of sorts. It won’t entirely clear my conscience, but hopefully it’ll help. I’m sure I’ll get fired eventually. Until then, enjoy.
In posting the picture of the receipt, Future Ex-Banker wrote:
Mention the “99%” in my boss’ presence and feel his wrath. So proudly does he wear his 1% badge of honor that he tips exactly 1% every time he feels the server doesn’t sufficiently bow down to his Holiness. Oh, and he always makes sure to include a “tip” of his own.
But after doing some research into the incident and locating the restaurant's copy of the receipt, Jami Reagan, a representative from True Food Kitchen, told the Register that, “True Food Kitchen was able to determine a number of things were altered in comparison to the merchant copy. The total bill was $33.54 and the tip was more than $7. The handwritten note was not authentic either."
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It's not clear who tweaked the receipt or why, and Future Ex-Banker's blog and Twitter have both been taken down. What is clear, though, is that making up stories in the name of the 99% is not helping anyone's cause.
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