The Paradox Of Donald Trump And The Mean Non-Tipper

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​The Paradox Of Donald Trump And The Mean Non-Tipper

       I expect by now most of the world has heard the story of the woman, a former Century 21 real estate agent, who took her family to a Mexican restaurant, ran up a bill for $87.84, then instead of leaving a tip left a jaw-droppingly mean note. ​

      The server for whom the mean tipless note was left is an American citizen of Latino heritage named Ricardo. He works two jobs to make ends meet. He is well-liked by his co-workers and has a good customer service history.  
      The drama that subsequently unfolded was rife with unintended consequences, among which were one of the restaurant staff posting the crude receipt on Facebook, and the mean, non-tipping note-writer being not only publicly castigated big time, but also, as one social media wit put it, “deported” from Century 21.

      As it turns out, the restaurant where this incident took place is here in Columbus, Ohio, 

...about ten minutes from where I live. The mean diner lives in an upscale Columbus suburb. (Which I guess goes to prove that upscale doesn't go hand in hand with class).
          But if one takes a moment to deconstruct the woman's note, there is something manifest in its contents that seems to go beyond her dissatisfaction with her dining experience. In fact, it remains unclear what, specifically, she was dissatisfied with: Slow service? That she couldn't use two coupons because of the restaurant's one-coupon-per-table policy?  Those possibilities have been tossed around by the restaurant staff.
        But I believe there's one thing - make that two things  - that are pretty clear from the message that the woman left on her receipt: one, that she is - or at least was at the moment she left that note - an intensely angry person, a dynamite stick full of anger; and two, that it wasn't a what that lit her fuse, but a who.
​         The anger in the woman's note wasn't directed towards the service she received; it was directed towards the server on a personal level: You suck. I hope Trump deports you (followed by three exclamation points). And therein lies the message within her angry message: You are Latino. You are not one of us, you are one of them.  It gives me satisfaction to demean you and deprive you of compensation for your service. You are the kind that Trump deports.
            The key word here, of course, is "Trump." with his painting of Latino immigrants as rapists, murderers and criminals, with his push to strip away citizenship of those  born in the United states of non-citizen parents, Donald Trump has by his own overblown and uncouth behavior set a tone in this country of meanness and incivility that has given people - or rather, some people - permission in their minds to do what that woman did to the worker in the Mexican restaurant. 
            But there's a paradox in this story. The American people elected Donald Trump as President, twice, giving by their vote implicit approval of his angry, resentful, insulting, in-your-face bullying.  In truth, the woman in the restaurant was merely acting out the kind of mean racist behavior that the President of the United States, who won Ohio by a whopping 11 points, condones and exhibits every day.
           And yet, after the story broke of the woman's meanness towards the server of Latino heritage, Ohioans were outraged by her behavior and rushed to support both the restaurant and the server. People felt so badly about how Ricardo was treated that a Go Fund Me was started  to restore his lost tip on the $87.84 bill. Here's how much was raised:

      I guess the happy, heart-warming, paradoxical ending to this story shows that most people, even those who will vote for a hate-monger like Donald Trump, aren't themselves hateful, have good hearts, and don't like to see others hurt. And I can't help hope that for the mean non-tipper this experience ends with a heart-changing epiphany. And maybe even leads to some kind of a happy ending, for her, too.    

References:​
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/realtor-fired-after-leaving-hateful-message-instead-of-tip-on-restaurant-receipt/ar-AA1AgbE8

https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/dining/2025/03/03/cazuelas-mexican-restaurant-targeted-by-racist-comment-from-customer/81163999007/