Petulant teen tweets leads to pizza parlor turmoil
By now, you’ve certainly heard the tale of Cella, Robert and the Jet’s Pizza public firing. No? Here’s a quick recap.
A teenager in Texas decided to use Twitter to express her displeasure at having to start work at a local pizza franchise. Even though she didn’t name the pizzeria, the manager somehow saw her Tweet and decided it would be appropriate to fire her before she ever started work.
Trouble is, he decided to fire her in public, on Twitter. And he added a few colorful words of his own so as not to be outdone by the petulant teen.
Cella then shared Robert’s Tweet with her friends and within 48 hours, the two of them were internet celebrities.
The fact that this story even made the news is a testament to how social media has become a form of entertainment. It’s like reality TV, streamed to your smartphone and computer 24-7. And once a story rises to the top, it takes on a life of its own expanding well past its original borders.
Now, instead of being a small town faux pas, Robert Waple made Jet’s Pizza a household name for all the wrong reasons. Now, 300 franchise owners all over the US are feeling the effects of one person’s misstep.
What was Waple thinking? Clearly, he wasn’t thinking at all or he wouldn’t have let a disgruntled teen get the best of him in public. He should have seen her Tweet as a godsend. A chance to prevent the problems that would have come up had he allowed this unhappy young woman to work in his pizzeria. When Cella posted on Twitter, she was giving Waple a chance to save his store’s reputation, instead he used her gift to hang himself.
We all say things we wish we could take back but when you say them in writing in a public forum, that’s not an option. Even when you delete the Tweets, as both parties did in this case, the captured images are still on the web for everyone to read and share.
The only saving grace in a case like this, is that the disgrace will be short lived. In a few days, Cella and Robert will have run down the clock on their 15 minutes of fame, but the harm to Jet’s Pizza’ reputation is going to take a little more effort to repair.
If you live near a Jet’s Pizza franchise, give them a thumbs up and order one of their heart pizzas for Valentine’s Day. They can use all the love they can get.
