‘Lady Chinky Eyes’: Papa John’s Customer Finds Offensive Description Left on Her Receipt
- Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:27pm by
Christopher Santarelli
- Print »
- Email »

We’ve all likely had at least one bad experience with customer service representatives, but probably nothing like what Minhee Cho was subjected to Friday. A day after buying a small pepperoni pie from a New York City Papa John’s, Cho tweeted the racial slur she found left on her receipt:

“Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn‘t ’lady chinky eyes’” 24-year-old Cho tweeted with the image.
As the unbelievable photo began to go viral, Papa John’s official Twitter account quickly responded.
“We are very upset by recent receipt issue in New York & sincerely apologize to our customer,” read the tweet. “Franchise employee involved is being terminated.”
The owner of the New York store told the New York Daily News that he was shocked by the incident, and planned on having sensitivity trainings to make sure nothing similar ever happened again.
“It’s just wrong,” Owner Ronald Johnson told the Daily News.
The owner told the Daily News that the employee responsible for the receipt was a teen — who he believed was misguided by “hip hop culture.”
“It’s unfortunate, but this is the modern culture that they’re involved in,” he said.
Cho told the Daily News that she posted the photo on Twitter to show her friends and shame Papa John’s, but was not “super angry about it.”
“I (just) can’t believe this happened in this day and age,” Cho told the Daily News.
Unfortunately, a similar incident took place last month at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Irvine, California.
KABC-TV reported that a cashier was fired after allegedly mocking Asian-American customers by typing “Ching” and “Chong” in the customer identification line on receipts.



















Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (177)
chips1
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:14pmNot only that, but every time they make a sale, Cha-Ching!!!!
Report Post »Ross
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:06pmToo funny.
Report Post »VicksVaporub
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:50pmThe receipt should have said Non-White Protestant Scheduled for Indefinite Detention.
Santorum 2012
Report Post »jzs
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 9:42pmI am sick of all this PC crap. The Papa John’s employee was simply typing in an apt description of this woman. Since when is “*****” an insult?
Report Post »Old Truckers
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 10:35pmI wear glasses and I’ve been called “four eyes”.
I lived through the experience just fine.
Report Post »NeoFan
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 11:33pm@JZS Do you get mad when they write old pedophile on your receipt?
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:23am@NeoFan
Report Post »Nice one… JZS (aka JeZuS) is a complete @sswipe.
mrqstixx
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 7:34amO.K. That’s a good one.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 8:18amIf that is her photo than she does have chinky eyes…I’m sure about her being a lady though. It takes more than female parts to be a lady. Ms Chinky Eyes mioght have been more correct .
Report Post »guido.cavalcanti
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:04pmThe issue of race seems to bring out the lower base level of humanity of almost everyone in these forums. Keep feeding the stereotypes that paint all conservatives as Nascar loving, country music listening, racists inbreeds. For some of you, however, it doesn’t seem to be a stereotype (@JZS).
Report Post »Kaoscontrol
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:21pmA waitress once addressed me teasingly as “Chubby Cheeks” in front of several guys I work with. (Picture “Large Marg” on Pee Wee’s Big Adventure) “What‘ll ya be havin’, Chubby Cheeks?”
Report Post »We all had a big laugh.
Some people need to lighten up and not take themselves so seriously.
phillipwgirard
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:13pmAnd this is NATIONWIDE NEWS?
Report Post »Gorp
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:56pmWell sure it’s nation wide news! It adds one more to the unemployment numbers. So much for obama’s recovery…
Report Post »Trenaway
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 9:14pmThis is nationwide news because we have a news media so intent on finding wrong doing in America. Anything to make America look bad is the goal of the news media. This was handled by Papa Johns and was the result of one individual who is a idiot, not Papa Johns.
Report Post »Kaoscontrol
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:31pmNo, it’s actually worldwide news PHILLIP, since the Blaze is available everywhere there’s an internet connection. I‘m assuming Beyonce’s new baby, the lead story on other news sites, is more important than this to you?
Report Post »You “Serious News ONLY” Snobs must have no fun in your lives!
Mitch64622
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:04pmWow I am really surprised at the lack of compassion for this young woman. She is doing the right thing by bringing it to the attention of people but yet, not going overboard about it. She didn’t deserve to be called a racist name. This is what is wrong with customer service these days. There is none to speak of. No wonder the economy is tanking. I wouldn’t buy anything from Papa Johns from here on out if I were her.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:16pmSorry, but I would bet if this incident were investigated only slightly, we would find out that the perpetrator was probably a teenage or other immature employee. And before anyone starts running Papa Johns down, I doubt they promote or condone this kind of behavior.
But hey, with all the older folks out looking for jobs these days, the manager there should seriously consider hiring someone from somewhere other than the pool of kids he normally probably uses. He would end up with a better employee, that appreciates the job because he/she sorely needs it, rather than a kid, that more than likely is only working because it’s better than not having that new Ipad. That‘s not to say there aren’t good kids out there with a proper work ethic, but they are getting harder and harder to find.
Report Post »TXChoctaw
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:34pmNothing racist about “Chinky Eyes”…Poor taste, yeah. But it dang sure not racist…Hope you enjoyed the PC kooladie!
Report Post »408 CheyTac
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:39pmgood grief.
there is enough to be offended by that really matters. Getting fired up over that is stupid. Besides Papa john’s pizza is nasty. Should have been lady with chinky eyes and no tastebuds.
Report Post »firstHat
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:36am@TXPilot If you had read the article it does say it was a Teen and also says that the young woman in question was not overly upset by the incident. I think she is right to have shared the incident with friends and if others were not offended for her sake, the tweet would not have gone viral.
I too hate the PC stuff, but that doesn’t mean that I admire disrespect towards any person. The term used was certainly disrespectful and the teen got the reprimand she/he deserved.
Report Post »shellyhsmom25
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 11:59amYou are right Mitch64622! I get sick of all the PC stuff but this is just pure rudeness and the comments not supporting this young woman are rude also! I am SO SICK of the HORRIBLE customer service we get now days. I worked in the fast food industry in my teen years and college years. It is hard work but it takes no effort to be polite, just the right upbringing I guess. From reading these comments, I would guess some of you raised that Papa John employee. Where is your respect for others??? That young woman spent her hard earned money at that business and expected good and polite service. Something we all expect and deserve. She didn’t get it. She let people know about it, something we all would do also. And now you are making fun of her too?? PLZ!
Report Post »Krazy_Kreepy_Ketchup
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:53pmThe boss said the teen was “misguided by hip-hop culture”? How about not trying to make excuses for anyone and fire the creep?
If the girl was black or muslim there would be protests in the streets, the mayor would be making a speech on the steps and sharpton would be screaming “nappy-headed-ho”.
Report Post »toto
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:10pmCorrect.
Report Post »OneTermPresident
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:14pmOr possibly misguided parents…
Report Post »3hounddogs
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 1:15pmTrue. But none of that will happen because my bets are the kid is black…
Report Post »David Landrum
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:52pmFor those whom never worked at a pizza joint:
The servers or waitresses don’t have time to learn your name nor type it into the system. ‘Red shirt’, ‘blue dress’, ‘white guy’, ‘black woman’ is common. ‘kjakldjlkjd’ will suffice. Is “Lady Chinky Eyes” ok? No, it’s not. Why your pizza isn’t ready a half nanosecond ago is usually the most pressing concern at that moment.
Report Post »Lamarr01
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:44pmI prefer “old, fat, bald guy” to many things I have been called.
Report Post »Sebastian Xavier
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 9:40pmExcept they did have time to type it in.
Report Post »fatjack
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 9:57pmLamarr01
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:44pm
I prefer “old, fat, bald guy” to many things I have been called.
____________________________________________________
Yeah maybe we should file a joint lawsuit.
Report Post »nelbert
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:44pmShe, of course, has good reason to be outraged. The teen employee I gather has been fired (or should be if he/she hasn’t been). The only part in all this that I take issue with is the planned “sensitivity trainings”. Punish the guilty, but why torture the innocent? Make a clear statement, a memo, whatever that such behavior will not be tolerated, but in my experience, nothing makes one more insensitive than sensitivity training.
Report Post »toto
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:11pmYou are 100% right and the firing is all the sensitivity training necessary.
Report Post »wifezilla
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 10:21am100% Correct
Report Post »gemmeri
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:40pmWow, now instead of being offended in any way & making a mountain out of a ditch, I am intrigued… But then, I am a poet & songwriter & I would be trying to write more lyrics around what is an interesting descriptive term. In fact, I find Lady Chinky Eyes more interesting than her real name… so I must be twisted as well even though I don’t listen to hip hop or rap music. Does this mean I need sensitivity training as well??? Grow up, Cho. It’s a take-out pizza joint & I would think you‘d be more worried about whether or not you’ll get food poisoning than whether or not they know you by your real name. If you plan on going there often, you might introduce yourself to save them trying to guess or describe you effectively so you get the right order. You aren’t their only in-store customer.
Report Post »Servant Of YHVH
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:10pmShe has every right to be offended. Being singled out in such a way as that is demeaning and wrong. As far as your statement goes, it sounds to me like you are just making up excuses for you to say things against people. If you are going to insult people, at least man up and just say that you have, will or are going to go around insulting people.
Report Post »gemmeri
Posted on January 9, 2012 at 4:43pmThe choice of being offended by something is just that… a choice. If you choose to be offended, then that is your problem. If you choose to be amused, that is your choice. I choose to be amused at the lack of courtesy exhibited by both sides in this instance. If Cho was really offended by the term, then she should have said something to the effect that her name was Cho & not anything else. Instead she is just as guilty of insensitivity as the clerk by ranting in a public forum instead of addressing the issue directly. she takes offense & so she takes revenge by down-talking the business. Maybe she refused to give her name, maybe the clerk forgot to ask, maybe the place was extremely busy, maybe she was extremely uncooperative. I have worked in a popular pizza place & I have met some really rude customers who thought they were being funny. Correcting the clerk in a positive forward manner would have been Cho’c best tact… Hey guy, my name is Cho & it’s easy to spell, too, so get it right so I can order pizza here again. Instead, we get this news hype because of Cho’s actions, not the clerk’s. I choose not to take offense at the term Lady Chinky Eyes, but I feel sorry for those of you who do. Life is too short to take offense at every-little-thing that comes up, but I have heard much more derrogative terms applied to people of Asian descent & Chinky Eyes is not one of them.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:37pmLady… get over your self… and suck it up!
Report Post »Dinkiecb
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:01pmI agree suck it up….she made the complaint…they responded… it’s done move on .. why are we reading about it… oh must be a liberal thing. Yeah it’s crap customer service…what’d ya expect from a pizza place.
Report Post »Magyar
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 8:04pm@lukerw….. Exactly!
Report Post »Sebastian Xavier
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 9:59pmThe woman took it pretty easy. She didn’t really complain.
Report Post »CynicalPatriot
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:33pmHere’s a lesson on modern News-Speak that some of you may not be aware of. Whenever you see the perpetrator of a crime(or unfortunate incident in this case) is described as a Teen, Youth, Young Person, Young Man, or Juvenile, it means they‘re BLACK but the newspaper doesn’t want to tell you that. It’s similar to the way they sanitize stories about muslims behaving badly.
This particular story is just a failure to communicate. The black teen was miscommunicated to about who it’s appropriate to use racial slurs against. You can only do that to Whitey, not Chinky. While this Asian lady was miscommunicated to about complaining of racism when it comes from a black person. She should have given them a pass because as a fellow minority she should be down wit da struggle to overthrow the evil white forces who hold them all down. It’s sad to see such misunderstandings. Very, very sad.
Report Post »Krazy_Kreepy_Ketchup
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:55pmYou said it perfectly. Where are the riots? Where is the presi-dant saying that the kid “acted stupidly”? Where is Eric Holder trying to prosecute the Asian victim? Where is Rachael Maddow and Al Sharpton?
Report Post »FORLORNHOPE
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 9:23pmThe owner said it was hip hop culture. Well there the rub blacks are racist too.
Report Post »Sean In LI
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:31pmI‘m just surprised that people eat Papa John’s pizza-like product. That’s the shocker for me.
Report Post »NC
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:29pm@ DR NORDO – If I had gone into a chinese restaurant and ordered take out and my receipt had said “Honkey w/ glasses”, “Georgia *******”, or even “Blaze posting Moron” it would never had made the news and nobody would even had known about it.
I’m not the “sensitive” type and I build bridges.
NC ( crossing this bridge to the next topic)
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:29pm. “Franchise employee involved is being terminated.” — sounds like the twerp was fired
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:26pmThe owner told the Daily News that the employee responsible for the receipt was a teen — who he believed was misguided by “hip hop culture.”
Will Obama say the hip hop promoter acted stupidly?
Report Post »Krazy_Kreepy_Ketchup
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:56pmJust so you know-I posted the above reply before I read this. Glad there is someone who is on the same wavelegth…
Report Post »HotFixIt
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:21pmThis is the up and coming entitled, no manners generation…. get ready for it. He probably is not even truly aware or understanding of what he did wrong. A friend of mines grandson recently gave up on a geat sport schlorship because the coach made fun of his accent.. then gave up on a military entrance exam because he could not ‘party’ as much as he thought he should be able to! (wanted to go out the night before instead) OMG what is being raised in this country?????
Report Post »Waterlylys
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:19pmMs Cho was surprised that this would happen in this day and age? Has she listened to the words to pop songs lately? Has she watched any “reality” TV? This is so common in both venues that it is surprising to me that it doesn’t happen more often.
As far as firing the people who do it, I think that is the best and only response. I hope that the manager told him why he was being fired and to get his act together.
I don’t know who said it first but the fact of the matter is, what you accept, you teach. If you accept bad behavior you are teaching that bad behavior is OK. If the words to the “songs” are OK because they are “cultural”, than we are teaching that disrespect in any form is acceptable.
Report Post »toto
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:15pmMy sentiments exactly. You always get more of what you are willing to tolerate.
Report Post »skippy6
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:04pm.I used to work with a guy from the Philippines, He would always say just call me “first name” the brown guy, because his last name was so hard to say in English…Once you get to know someone on a personal basis I think that is okay, I’d always say you can call me “honkey” if you want….Black white brown blue green amber, we are all human…..Justice should be colorblind….I don’t think he should have been fired, maybe a personal apology…
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:14pmI must disagree. This was a major affront to ANY customer! Perhaps the young mind-numb employee never heard the term, but “China Doll” might have gotten him some points, as the girl is quite attractive. Simply Asian would probably have sufficed, or maybe just adding a number and telling her, “We will call your customer number when it is ready.”
I hope this young moron was not hoping for a job in Federal Service. There are too many like him there already.
Report Post »ssingh1515
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:03pmThe moral decline seems not to wane at all.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:56pmThis is so wrong on so many different levels. Miss Cho is a very pretty young woman by anyone’s standards. I hope and pray we can get past this type of ignorance within my lifetime… but unfortunately, it probably won’t happen.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:54pmPretty girl!
Ugly PJ’s employee.
I’m not big on political correctness or racial over sensitivity. But ***** or chinky is a ethnic slur used as a disparaging term and shouldn’t be on the receipt for a pizza order.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:03pmAs you can see, The Blaze thinks the word that chinky is derived from is offensive since they censored it from my post above. People need to get past the racial slurs. They are not funny in any context. Although I do make fun of myself for being a ******* redneck. Making fun of someone else with racial slurs is another matter.
Report Post »texasfireguy
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:50pmSounds like papa johns and ms cho have handled this well. The idiot responsible was fired, and ms cho has moved on. Maybe they will give her free pizza for life or something.
Report Post »hersey10
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:46pmInappropriate yes , funny , absolutely !!
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:55pmYeah. Funny that someone would be so dumb to do that. Guess they’ll go join OWS with all the other losers.
Report Post »possom
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:43pmWhat happend, run out of real new’s?
Report Post »SCHEXbp
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:45pmDon’t you realize that this is the worst thing that had happened in the history of the world, or at least since the discovery of Nazi concentration camps.
Report Post »If Twitter did not exist, the lady could have written to Papa Johns with a xerox of the receipt & probably gotten the same result. But we have to get all overwrought & hand-wringing about it. It sounds like the young lady has a decent perspective on the stupidity of it all.
singleparent
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:38pmWell from the look of her eyes they do look chinky… Bad business.. But should he be fired??
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:44pmYES!
Report Post »rm
Doctor Nordo
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:45pmLMAO of course he should be fired. You don‘t think that there are thousands of other teens willing to work minimum wage who WON’T alienate their customers?
Report Post »Boogie15
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:50pmYes you friggin’ moron. Want me to make fun of single parents?
Report Post »AceFrehley
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:50pmHow about if your receipt says something like “Single Slut” on it? No big deal, right? Yes, it’s a big deal for employees to berate their customers. Firing is entirely appropriate in this case, as it would be if someone put something derogatory about you on your receipt.
Report Post »lodgerat
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:51pmWhat a dumb post from a not to smart bigot
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:54pmGuys like Eric Holder should be fired for murdering American citizens with Fast and Furious weapons. Then he should go on trial. No tolerance policy‘s only seem to apply to the smallfry’s.
Report Post »PAR
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:08pmThe other replies to your stupid, insensitive post are spot on. If there is an acronym for “What a moron you are” I would have used it instead.
Report Post »singleparent
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:10pmI was just asking the question and yes it’s bad and yes the PC police is alive and well….see you can’t say anything about non white people…If this had been a white person that was made fun of you would not here **** !!!!!!!! You wouldnt even know it happened……
Report Post »Apple Bite
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 7:04pmThere‘s not question this teen should’ve been fired. I don’t care what kind of culture one is from, theres never a good excuse to engage in such practice.
Lady red neck?
Lady big lips?
Lady frumpy buns?
Why should any of that be acceptable? It’s wrong, plain and simple.
Report Post »certified ethical hacker
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:37pmWow they are blaming this on the hip hop culture? how long will it be before black leaders and stupid moron liberals are making that out to be the more racist statement? blacks think they have it rough but the real minority is the Asian population, my spouse if from the Philippines and she has had more problems with blacks that don’t like asians than whites. Not saying this was a black issue just making an observation that is life experiences. it is just funny how they try to quickly cover their arses and blame a culture. but then again the hip hop culture could be blamed for many things , hate for whites and cops and jews etc
Report Post »NC
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:34pmThe sensitivity crowd needs to go into the bridge-building business and GET OVER IT.
NC (building bridges for a kinder and gentler world)
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:44pmNo you moron, it’s a smart business decision. Calling people racial slurs isn’t exactly conducive to acquiring regular customers. And bad PR like this taints the image of the company as a whole, therefore reducing the business and stock value of the entire company, not just of this single franchise.
Report Post »Buggs
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:47pmThis was probably done because this woman was a usual customer that never tipped. Nothing will piss off a driver more than having to drive ten miles at $4.35 an hour and spending 430 a gallon.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:52pm@BUGGS
FAIL! If you had actually read the receipt you’d see that it was an in-store order. In other words, she came in, placed her order, and drove it back her own damn self. Besides, if she had placed her order online or over the phone, how in God’s name would the dude know she was Asian? Unless you just assume she is an immigrant with an outrageous accent?
Report Post »AceFrehley
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:55pmUmmm…. actually, this reply is to BUGGS. The receipt clearly says in-store order. And even if it weren’t, you do not berate customers.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 5:58pmHaving worked extensively in the pizza industry up through my late teenage years, I know that people are fairly consistent in their ordering techniques. People tend to stick with either a carry-out methodology or a delivery, with rarely any back and forth. So to just assume that she is typically gets delivery and stiffs her drivers is pretty dumb.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on January 8, 2012 at 6:09pmNordo You are as intolerant as a pantywaist, thin skinned, crybaby whining, PC screaming Liberal DEMOCRAT Get a sense of proportion.
Report Post »