Progressive and proud DC coffee shop Busboys and Poets, housed in a modern McDevelopment on the city’s NW side, turns out to be pretty thin-skinned when its customers balk at their politics.
Server Nuria Kalifa-Jackson, wearing an anti-Israel shirt produced by CodePink, received a 10% tip instead of a 15%, which her customer informed her of on the bill, citing the t-shirt as the reason. The shirt the customer objected to reads: “Occupation Isn’t Pretty” and “Don’t Buy Ahava.”
The customer, who also left behind a brochure for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Their note to the server read:
Displaying your political beliefs on your shirt cost you a % of your tip.
Busboys & Poets posted a picture of the customer’s note on their facebook wall, attacking them:
Then Al Jazeera picked up on the story, writing that “AIPAC supporters undertip waitress for her anti-occupation t-shirt.”
Ahava is an Israeli skincare company, and the shirt advocates a sort of protest-capitalism wherein those who agree with the message refrain from buying their product.
Busboys & Poets — and Al Jazeera, are objecting to a customer’s decision to refrain from giving the full discretionary tip they might have.
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