Woman Claims She Was 'Food Shamed' By A Panera Employee For Choosing Bread As A Side
Double the bread, double the deliciousness.
cottonbro studio / Pexels A woman named Francesca shared what she deemed a “relatable, awkward, embarrassing” story on TikTok about how her choices were challenged when she went out for lunch.
The woman was ‘food shamed’ at Panera for choosing bread as a side.
“I got food shamed at Panera today,” Francesca said, her tone incredulous. “Food shamed. At Panera,” she reiterated, highlighting how ridiculous the whole situation was.
She shared the series of events, saying, “I go in there for a little lunch. I’m not there often, I literally never go there, but I thought, ‘why not today?’”
Her decision to switch things up at mealtime was a great self-care move. After all, variety is the spice of life. But her interaction with the Panera employee left a lot to be desired, crossing the boundary of what’s appropriate for a server to say to a customer.
Photo: Tran / Pexels
Francesca set the scene, explaining, “I’m ordering, I’m doing a little ‘pick two’ action, so I’m getting a sandwich and a salad. I go to the lady, I’m like, ‘Hey, can I have this sandwich, and then for my pick two I’ll have a salad.’ She’s like, ‘Okay, perfect.’”
And it was perfect, almost, except for what happened next.
Francesca shared that the server said, “Actually, with your sandwich, you get a side; you can either pick chips, an apple, or a baguette.’ And I say, naturally, ‘A baguette.’”
Francesca wanted a side of bread with her bread — and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Yet the Panera employee thought the opposite and she shared her opinion, without being asked for it, in a way that veered into food shaming.
“She looks at me, dead stare, for five seconds. It was a heavy silence,” Francesca said. “And she goes, ‘Are you sure? Like, your sandwich is a baguette.’”
Photo: Mariana Kurnyk / Pexels
“I’m sorry, I actually don’t remember asking you,” Francesca stated, though she didn’t actually say that out loud to the cashier. Instead, she laughed uncomfortably. “I was sure just a second ago, but now I’m super unsure because you’re making me question it,” she continued, sharing her thought process.
The cashier kept pressing the issue. Instead of letting Francesa order what she wanted to eat, she suggested that she get an apple, noting, “An apple sounds nice.”
“An apple sounds nice to you,” Francesca emphasized. “To you, it sounds nice, to me, the bread sounded nice.”
“So I said, ‘I’ll take the apple,’” she concluded her story, disappointing bread fans everywhere.
Call me crazy, but a baguette with another baguette sounds like a perfectly delightful lunch. After all, literally YOLO, so, why not eat as much bread as we possibly can during our brief stay on this planet?
The anti-bread lobby and this particular Panera employee might retain the misguided idea that bread is bad for us, yet it turns out, they’re totally wrong. Bread is not only delicious, it’s actually part of eating a well-balanced diet.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, half of the grains we eat should be whole grains, which bread absolutely has.
Photo: Dmitry Zvolskiy / Pexels
Gold Medal Bakery shared the myriad other health benefits of eating bread, as well. Bread contains fiber, which manages blood sugar and improves heart health. The fiber found in bread is prebiotic, which means it serves as a food source for the probiotic bacteria that naturally occur in our guts. This fiber gives our gut the necessary nutrients to support healthy digestion.
Bread can even make us happier, as eating complex carbs can increase our levels of serotonin and our general sense of joy.
In my humble opinion, bread is nothing short of a miracle food. By mixing water, flour, and yeast, you get a warm, crusty, doughy delicacy that has sustained people for generations.
There’s nothing wrong with eating a side of bread with bread. The only thing that’s wrong is judging other people’s food choices.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis, and all things to do with the entertainment industry.