I was pretty shocked by the BitterBarista debacle. Some guy blows off steam on Twitter. Some other blog
exposes him and links to the company he works for. The guy gets
fired.
Here were my first thoughts: The posts
are satire, and people think he's funny. What's the big deal? Wow
the blog that exposed him must be creeps!
Based on the feedback they got, a lot of other folks thought that as well.
But I'm a writer, so I immediately looked at it from a writer's perspective.
There are plenty of funny books out
there about people's exploits on the job. And many of them deal with
wacky customers and many of them get written about. I recently read and loved, Pets in a Pickle
(also available as an ebook
)
(also available as an ebook)
Except it's not quite that easy. I went
to Sprudge.com, the site that allegedly outed him. I say allegedly,
because according to their site he had already outed himself and that
his real name is available on his twitter profile and that he says
where he works in some of his tweets.
Further, they state: "Rough days
at work? Of course. Upsetting interactions? Absolutely. Need to vent
sometimes? That’s universal. But rape jokes? References to violence
and animal abuse? Endangering customers with food allergies and
dietary restrictions?" They also say that the posts were not
posed as satirical until after the whole debacle occurred. Here's the post on Sprudge.
I haven't independently verified their
claims, so please don't send me hate mail. ;) Whether or not their
claim is true isn't the point of my article here. Nor is whether or
not Matt Watson should be fired.
Instead I had two questions:
In books that tell all about the
author's present or past profession how is this case different?
What lessons does this case teach me as
a writer? Besides not to blog about my day job.
Say What Happened...
In most of the books in the True Story
genre that I've ever read, and if the author has a story that might
reflect unflatteringly on the people involved, The writer is
generally careful to state the facts and leave it there. Sure the
writer might mention that they laughed, were sad, felt hurt, were
confused and such.
...Let the Actions Speak for
Themselves...
These authors also don't resort to name
calling. They don't say or imply that the folks involved were
rude, stupid or anything else. The facts of the story are enough for
the reader to make up their own mind.
Now I'm not saying that the Bitter
Barista did or did not resort to name calling. I don't subscribe to
his tweets and I really don't have the time or energy to do so. So I
have zero idea. However it seems likely that he may have according to
what I've read elsewhere.
...Don't Indulge in Fantasy...
Obviously if your intent is satire,
ignore this one. However if you're writing true stories about your
life, then it's unwise to go on about how you wanted to spit in their
coffee. Or suggest that you actually did spit in their coffee.
(Disclaimer once again: I don't have any reason to suspect that
Watson spit in anyone's coffee or even said he did, this is JUST an
example. However I did know one waitress long in the past who
actually did spit in someone's food, and I was horrified.) Unless
you're also willing to chastise yourself in the story for being a
horrible person.
...Leave Out Suggestions of Rape,
Violence and Cruelty to Animals
This one should be a no brainer.
(Here's that disclaimer again. I don't know what the Bitter Barista
said, I only know what Sprudge said he said.) Some things are just
beyond the pale. Fantasizing about giving someone the wrong coffee
order is one thing. Fantasizing about rape, violence and animal cruelty are just
straight out! If you do, and you say you do, then expect that you're
going to lose readers, tick people off and quite possibly lose your
job. Unless you're a sociopath and the purpose of your book is to write about being a sociopath. These things are not funny. At least not to me.
I may or may not ever write a book
about the true story of my life. For now I'll stick to fiction. But
if I ever do, I've learned how to write it without getting myself in
trouble or upsetting people whose worst crime was to be human.
