Perils of honesty

I have been a yelper since a couple of years now. My yelp reviews started because I was tired of lack of information on vegetarian items. After browsing through restaurant menus when I looked up for pictures or reviews of meatless stuff, I would usually draw a blank. That led me to spend a lot of money on underwhelming stuff and I decided to be Yelp-woman! Say it like Superwoman to get the effect that I am trying to go for.

I would happily rate a place 4 star if I liked it, or even 5 star if I loved it. In my books, 3 star is for an okay place and a 2 star is not good. I don’t really go for 1 star. I would write honestly, and sincerely, and even mentioned positive points in a not-so-positive review. Fair enough, right?

But no! My big mouth and big smartphone got me in trouble last week. I had to open my big mouth while out for lunch, and my boss figured I am on yelp. He decided to follow me since he likes eating out, and likes many places that I do too. Coincidentally, a couple of days back, I gave a BAD review to a Mexican restaurant near our office. I did mention that I really liked their burrito, but it was literally the only good thing. The day my boss followed me on Yelp, my manager and some coworkers went for lunch to the same place. They got back and my manager(adorable older guy) comes into my office(yep, I have an office!) and tells me that the server girl asked for me! She legit asked for me and said she wanted to talk and discuss the bad review! I was shaken up, to be honest. I have been contacted on Yelp by business owners, but not like this.

The big boss then starts laughing and says that he did see that I did not review them well. Then he asked me, if I knew how bad it was for business. In the next 5 minutes, he sowed guilt deep into my heart by telling how he knew the family who runs the place, since his family home was in the same area, and how nice they are, and that he has seen businesses being shut down, and how he only gives 5 star to help people out or 1 star if it is really bad, or never under the average stars. He went on to say that taste is subjective. Well, I agree with that, but that is the reason why there is AVERAGE in the first place! And I am reviewing what I ate per my vegetarian taste buds and what my friends said about what they got!

But anyways, the seed of guilt was in. So I told my manager that I was going to stop by after work to talk to them. My manager got super concerned that I was upset because he knows I am sensitive and basically a nice person(if I may say so!) He asked me to text him back by 5 so he knows I am safe. Ha! But when I went, the girl who had asked for me was gone. I did not go back there for my Friday lunch, because I am scared out of my wits, and in-the-food spits! My fellow Yelper and friend also shares the same fears and suggests definitely not going back. Although, my manager said they were very nice, and the girl sincerely wanted to ask what was wrong. This story has spread in our tiny office, and the Shopfloor Manager tells me everytime they go to the place for lunch and I sense sarcasm. Admittedly, this area is very secluded and not too many options.

So what is the takeaway from this?

1. It sucks to be honest as also explained here: Honesty is not always the best policy
2. My office location is quite secluded and very few eateries around, and I must go out every Friday atleast. I should have thought this through.
3. I also updated the review to mention that it is a good thing that they wanted to discuss, etc. and bumped up 2 stars. This guilt is less than the previous guilt.
4. It is stressful being me.