Customer tells café owner to “speak better english,” sparks outrage and support
"Go learn some English," he told her.
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Here are the latest trending internet culture stories today:
Mariam, the owner of the Georgian café Mamali in New York City’s West Village, recorded an interaction with a rude customer that got the internet up in arms, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a blunt reply to Bed Bath & Beyond’s declaration that the company would not reopen stores in his state, and Sydney Sweeney’s comments regarding the backlash to her bathwater got her into some hot water over what many considered an unfair shifting of blame onto women.
See y’all in the next one!
— M.S.
⚡️ Today in Internet Culture
“Go learn some English:” Customer berates Georgian NYC café owner. Now everyone’s coming to her defense
Earlier this week, Mariam, the owner of a Georgian café called Mamali in New York City’s West Village, posted an interaction she had with an aggressively rude customer. They were already mid-conversation when the video began, with the customer berating Mariam for allegedly not speaking English he felt was good enough.
“You’re working in America, so you should speak good English,” the man told her. “That’s not an excuse.”
Gavin Newsom’s sarcastic reply to Bed Bath & Beyond refusing to open stores in California is going viral
Bed Bath & Beyond, which shut down all 360 stores in 2023 after filing for bankruptcy, is attempting a comeback. Yet its new leadership declared that California would not see any reopened locations.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom replied to the news in a very blunt way, and it quickly went viral.
“Yess girl throw women under the bus”: Sydney Sweeney blamed women for her bathwater soap backlash. She’s losing the argument.
Actor Sydney Sweeney addressed the criticism of her bathwater soap in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal this week, directing the blame towards women.
“It was mainly the girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting,” she said. “They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi’s bathwater,” referencing her Euphoria co-star’s infamous Saltburn scene.
Critics quickly jumped on the comments, tying them to her controversial American Eagle “great jeans” ad last month.
🕸️ Crawling the Web
🧙 A Duolingo answer to a question in German that called Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling “mean” led to boycott threats and firing demands.
🐰 Two vegan influencers have sparked controversy after asking fans for $30,000 to fund their overseas holiday for animal rights activism.
🍔 The Burger King mom who went viral for working an entire shift by herself is making headlines again—this time, it’s because she got fired.
👖 Gen Z is rejecting the skintight leggings favored by millennials, which they say give them body dysmorphia, and instead embracing baggy sweatpants.
🎮 Frustrated gamers are calling the recent $50 price increase on the PlayStation 5 the “Trump gamer tax,” referencing his sweeping tariffs.
☎️ A voicemail message from a dermatologist’s office is going massively viral as a woman realizes mid-sentence how unprepared she was to spell out a word using the phonetic alphabet.
🔥 Hot on the Dot
This was the most-read story on the Daily Dot yesterday: