If you haven’t seen the newest episode of Gordon Ramsay‘s FOX show Kitchen Nightmares, try looking it up on Hulu or something because it’s basically just an hour-long cringe from beginning to end. But if you don’t want to put your time into it, here’s the sparksnotes version: Amy and Samy Bouzaglo run a bakery called Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale, Arizona. Business is down because customers hate the food that they repackaged from other restaurants, the owners verbally and physically berate the customers (on camera no less) and go on the record saying that they pocket the waitresses’ tips before firing said waitress. As someone who was actually raised in a restaurant, THAT’S TERRIBLE. Anyway, on last night’s Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay goes in to try and fix things, only to turn around and run because even he can’t salvage the place.
Cut to this morning, when users from Reddit and Yelp took to the web to call out the restaurant on its morally dubious practices. Amy and Samy spend a good chunk of time screaming at the internet before claiming that they were “hacked”, which on the internet means “I did something wrong, but if I delete the evidence and blame someone else, I can pretend it didn’t happen!” Via E! Online …
Most of the posts (including one that read “come to my business. say it to my face. man to man. my wife is a jewel in the desert. you are just trash,” and a comment response explaining, “WE DONT LET SLUTTY BITCHES LIKE YOU HERE”) have since been deleted and replaced by this message:
“Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy”
Let’s talk about a couple things first:
- Yes, what Amy and Samy do in their restaurant is deplorable. But at this point, going on Yelp or Facebook to bash them is like throwing a handful of soil onto the ten-story-high pile of dirt that is their grave. It’s over, let’s try not to kick them while they’re down.
- Amy and Samy are not crazy, nor is that an excuse for what they did. I understand that it’s equally as deplorable to go after someone who’s mentally ill, but the thing is, they’re sane. They just happen to be immoral assholes. Some people are just not good people, and using an imaginary mental illness as a scapegoat is wrong.
- In case you didn’t know this, pocketing tips from your employees is completely illegal. Not just a tiny little no-no or a social faux-pas: SUPER AGAINST THE LAW. So yes, if you know that a restaurant is doing this, report them. IMMEDIATELY.