ST. LOUIS (AP) — The note at the top of the restaurant receipt read simply, "I give God 10%, why do you get 18?"

The snarky comment has created a furor online after a waitress posted it on the website Reddit. She has been fired, while the customer who scribbled the note has been vilified. And the controversy has forced the president of the restaurant chain to explain its privacy policies.

It began Jan. 25 when a customer who described herself on the receipt as a pastor shared appetizers with eight or nine friends at an Applebee's in south St. Louis. Applebee's spokesman Dan Smith said Friday that the group was large enough that an automatic 18 percent tip was added to the bill.