Pro-Israel, Anti-Tipping

As all eyes (well, “most”)(okay, “some”)(fine… “a few”) look to Washington DC during the 2013 American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference, it’s only natural that, given the thousands of highly energized attendees – and protesters – in the most politicized square footage in the country, there would be some friction. Well, it looks like that friction finally reached a boiling point – at a DC area cafe.

As reported by DCist, Busboys and Poets waitress Nuria Kalifa-Jackson found herself the recipient of a drastically lower-than-usual tip. No, it wasn’t poor service, or unappetizing food that was to blame. It was her tee-shirt, which read simply “Occupation Isn’t Pretty.” When Kalifa-Jackson went to clear her table and collect her tip, she found her customers had left her following note: “Displaying your political beliefs on your shirt cost you a % of your tip.” Don’t worry, though, they also left her an AIPAC brochure to make sure she knew they weren’t just criticizing, they were educating. How thoughtful.

via Busboys and Poets Facebook

It’s hard to pinpoint what’s more of a dick move here: Stiffing a (presumably) hardworking server their rightfully-earned tip, or being passive-agressive assholes about it? As DCist points out, it’s not as if Nuria was particularly out-of-character for a Busboys and Poets server – another employee explains that the cafe “actually encourage[s]” people wear their political beliefs on their sleeve (or, chest, as it were.)

Has the conflict in the Middle East gotten so bad that people can’t even order a damn sandwich without it turning into some sort of a “statement”? Is that the new normal? Or, do we simply have to accept the fact that, regardless of the politics of the day, customers and servers, those age-old adversaries, can’t ever – won’t ever – get along?

At least, not until there’s peace in the Middle East.

[via DCist]