Southern Alberta server speaks out after body-shaming review

Amanda Bauer is a server and assistant manager at Plum Restaurant. She serves all kinds of customers every day, but there’s one man who’s had a lasting negative impact.

“Very hurtful. It kind of took the wind out of my sails a little bit, took my breath away a little bit,” Bauer said. “I just sunk into the chair and just thought for a few minutes and you can’t help but be hurt.”

After being served by Bauer, a man posted the following message on TripAdvisor:

The hurtful comment was made in a very public forum.

“Definitely some shock that I would be reduced down to my body shape,” Bauer said. “There was definitely some sadness that went along with that.”

This body-shaming remark comes after Bauer fought and beat thyroid cancer, and was starting to regain her confidence.

“One of the things I learned is I don’t need to be ashamed of who I am anymore,” Bauer said. “I had surgery across my neck and I have a six-inch scar across my neck and I was always concerned that I would be hideous after that… But going through what I’ve gone through has led me to today — to be able to use my voice to speak up.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "One of the things I learned is I don't need to be ashamed of who I am anymore," Bauer said. "I had surgery across my neck and I have a six-inch scar across my neck and I was always concerned that I would be hideous after that… But going through what I've gone through has led me to today — to be able to use my voice to speak up."

Plum asked TripAdvisor repeatedly to remove the comment, but the site refused, claiming the review “did not violate its submission guidelines.” The post only came down when the man deleted his account.

However, from a negative post has come an overwhelming amount of support for Bauer. There have been many encouraging comments written on the Plum Facebook page.

“What a Jerk! I personally have had the ‘tattooed woman’ serve me and she is amazing,” Rachel Stark wrote. “Extremely knowledgeable about the menu and is hilarious…”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "What a Jerk! I personally have had the 'tattooed woman' serve me and she is amazing," Rachel Stark wrote. "Extremely knowledgeable about the menu and is hilarious…"

Bauer is feeling the positivity come her way, and it’s making a real difference.

“The show of love and support I’ve had has been incredible,” Bauer said. “I can’t understand how I could still look at myself and say I’m not good enough because I have been told time and time again that I am. So I have to believe that, and I do believe it.”

Bauer realizes she’s not the only one to experience this and hopes that by sharing her story it will help others that deal with similar encounters.

“I am going to use my voice for this cause,” Bauer said. “I don’t think it’s OK that there’s other women out there that are contacting me saying they’ve gone through the same thing. It’s such a shame, because it is not OK.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I am going to use my voice for this cause," Bauer said. "I don't think it's OK that there's other women out there that are contacting me saying they've gone through the same thing. It's such a shame, because it is not OK."