*WARNING* a derogatory term casually used by the Twitter user profiled in this piece is in the exact opposite of our views and values*

Recently, a thread by @RoblesTeonna made the popular casual dining chain restaurant Red Lobster start to trend on Twitter. After Robles shared a text exchange between her and a man she was dating on social media, her 2,500 followers took to Twitter to express their opinions on the bizarre saga.

It all started when Robles posted a screenshot of a shocking interaction she had with a man she was seeing. In the text exchange, Robles shares some photos of delicious-looking tacos with a mystery man, asking him if he wants any. “I know you’re craving Red Lobster,” she says in the text convo. “But I also don’t have much money after paying my bills and it would just be easier on me”.

Instead of being grateful for Teonna’s offer to bring him food, the unidentified man instead responds callously, telling her not to “ask me what I want to eat [and] then tell me to pick something else ever again”.

Robles, understandably upset over the man’s rude response, tells him that she doesn’t like the way he’s speaking to her. “I’m offering to get you food & going out of my way to do so,” she explains to him. She then further explains that if he wants to continue to treat her so poorly, she’ll no longer associate with him.

The man takes his reaction even further by telling her that she shouldn’t have been trying to “play a position” she wasn’t “fit for”. Presumably, he is talking about the fact that she offering to buy him food and then later told him she didn’t have enough money for what he was asking for. “You’re clearly not on my level,” he told her. “And can’t afford to support a man of my caliber”. 

Needless to say, Teonna’s Twitter users had some strong opinions over this man’s entitled behavior. 

@RoblesTeonna’s post quickly went viral, racking up almost 37,000 likes, over 4,000 comments and over 8,000 retweets. Not only were her followers shocked by his surprising reaction to not getting Red Lobster, they were also shocked by his insistence that the woman he dates should “support” him–especially when that woman makes it clear that she’s short on cash due to paying her own bills. 

Although there is a pervasive belief that women resort to “hustling” men for dates in order to get free meals, the situation proves that the attitude of entitlement goes both ways. There are a myriad of different ways people of all genders use others to fulfill their own agendas. People were quick to point out this man’s hypocrisy with comments like, “Imagine demanding from someone else, what you can’t even provide yourself. Humans are exhausting”.

After @RoblesTeonna’s account of her experience with this man, the man decided to tell his side of the story. Spoiler alert: he does not come off as a hero.

After being contacted by someone via Facebook to address the situation, the man (who is identified as “Shawn”) explains that he and Teonna were not dating, although she “wanted to claim [him] as her man”. According to Shawn, he was not yet interested in Teonna, because “she’s not the only woman trying to impress [him]” and he “cannot just sit and give any woman a relationship with [him]”.

Thankfully, the entire internet had Teonna’s back enough to publicly explain the multiple reason why she’s better than this low-life man.

Contrary to what “Shawn” believes about himself, any person who treats another person like this (regardless of gender) is not worth the time of day. Periodt.

This person made a valid point about how this man was whining about something he could have easily provided for himself.

It’s obvious that this man doesn’t have the ability to provide for himself, so he relies on the women in his life to fill that need.

A lot of people were pointing out the absurdity of thinking that Red Lobster is the peak of American fine dining. 

It’s not like Red Lobster is some Michelin-rated gourmet food. It’s pretty much “Applebee’s Of the Sea”.

This person perfectly pointed out the hypocrisy of Shawn’s argument.

Presumably, a person of “high caliber” wouldn’t need to be supported, because they would have the resources to support themselves.

Even the reigning Queen of Twitter, Chrissy Teigen, got in on the fun:

Finally, a voice of reason among all this nonsense.

In 2018, vineyards in Virginia had an unfortunate season. The area experienced too much rain. Local winemakers called it the “toughest” season in the past two decades and that the harsh weather made it, so they produced less wine because so many grapes were lost. This season, however — because climate change has brought forth such unpredictable weather forecasts —  Virginia vineyards had a very successful season. With such a positive harvest, one would assume that vineyard workers would get some kind of bonus. Instead, they got fired.

Seven undocumented employees that worked at a Trump Virginia winery were fired before the end of the year because they were not U.S. citizens. 

The Washington Post reports that the firing came at the end of December, before the start of 2020, which is odd timing considering other undocumented employees at other Trump properties almost a year ago. 

Back at the start of 2019, undocumented employees that worked at a Trump golf course in New Jersey were fired for lack of documentation to work in the U.S. So far, most of the workers that were fired back then said that the higher-ups, including President Donald Trump and his children who own the properties, were aware that they had undocumented workers on their payroll. Even then, the firings were odd, considering the president has been on an anti-immigrant, anti-Latino, and anti-undocumented agenda since before his election. Yet all of the firings, even the most recent ones, seem to come when it’s most convenient for the company. 

The undocumented workers were fired at the end of the harvest season when they had completed their work on the vineyard. 

Workers told the Washington Post that while they had anxiety about losing their jobs all year, especially after other undocumented employees at other properties were fired. But work went on as usual at the vineyard. The workers also report that earlier in December, Eric Trump, who is listed as the president of some of the Trump properties, visited the vineyard and was very gracious to his employees. The Post was in touch with several of the undocumented employees for months prior to their firing. 

“He gave me his hand,” Omar Miranda, one of the employees that was fired, recalled to the Post about Eric’s visit. Miranda had won a raffle, and Eric shook his hand and added, “Eric is like a co-worker.” Then, a couple of weeks later, he was fired. 

The workers said that Trump, his family, and management knew exactly what they were doing when they waited to fire them after the grape season had ended. 

“They didn’t make this decision in the summer because they needed us a lot then,” Miranda told the Post. Another employee said, “I think they wanted to get their product out well, the grapes, to make sure that was taken care of, and once things were slow, they could fire us all.”

The publication asked the Trump organization about why they waited so long to fire these undocumented employees, and their statement was the same as it was last year when they fired employees at the golf course: “Consistent with our efforts, we will immediately terminate any individual who has provided fake identification in order to unlawfully gain employment.” 

People on social media expressed their anger over the timing of this firing as well as Trump’s treatment of their undocumented workers. 

Chef José Andrés tweeted, “Mr. ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ why instead of firing them 3 years into your presidency, you pass immigration reform, giving #DREAMers and undocumented the place in the USA they deserve?”

“Not only are trump companies still employing undocumented immigrants, they hold off firing them in order take advantage of their labor as long as possible,” another tweeted. “He has no shame.”

As we noted earlier, this season Virginia experienced one of the best grape seasons in years. So it makes sense management didn’t want to fire employees until after the harvest to take advantage of the booming business. 

“You have the perfect alignment of rainfall, sun, wind, weather, to where the quality of your grapes are the highest you’ve seen in a really long time,” Winemaker Emily Pelton told WHSV3 News.

Perhaps if the season had been a washout as it was in 2018, the undocumented employees would have been fired earlier in the year. We guess there’s always a silver lining. 

READ: With Reports Of Trump Employing Undocumented Workers, CBP Was Asked Why Trump’s Properties Have Not Been Raided