On Feb. 18, more than 2,000 Instagram followers of El Camino restaurant were able to see a smiling picture of a first-year Carleton student at a party pointing at a sign that says, “Don’t be a dick.”
The picture was featured on her Tinder account. Somehow, staff at El Camino got a hold of the photo, recognized that this sign could be the one stolen from their restaurant, and decided it would be a good opportunity to make a point about their anger regarding restaurant theft.
The Instagram account @chefelcamino posted her photo with the caption:
“So this sign was stolen from us and discovered by a young virile cook on #tinder. We have gathered a goon party and will recover it asap #youreadick #eatelcamino #elcaminoottawa”
Of course with a caption like that, it’s evident the restaurant’s management were expecting some pretty harsh comments.
El Camino posted a picture of an 18-year-old woman, criticizing her for a crime she may not have committed without speaking to her directly. She said she immediately asked for the photo to be removed, and was told it would be taken down when the sign was returned.
The worst aspect of the situation was the comments that came up. El Camino’s thousands of followers had the ability to respond to the picture with terrible comments, tearing apart the character, alleged behaviour, and appearance of a university student who took a picture next to a funny sign at a party, unaware of where the sign was from.
The comments on the photo varied. Thankfully, some criticized El Camino for posting the picture, stating how inappropriate and misguided it is to harass an innocent girl to try to make a point. Some criticized the woman and praised El Camino for the post, believing absolutely that she must be a thief and should be punished for her actions.
However, many of the commenters focused elsewhere. Many comments criticized her appearance and one commenter said she looked like Jack Black, “same amount of arm hair, less head hair though.” After that comment, many others joined in and commented on her looks.
These comments were truly hateful, and the photo with many of the comments was left online for two days, despite her request to take it down.
It is also unclear if the restaurant’s management took the photo down themselves, or if Instagram removed it. She said she and many of her friends reported the post as bullying.
I recognize theft is completely wrong. Having worked in a restaurant for many years, I understand the amount of effort that goes into creating a specific and comfortable environment for patrons.
Having a piece from the environment stolen must be very frustrating. But El Camino chose to use humiliation as a tool to express their anger, which is not acceptable.
One thing that is clear from the situation is that El Camino needs to take the message of their sign to heart. Even though they had a right to be angry about having a sign stolen, allowing that woman to be shamed on the Internet was wrong.
