La La La, I Can’t Hear You: I Refuse To Believe A Single Mom Left This Crappy Tip

I saw this tweet from our very own STFU, Parents and I simply couldn’t believe that it was real. “No one would ever do such a thing,” I thought to myself. “No one has this sense of entitlement.”

And yet, there it is. $140 meal and zero tip. Just a note, “Single mom, sorry.” At least they threw in a little compliment. “Thank you, it was great.”

The biggest part of me, the one who was a single mother for the first few years of my daughter’s life and who defends single motherhood with everything I have, wants to believe that this bill is a scam. Even if it happened, it’s completely possible that someone wanted to be an asshole and blame it on single moms. Honestly, the more I think about how anyone would do this to a waitress, the more I think it’s likely that this was just a very awful prank to make single moms look bad.

Listen, single mothers normally feel some pain for those in service position. We’re well aware that our waitress could be a single mom herself. And we’re normally pretty quick to help out others who are working hard.

Mostly, I think this bill is a fraud because I’ve met very few single mothers who expected to get special treatment for their status. I realize that I’m married now, but I still identify with women who are trying to raise on a kid on their own. And most of those moms that I’ve met aren’t throwing around their lack of a wedding ring for special treatment. They’re just hoping no one holds their situation against them.

I know, I know. I complain about single mother stereotypes and here I am acting like I know each and every one of them. I don’t. There are wonderful, hard-working, amazing single mom who would never consider pulling a stunt like this. And there are probably really awful single moms who feel like they’re allowed to run around acting like jerks because life is hard. You find those types of people whether you’re talking about single or married people, parents or childfree, young or old. People can be assholes.

This stupid bill just seems to fit into such an awful, yet prevalent, single mom stereotype. And yet, it makes absolutely zero sense. Anyone who can spend $140 on a single meal is more than capable of leaving a tip. A single mom who was really that worried about her finances isn’t eating at a restaurant where she’s going to spend that much money. And if we’re really talking about someone who is this rude and thoughtless, why would they bother leaving a note at all? Why not just write out a big ol’ zero? There isn’t a rational person in the world who thinks that writing, “Single Mom” would excuse this behavior.

I guess what I’m saying is that I really don’t want this picture to be real. I want it to be a big fake so that I don’t have to feel embarrassed on behalf of single mothers. Because if this really happened, whether it was a single parent or not, it’s horrible and rude and the very worst. I’ve been a waitress. This type of behavior is just plain unforgivable. So until someone introduces me to the woman who supposedly signed this check, I’m just going to sit here with my fingers in my ears saying, “La la la, this never happened.” Then I’m going to tip my next waitress double, just in case.

(Photo: Twitter)