A photo of a receipt allegedly left by a single mother at a restaurant has gone viral after it was originally posted on Reddit. The bill shows a charge for a $138.35 meal with no additional tip. Instead, there's a note that reads "single mom sorry" -- implying that whoever signed the bill doesn't have enough money because it is expensive to raise kids alone.
Redditor PhoenixSongFawkes posted the photo and wrote, "I'm sure $140 could have gotten you and your kids a week worth of groceries, but instead you spend it one one meal?! For shame!"
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Commenters, including many single moms, were outraged. RedheadedBanshee wrote, "I'm a single Mom, and this is bullshit. What exactly are you teaching your kids? ... Dear Parents of all kinds - your kids are watching you and learning." Dozens of commenters suggested that if a person -- single mom or not -- can't afford to leave a tip, that she shouldn't have gone out to eat at all and that whoever left this note is in the wrong.
Lindsay Cross, a blogger for Mommyish and former single mom, has another theory. Cross doesn't believe that the receipt is legitimate. "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," she wrote.
Though Cross makes it apparent that she isn't trying to stereotype single moms, she notes that moms who raise kids on their own are generally sympathetic to those in service positions and mostly try to help those who are working hard. But on the other hand, as Cross and many commenters argued, "jerks" come in all shapes and sizes.