“I felt embarrassed.” Well, kuya, we think that you should be after this whole ‘kerfuffle.’ Yes, we used a different word than usual to prove how ma-alta [high-class] it sounds.
A Facebook post by a certain Nico Niklaus on December 28, 2023, went viral right at the beginning of this year, where he recounted his experience at a specific Starbucks branch in Pasay. The alleged CPA Lawyer said that he and his family were roaming around Okada Manila and then decided to take some coffee and desserts at the coffee shop. Since the branch was filled with people, they, a party of 14, decided to wait.
And because they were 14, they had to have some rows of tables to themselves. This is where the cleaner in the story comes in. The cleaner, doing his job, had dispersed and arranged the tables and chairs in different places, and Kuya CPA Lawyer chimed in saying that they were going to use it.
The cleaner allegedly sarcastically replied to CPA Lawyer, saying that he should be the one to get the tables and chairs and put them back. CPA Lawyer said, “Hala, bakit po ako? [why me?]” to which the cleaner slammed the tables and chairs back to their placement.
The embarrassment felt by the CPA Lawyer was rightly felt at this point, but nevertheless, from an outside perspective, it did feel a little…entitled? (For the lack of a better word.)
After the incident, the branch’s Manager approached the CPA Lawyer and his family to apologize for what happened. Later on, the manager also called the cleaner, who also apologized. When asked why he had reacted that way, the cleaner said, “Sir, dami lang po trabaho sa loob kanina. [“Sir, there was just a lot of work inside earlier.]”
The CPA Lawyer was given a bag with a slice of cake and a free drink redeemable anywhere as compensation for what had happened. The CPA Lawyer also wondered how the manager caught wind of the situation, despite him not saying anything, and found out that it was his sister who reported it. The sister said that she couldn’t let it pass because what the cleaner did was disrespectful.
The CPA Lawyer lauded his sister for her bravery and audacity. Well, tama [correct]. The audacity indeed.
Then afterwards, CPA Lawyer said that he redeemed his free drink at another branch, and was “surprised” to see the receipt stating “negative adjustments.” He ended his post by saying that he would never forget how the manager handled the situation, and that “a negative episode was adjusted. Maybe, all is well that ends well.”
Afterwards, rumors circulated on social media saying that the cleaner in the story was fired.
Of course, the Filipino side of the internet was not happy about it and decided to give Nico Niklaus a piece of their mind.
Lord take all of my suffering and give it to Nico Niklaus https://t.co/XJFTy7Vuyc
— ☆ (@kokocruhnc) January 5, 2024
The Infamous CPA Lawyer Issue fired the Service Crew Indirectly with his Post.
Idk if this is true but his story spread widely and baka the employee was fired nga because of NICO NIKLAUS POST.
I KNOW THE DESERVE NG EMPLOYEE TO BE REPRIMANDED BUT TO BE FIRED WELL SOOO pic.twitter.com/tVPqG1hdVm
— Alvin-Trending ISSUE (@RectoOfficial) January 5, 2024
Okay bingo po 🤣 lowkey chronically online hahahaha
Yung cpa lawyer na nag-SB, saw it sa FB few days ago. Iba talaga pag nalilipat sa Twitter ang topic 🤣 https://t.co/oLtOGrrdhw
— 슈퍼 TUNA 파이 미카츄 | see 📌 re: mercari / jp services (@wwh_biased) January 5, 2024
Mr. CPA Lawyer is officially the first cancelled of the year. Those posts are driving me insane. Whatever happened to kindness and humility? 💀
— wilfred (@wilflucas) January 5, 2024
Some "Grammar Nazi" X users (pun intended) noticed that this CPA Lawyer's grammar is quite poor. "Atrocious grammar" daw 😂. Thus, we rewrote his post into a grammatically correct and improved version. pic.twitter.com/fb39N2Sk04
— daily netizen (@dailynetizen24) January 5, 2024
In another post made (his original post was taken down), Nico Niklaus explained his part. “Wala naman sigurong mali at masama in being firm with your position in life and straightening those who have wronged you – whether intentional or not,” he said, later on continuing with the sentence that caused people to run their mouths against him.
“A bad day is a bad day indeed, but that doesn’t mean you should let someone having a bad day ruin your day as well. And yes, I could have made his life miserable and I didn’t out of compassion and pity. He could’ve made my stay in Starbucks pleasant as well but he didn’t. I guess we all know na sino sa amin ang nagisip nang tama at hindi.”
And the people are right— saying “I have the power to ruin his life but didn’t” was totally uncalled for and insensitive. Not only did he flaunt his title and position, but he inadvertently cost a person their job and livelihood.
If a person was having a bad day and took it out on you for no reason, would the right response be to blast it all over social media? Of course not, it’s not even supposed to be one’s first instinct to do so.
And yet, here we have a CPA Lawyer doing all that just for a sliver of clout from the holiday season. Way to ruin everyone’s perspective on your kind of people, huh.
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