New Literacies

The following article below goes back to what I have been saying all along about literacies. Times have certainly changed, and the younger generation seems oblivious as to what is not appropriate in terms of writing. There is no self control with the youths of today. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Man gets offensive restaurant bill that curses his ‘needy kid

Joe Gibson received this bill after dining with his son on Father's Day. (Photo via Gawker)Joe Gibson probably didn't expect the shocking treatment he got on Father's Day while sharing a meal at Friendly's sports bar in St. Louis, Mo. with his son.

After sharing chicken, soda and french fries with his three-year-old son, he received a bill with one unusual item at the bottom of the receipt:

"F**kin needy kids."
Naturally this upset Gibson who took to posting the bill on the Facebook page of local newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The paper then ran a story about the issue and interviewed the Friendly's sports bar owner.
"Normally, we don't let anyone in who's under 21. But the guy said he was with his kid for Father's Day... so I said 'sure,'" Denny Domachowski tells the paper.
Also see: Debate over kind gesture on restaurant bill
Domachowski claims that the offending words were a joke written by the waitress and intended for the kitchen staff only. Those types of comments are normally deleted from the bill before given to the customer, but they were accidentally left on.
"I can understand why the gentleman was upset," Domachowski says. "And that's why I apologized." He also claims that the waitress has been reprimanded.
However, while Gibson acknowledges that accidents happen, he is less than appeased.
"If it happened to me, it could happen again," he says. "What else are they writing about other people?"
Also see: Unusual message over mom's restaurant bill
Apparently, Gibson is right. Because he is not he only parent to receive a restaurant bill with derogatory remarks about his kid.
In 2009, a British couple received a bill from Cactus Joe's restaurant that referred to their two-year-old daughter as a "little f*****." The wait staff who wrote the comments was fired and the restaurant apologized.
And there are other types of offensive restaurant bills with customer insults.
Last year, a New York City woman of Asian descent was served a bill from Papa John's restaurant chain that referred to her as "lady chinky eyes." She posted the bill on Twitter, which went viral, later prompting a public apology from the pizza chain, as well as the termination of the waitress responsible for the bill.
What are your thoughts on bills of this nature? Are they innocent mistakes or part of a larger problem with restaurant policies? Sound off in the comments.