After bemoaning the fact he made less than a manager at a fast food chain, a college professor found himself facing sizable backlash on social media.
Spencer Bagley, a mathematics professor at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah tweeted a picture of a sign advertising a number of job openings at a local Panda Express.
This included an opening for a general manager, with a salary of $69,000 a year.
Bagley seemed angry at the fact his annual salary as a college professor was less than a restaurant genera manager.
"My salary as an associate professor of mathematics at Westminster College, three blocks away from this sign, is $61,500."
Several Twitter users were put off by Bagley's tweet, finding it classist and elitist.
I get that you were going for the "educators are underpaid" angle, which they are \u2014 but you did it at the expense of Panda Express workers, which was elitist and is worth maybe examining as a blind spot.— Peter Nygaard (@Peter Nygaard) 1644645966
No it\u2019s extremely elitist. I\u2019m a Gerald manager and you are more than welcome to apply for that job or are to much of an \u2018intellectual\u2019.— Bill Graves (@Bill Graves) 1644647013
I bet Dr Spencer Bagley has never worked on a Sunday at 6am to get a restaurant open by 11am then worked there all day long, short staffed with no help all to make that paycheck. Managing a restaurant is hard and thankless work— Murph Deisel (@Murph Deisel) 1644762401
Following all the criticism directed towards him, Bagley made his Twitter account private.
But people still had plenty more to say regarding Bagley's tweet, including TikToker Tejpal Singh.
Singh called Bagley out in a TikTok video which has gone on to receive nearly 100 thousand views.
@tejpalsinghtv #greenscreen #xyzbca #follow #LaysGoldenDuet #AVrboForTogether #fyp #foryou #foryourpage #trending #foryoupage #foru #panda #college #professor #money
Singh expressed his surprise Bagley expected his tweet would receive support, as opposed to the numerous angry responses thrown back at him.
"For a college Professor, you're pretty stupid, you know that?"
Singh went on to say how Bagley's anger regarding his low salary should have been directed at his college, not at Panda Express.
"You're really mad at Panda Express for paying their employees more, instead of getting mad at your college that you don't get paid more?"
"That's hilarious, you're an idiot."
"How are you so hollow in the head for being a college professor, how did you get that job?"
In a follow up video, which was subsequently deleted, Singh pointed out how college professors usually have summers off, while general managers work year round for much longer hours, and Bagley should have "seen both views."
Fellow TikTokers agreed Bagley's anger was misplaced in the comments section of Singh's first video.
Several made a point of emphasizing the long hours and hard work that comes with being a general manager, with some feeling that the $69 thousand annual salary still wasn't enough.
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
@tejpalsinghtv/TikTok
Not everyone reacted to Bagley's tweet with anger.
Several Twitter users took the opportunity to poke a bit of fun at Bagley's tweet with memes and videos.
Me running to apply for the GM at my local Panda Expresspic.twitter.com/PKcCkl9C0I— Oz the Cheesemeister \ud83e\uddc0 28-16-4 \ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc99 (@Oz the Cheesemeister \ud83e\uddc0 28-16-4 \ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc99) 1644682245
General Managers at Panda Express whenever college professors walk into the restaurantpic.twitter.com/uVCOxVQ309— Rich (@Rich) 1644644301
College professors when they pass the Panda Express on campuspic.twitter.com/RHTGhwPXqH— Free Jamar Lacco \ud83c\udfaf (@Free Jamar Lacco \ud83c\udfaf) 1644688684
At least one Twitter user pointed out Bagley appeared to be making far less than his colleagues.
According to Glassdoor, the average salary of an associate professor at Westminster College is $96,122 a year.
For his part, Bagley seems to regret posting his polarizing tweet.
While his Twitter account remains private, he updated his Twitter biography, appearing to address all the negative responses he received.
"All labor is skilled labor | All workers are underpaid | Twitter was a mistake lol."