On Jan. 25,  news spread across the Internet that the Rev. Alois Bell, pastor of the St. Louis-based Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries, and her congregation had dinner at a local Applebee's. When the bill came for the party of 20, the auto-gratuity (common for parties of this size) was fixed at 18 percent.

"I give God 10 percent why do you get 18?" Bell wrote on her credit card receipt, after crossing out the additional tip amount and writing 0%. (Note: the 18 percent tip was still included on her credit card charge.) The server who discovered the credit card slip told another Applebee's server, Chelsea Welch, who then posted an image of the receipt on Reddit.

Welch reportedly said she posted the note as a joke, and because she thought others would find it "entertaining." Welch was quoted in the  Consumerist.

It has been more than entertaining; it has sparked a viral debate that has pit wait staff all across America against patrons and business owners. According to The Consumerist, Welch admitted she posted the original image of the pastor's signature, because she thought it was illegible. She even provided an inaccurate physical description of the customer just to throw people off. Just when Internet sleuths began to contact her about the pastor's identity, national news outlets began to run the story and the pastor's name was figured out.

This past Wednesday, Pastor Bell reportedly lodged a complaint with the Applebee's restaurant, citing that due to the viral nature of the photo, her reputation was ruined. Welch was immediately terminated.

Applebee’s spokesperson Dan Smith was interviewed by The Smoking Gun, confirming that Welch had been terminated over the incident. He also reportedly said that his company apologized to Bell for violating her "right to privacy."

The way these things move faster than the speed of light, the pastor then apologized for her actions via The Smoking Gun in a followup interview.

Welch also told Consumerist she assumed the person who wrote the note wanted it seen, though maybe not by millions of people.

We called the local Applebee's in Thomaston to see if there was any comment to this story.

"I already know what you're going to ask me, I heard it on the radio this morning," said an Applebee's employee who asked to be anonymous. "I see both sides of the coin, but as far as Applebee's policy goes, a guest's personal information is not supposed to be shared." Pressed if she had a personal opinion, she said, "I do, but as an employee of Applebees, that's the only thing I can say about it."

An invitation to local servers to comment on this story yielded a not entirely unexpected response.  One former server who also asked to remain anonymous said, "This is unfortunately still happening. There are those who feel they shouldn't pay a person to wait on them, because the wait person collects a check.  Most of these morons don't realize that servers actually work for modern day 'slave wages.' I believe they can get legally paid $2.65/hour…it used to be $2.16 when I waited tables — which in and of itself is actually atrocious. Let's say the restaurant has a slow night and the wait person only gets one table — and the bill is $30. That means the wait person might get $6.00 if he or she is lucky…plus the $2.65 an hour for the eight-hour shift."

The former server went on to say: "I understand not leaving 20 percent for bad service, but if the service is seriously bad say something. Don't make the rest of the wait staff world pay for one bad egg, and for the love of God — don't use religion as a weapon. Nice way to 'win souls.'"

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Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com.