A Scam

Everybody loves a good scam, and 'tis the season for them.

This one involves the gay waitress who alerted the media that she had been stiffed a tip because a customer had written a note complaining about her "lifestyle."

The media picked up the story immediately, showing the receipt with the blocked name of the "perpetrator" and the hand-written note. Money poured into the ex-Marine/waitress/gay person's PayPal account which had been established upon disclosure to the media.

She says all the money will go to the Wounded Warrior project.

Wow, what a story, especially this time of year.

Now comes forth a family who show the receipt with a 20% tip. Their copy of the receipt. They also disavow any homophobic opinions, "We just wouldn't do that." It also hits their credit card account with the tip included!

Now we wonder, what happened? The waitress/ex-Marine/gay person was confronted with these facts, and didn't seem to be very upset or surprised. Sort of a "Yeah, so what?" demeanor? The current setup is that she is now the villain rather than the victim.

A friend and co-worker, John Rasmussen, once told me: "When they say, 'It's not about the money,'...it's about the money." This has held true a number of times in my life.

But here is another theory--

• What if her reluctance to be or appear to be contrite is because she doesn't want to give up the notoriety...and the money?
• What if the store owner did it, to cut her out of a tip and to see if she would quit? Maybe there is a conflict here?
• What if a co-worker wanted to set her up?
• What if neither of the two last theories (owner/co-worker) ever thought this would go viral?

I am wagering that the truth has not yet surfaced. Especially, when the TV news and the social media sites tend to arrest, try and convict with very little information. Just a theory. But, hey, I probably have as much information as the "investigative" reporter.