Anderson candy shop doubles down after job posting leaves bitter taste for many online
The Martinsville Candy Kitchen is one of only a few places that still make candy canes by hand. Indianapolis Star
After leaving a bitter taste for many online, an Indiana candy shop is doubling down after a contentious social media post.
Good’s Candy Shop in Anderson published a job posting on Facebook last Thursday advertising positions in customer service and ice cream cake decorating. “‘Work Hard, Be Nice.’ This is our motto!” the post read.
As of Tuesday, thousands of people reacted to the post and more than 42,000 had commented — but they weren’t rushing to apply for the $11 per hour jobs.
Randy Good, the shop’s owner since 1992, wrote in detail disapproving certain employee behaviors, like laziness or tardiness. The “worst” one, “splitting” as he called it, sparked intense backlash.
“Splitting is a behavior of girls, young mostly but not always,” the post said. “Usually taught by their mothers. This is the person who talks about others in an attempt to split people apart and feel better about themselves … It’s such a common thing among girls. This is where toxicity and drama find their roots.”
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“Boys seldom practice this. They just duke it out! ha!”
People were quick to take him to task in the comments.
“I have never seen misogyny on this level,” one person commented. Others wrote, “He went full sexist” and “Very unprofessional.”
Some spoke out and said they would support other local businesses instead. “Thank you for letting me know to steer clear of anything with your name on it.”
On Tuesday, the shop’s owner apologized, not for his statements, but for the outrage and language in the comments section. Good said he was speaking about his own experiences with previous employees.
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The shop has repeatedly acknowledged — and celebrated — the stir on social media, in the latest post saying “This is a gift to me … To those who visited yesterday for the first time, thank you! It was a blast laughing with you!”
He claims yesterday was “one of the busiest Mondays in a long time” and that there were new employees hired yesterday.
Good thanked the people who came out in support of the shop and then promoted the shop’s Strawberry Fest. The shop did not immediately respond to IndyStar’s request for comment.
As of Tuesday, the shop was “being monitored” by Yelp after an sharp increase in “public attention,” noting that often means people are commenting based on media reports and not first-hand experiences.
“While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page,” the website states.
Contact IndyStar reporter Rashika Jaipuriar at rjaipuriar@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @rashikajpr.
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Published at Tue, 25 May 2021 15:24:35 +0000