Arainia Brown and her boyfriend Rolman Sparkman stopped by an IHOP restaurant in Austin, Texas one morning to pick up a to-go breakfast order, but when Brown peaked at her receipt, she noticed the receipt described her and her boyfriend simply as “BLACK PPL”.
Brown told local news station KVUE, “I feel upset, I’m sad, I’m angry. Like this, it makes no sense.” She adds that the server was a young black man, which only added “insult to injury.” Brown says that the served could have asked her for her name, something that is typically standard with to-go orders. Not everyone agrees with Brown’s anger and some have even taken to Twitter to tell her to “lighten up.”
IHOP released a statement condemning the actions of the employee. “This was a poor choice by our franchisee’s team member, and is not in keeping with policies and procedures. We recognize that this could be offensive and apologize. Everyone is welcome in our restaurants.” The company adds that it plans to use the incident as a “teachable moment.”
