Why You Shouldn't Believe Every Viral Sob Story on Social Media

These type of "social injustice" viral stories are all over the Internet -- of course, not all of these stories should be taken as hard truth. This latest is an example of just that. Recently a lesbian waitress in New Jersey posted a picture of a bill for a table she served in which she received no tip. The tab also had a note stating she wasn't receiving a tip because the diners didn't agree with her gay lifestyle. Of course, a story like this instantly went viral, gaining national media attention and thousands of shares on social media. But now, it appears as if the no tip because of her homosexuality was just a scam. Here is the latest. Now, as the video concludes, the waitress, Dayna Morales, has not admitted to forging the receipt -- maybe she didn't, and someone else happened to forge the document, but that seems much less likely. Although there is no hard proof Morales made it all up, all the evidence seems to point at her. The type of forging at play here, whiting out or photoshopping the tip line to read zero, is not something a person could just do without having a considerable amount of time with the receipt. Without a doubt she received a tip, the bank statement proves as much, and a decent tip at that. But from my educated guess, Morales, like many social media users, knows the power of the online world. She saw an opportunity to have her "15 minutes of fame" and took it -- and "15 minutes of fame" she most definitely got. In previous viral stories like this one, where service industry people got stiffed, there was usually an outcry of support, financially speaking, and it's impossible not to notice something like that. My guess, Morales saw an opportunity for some easy fame and an easy influx of cash, and she capitalized. It's so easy these days with social media and how fast things go viral, I wouldn't be surprised to see more stories like this in the future. I am glad to see she is giving the money donated to a great cause, but I doubt the case would be the same had she not been caught. Like I said, this is just me reading the signs, you can come to your own conclusion. But in the future, be wary of stories you take as simple truth because they scroll through your feed. Photo via: Huffington Post