Talia Jane was fired two hours after she publicly admitted she can't afford groceries. 
 
 This is Talia Jane. She's 25, and up until Friday afternoon she worked for Eat24, the food-ordering app owned by Yelp. Talia Jane 
 
 Jane told BuzzFeed News she moved to San Francisco to start working as a customer service representative at the company in August after finishing an English literature degree at California State University, Long Beach. Talia Jane 
 
 Jane said she wanted to work for the company's media team but was told the customer service rep position was a good way to break into the business, learn essential skills, and transition across departments. However, the reality of living and working in one of the most expensive cities in the country soon caught up with her. Even though she rented an apartment 30 miles away from the company's downtown offices, she struggled to afford her rent, making just $12.25 an hour — or $8.15 after tax. She also had to factor in more than $200 per month in transportation fees, since she was taking the train to work. She had also planned to find a co-worker to room with her, she said, but quickly discovered many of them were either living at home or otherwise unable to afford the rent. 
 
 "I thought to myself, Oh, I'm tremendously fucked, so I'm just going to try really hard on improving at this job so I can transfer and get a pay increase," she said, "but then I was told that wouldn't happen for at least a year." Talia Jane 
 
 Having cut back on buying groceries in order to afford her rent and bills, and juggling 40 hours of overnight shifts a week, Jane went to bed on Friday after drinking a liter of water to stop hunger pains. She said she awoke two hours later, starving, so she made herself some rice — the only food she could afford. "While cooking the rice, I suddenly became aware that this wasn't the first time this had happened," she said. 
 
 Hungry, tired, and struggling to make ends meet, she began tweeting at Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. .@jeremys please let me earn a living wage. I promise I'll watch all your vlogs. just let me be able to pay my rent. 
 
 .@jeremys I didnt major in business or finance & I didnt take this job to get rich. I just cant turn my heater on & I'm tired of being cold. 
 
 .@jeremys anyway, fire me or ignore me. either way I'll keep on struggling all the same. ✌️ 
 
 She then channeled her thoughts into a post on Medium , entitled "An Open Letter To My CEO." Medium / Via medium.com 
 
 The post, which has been shared across the tech world on Twitter and been viewed more than 85,000 people, goes into detail about Jane's struggles making ends meet. Here are some excerpts: So here I am, 25-years old, balancing all sorts of debt and trying to pave a life for myself that doesn't involve crying in the bathtub every week. Every single one of my coworkers is struggling. They're taking side jobs, they're living at home. One of them started a GoFundMe because she couldn't pay her rent. She ended up leaving the company and moving east, somewhere the minimum wage could double as a living wage. Another wrote on those neat whiteboards we've got on every floor begging for help because he was bound to be homeless in two weeks. Fortunately, someone helped him out. At least, I think they did. I actually haven't seen him in the past few months. Do you think he's okay? Another guy who got hired, and ultimately let go, was undoubtedly homeless. He brought a big bag with him and stocked up on all those snacks you make sure are on every floor... By and large, our floor pummels through those snacks the fastest and has to roam other floors to find something to eat. Is it because we're gluttons? Maybe. If you starve a pack of wolves and toss them a single steak, will they rip each other to shreds fighting over it? Definitely. 
 
 
 
 I haven't bought groceries since I started this job. Not because I'm lazy, but because I got this ten pound bag of rice before I moved here and my meals at home (including the one I'm having as I write this) consist, by and large, of that. Because I can't afford to buy groceries. Bread is a luxury to me, even though you've got a whole fridge full of it on the 8th floor. But we're not allowed to take any of that home because it's for at-work eating. Of which I do a lot. Because 80 percent of my income goes to paying my rent. Isn't that ironic? Your employee for your food delivery app that you spent $300 million to buy can't afford to buy food. That's gotta be a little ironic, right? 
 
 
 
 Let's talk about those benefits, though. They're great. I've got vision, dental, the normal health insurance stuff — and as far as I can tell, I don't have to pay for any of it! Except the copays. $20 to see a doctor or get an eye exam or see a therapist or get medication. Twenty bucks each is pretty neat, if spending twenty dollars didn't determine whether or not you could afford to get to work the next week. 
 
 "I wanted [Stoppelman] to understand that I wasn't some little, annoying fly buzzing around his head," she told BuzzFeed News. "I wanted him to understand that I'm not some obnoxious idiot who thinks it's funny to harass the CEO on Twitter. I'm someone who has concerns and is reaching out, hoping that he can do something. "I was sitting there and thinking, I hope he sees this and I hope my CEO listens and hears me, and then it started to dawn on me: I wonder if I'll get fired for saying this out loud?" After publishing the post at 3 p.m. on Friday, her company email account stopped working two hours later, she said. "My manager and HR told me the letter and what I wrote violated Yelp's terms of conduct," she said. 
 
 After he was contacted by BuzzFeed News on Saturday, Stoppelman began tweeting about Jane's dismissal. 1/5 Late last night I read Talia's medium contribution and want to acknowledge her point that the cost of living in SF is far too high. 
 
 2/5 I have been focused on this issue, backing anti-NIMBY group SFBARF and speaking out frequently about the need to lower cost of housing. 
 
 3/5 I've not been personally involved in Talia being let go and it was not because she posted a Medium letter directed at me. 
 
 4/5 Two sides to every HR story so Twitter army please put down the pitchforks. The reality of such a high Bay Area cost of living is... 
 
 5/5 entry level jobs migrate to where costs of living are lower. Have already announced we are growing EAT24 support in AZ for this reason. 
 
 Although Stoppelman said the post was not the reason for Jane's dismissal, a spokesperson for Yelp would not elaborate, telling BuzzFeed News the company would not comment on personnel matters. "We do not comment on personnel issues," the spokesperson said. "However, we did agree with many of the points in Ms. Jane's post and we viewed it as her real, personal narrative about what it's like to live in the Bay Area. Most importantly, it's an important example of freedom of speech." "We agree with her comments about the high costs of living in San Francisco, which is why we announced in December that we are expanding our Eat24 customer support team into our Phoenix office where will pay the same wage." ||||| Late on Friday afternoon, Talia Jane, a customer service employee for Yelp, penned a letter to CEO Jeremy Stoppelman on Medium condemning the company for its low pay. 
 
 Less than two hours later, Jane wrote on Twitter that she had been fired for writing the post. 
 
 google says my work email address doesn't exist, which means i have officially been fired from Yelp/Eat24 for writing this. — Lady Murderface (@itsa_talia) February 20, 2016 
 
 Her post ricocheted around the Internet (her account trended on Twitter in San Francisco), as it was a rare public censure of company exec, and it touches on the sensitive issue of high housing costs in the Bay Area. Her claims also fly in the face of the standard view of tech employees as coddled and overpaid. 
 
 On Saturday, Stoppelman took to Twitter to address the post, signaling that the company would like to make the issue around housing costs, rather than Yelp. “[P]lease put down the pitchforks,” the CEO wrote. 
 
 1/5 Late last night I read Talia's medium contribution and want to acknowledge her point that the cost of living in SF is far too high. — Jeremy Stoppelman (@jeremys) February 20, 2016 
 
 A Yelp spokesperson echoed Stoppelman’s comments in a note: “We do not comment on personnel issues. However, we did agree with many of the points in Ms. Jane’s post and we viewed it as her real, personal narrative about what it’s like to live in the Bay Area. Most importantly, it’s an important example of freedom of speech.” 
 
 On Twitter and in comments to Re/code, Jane said that she was a fired because her post violated Yelp’s terms of conduct. Stoppelman countered that on Twitter, claiming that her firing was not related to the post. 
 
 Jane started working as a customer service exec for Eat24, the delivery service owned by Yelp, in August. In her post, a lengthy, damning screed, she tears into Stoppelman for the low pay and retention rate of employees in her position: 
 
 So here I am, 25-years old, balancing all sorts of debt and trying to pave a life for myself that doesn’t involve crying in the bathtub every week. Every single one of my coworkers is struggling. They’re taking side jobs, they’re living at home. 
 
 Jane wrote that she earned a biweekly check, of $733.24 and spent more than 80 percent of that for housing. 
 
 Yelp reps declined to comment on salary specifics. On Glassdoor, the company review site, salaries for “junior account executives” at Yelp are listed at $35,913. For GrubHub, a comparably valued company, salaries for “sales executives” and “online sales executives” are listed at $39,000 and $30,913, respectively. 
 
 On Jane’s points about cost of living, a Yelp rep wrote: “We agree with her comments about the high costs of living in San Francisco, which is why we announced in December that we are expanding our Eat24 customer support team into our Phoenix office where will pay the same wage.” 
 
 In a message, Jane said she did not anticipate the reception to her post, both from the Internet and Yelp. 
 
 “I honestly anticipated something like five hearts on the letter and maybe one reply from someone I know,” she said. “Definitely didn’t anticipate anything beyond that.” ||||| The Internet erupted this weekend when Yelp fired one of its customer service agents, Talia Jane, a few hours after she posted an article to Medium entitled, "An Open Letter To My CEO." 
 
 The crux of the open letter was what Ms. Jane considered her inferior level of compensation when compared to her Bay Area living expenses, be it rent, groceries, electricity, Internet, transportation and so on. The letter--starting out with "Dear Jeremy"--was presumably intended for Yelp Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Stoppelman. 
 
 The question I would like to ask is whether the company was being fair. 
 
 Was her dismissal just? 
 
 Furthermore, was the company being fair to itself? 
 
 Let us start with the open letter itself. 
 
 Indeed it is distressing. 
 
 Ms. Jane begins by delivering low blows to lawyers and teachers. "I didn’t want to become a cliche or drown in student loans," she writes, possibly indicating the reason why she chose her academic path. 
 
 As the proud holder of a bachelor's of education degree, my back was already up. 
 
 She settled on a role in customer service at Yelp (having moved to the Bay Area to be near her father) as a way in which to transfer into Yelp's Media department, her true passion. 
 
 Alas, Ms. Jane was initially perplexed after being hired. Shortly after arriving at Yelp she was informed she would have to work in her customer service role for at least a year before being able to move to a new department. 
 
 In my experience, a new hire must demonstrate commitment and competence before moving to a different role in the organization. 
 
 She continued to lament about life in her open letter to Mr. Stoppelman. 
 
 "I haven’t bought groceries since I started this job," she said. Other fits of discontent included, "I’m still being trained for the same position I’ve got?" and "Will you pay my phone bill for me?" and "Should I sell my car?" 
 
 Interspersed throughout the letter is a condescending tone replete with a smug, accusatory naïveté. Take for instance these three examples: 
 
 -"Instead of telling you about all the ways I’m withering away from putting my all into a company that doesn’t have my back." 
 
 -"Maybe instead, you can help set up something to allow Eat24/Yelp employees to get food from local food banks and soup kitchens?" 
 
 -"Because [the coconut water tastes] like the bitter remorse of accepting a job that can’t pay a living wage." 
 
 Ms. Jane ends her epic 2,392 word rant with the following: 
 
 Anyway, those are my thoughts. I know they’re not worth your time — did you know that the average American earns enough money that the time they would spend picking up a penny costs more than the penny’s worth? I pick up every penny I see, which I think explains why sharing these thoughts is worth my time, even if it’s not worth yours. Your Friend In Food, Talia 
 
 She managed to find the time to update the Medium post a couple of hours later, informing readers, "I have been officially let go from the company." 
 
 Which brings us to the question, was Yelp being fair when it dismissed Talia Jane? 
 
 There are two sides to every coin. 
 
 Let us first start with the "yes" side. 
 
 Ms. Jane was either on a self-induced kamikaze-like mission to get fired, or her lack of judgment was missed by the Yelp recruiters that they had to remedy the hiring error and terminate her immediately. 
 
 In all seriousness, a public attack on your CEO is never a good idea. The damning evidence she provided is fodder for any sane executive to issue a quick dismissal accordingly. Ms. Jane's petulance, insecurity, willfully perverse and "head in the sand" level of expectations is as comical as it is stupid. Comeuppance by a CEO--like in this case--would be easier than expertly predicting human trampling at this year's Black Friday shopping extravaganza. (And you know that happens every year, too.) 
 
 Imagine the rancor inside of Yelp once word spread of the open letter. Everyone (and I mean everyone) would be talking about Ms. Jane. Not only would they be talking about her, they would be wondering aloud what the company would do about the situation. Would Ms. Jane be sacked? Would she be allowed to stay? How come the company hasn't said anything yet? 
 
 If Yelp took too long to deal with the situation, employees might become distracted about the distraction itself. 
 
 But in this situation, Ms. Jane was terminated quicker than it takes to watch Braveheart. And that's a long movie. 
 
 Yes, Mr. Stoppelman and his team acted correctly to deftly issue the termination of Ms. Jane on the same day. No sane CEO or competent company would do otherwise. 
 
 On the other hand, maybe there is another viewpoint. 
 
 What if Ms. Jane was suffering from some form of duress that caused her to publicly berate her CEO and company? What if this public cry for help is the result of a mental instability? What if the open letter was an act of bereavement? 
 
 Let us presume the Yelp HR team looked into such matters before issuing the termination order, and found there to be no reasonable correlation to the points above. 
 
 Could Ms. Jane's social media gaffe be used at Yelp as an opportunity to teach other Yelp employees what "not" to do? (Arguably, Yelp does not need Ms. Jane as an employee in order to do so.) 
 
 Ms. Jane suggests 85% of her monthly take home pay goes toward rent. The Bay Area is notoriously expensive, particularly with respect to housing. Was her outburst a chance for Yelp to champion a new cause? Could Yelp have become a lightning rod for the Bay Area and affordable housing, if not the livable wage argument for San Francisco county? 
 
 My personal opinion? 
 
 I fully understand the rationale for terminating Ms. Jane on the spot. It was the safest and arguably the sanest action to take. 
 
 But I also see Ms. Jane's open letter as an opportunity for Yelp to turn the misguided intentions of an employee into a new and redefined organizational purpose (at least for the Bay Area). 
 
 Was Yelp being just to fire Ms. Jane? Absolutely. 
 
 Was Yelp being fair to itself, in terms of potentially redefining a higher purpose for the organization? Time will tell. (And no, it does not need Ms. Jane to do so going forward.) 
 
 But it has a chance to take an inappropriate cry for help and initiate some overdue societal changes. That might make it fair. 
 
 __________ 
 
 Dan Pontefract is the author of THE PURPOSE EFFECT: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role and Your Organization. ||||| An Open Letter To My CEO 
 
 talia jane Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 19, 2016 
 
 Dear Jeremy, 
 
 When I was a kid, back in the 90s when Spice Girls and owning a pager were #goals, I dreamed of having a car and a credit card and my own apartment. I told my 8-year old self, This is what it means to be an adult. 
 
 Now, seventeen years later, I have those things. But boy did I not anticipate a decade and a half ago that a car and a credit card and an apartment would all be symbols of stress, not success. 
 
 I left college, having majored in English literature, with a dream to work in media. It was either that or go to law school. Or become a teacher. But I didn’t want to become a cliche or drown in student loans, see. I also desperately needed to leave where I was living — I could get into the details of why, but to sum up: I wanted to die every single day of my life and it took me several years to realize it was because of the environment I was in. So, I picked the next best place: somewhere close to my dad, since we’ve never gotten to have much of a relationship and I like the weather up here. I found a job (I was hired the same day as my interview, in fact) and I put a bunch of debt on a shiny new credit card to afford the move. 
 
 Coming out of college without much more than freelancing and tutoring under my belt, I felt it was fair that I start out working in the customer support section of Yelp/Eat24 before I’d be qualified to transfer to media. Then, after I had moved and got firmly stuck in this apartment with this debt, I was told I’d have to work in support for an entire year before I would be able to move to a different department. A whole year answering calls and talking to customers just for the hope that someday I’d be able to make memes and twitter jokes about food. If you follow me on twitter, which you don’t, you’d know that these are things I already do. But that’s neither here nor there. Let’s get back to the situation at hand, shall we? 
 
 So here I am, 25-years old, balancing all sorts of debt and trying to pave a life for myself that doesn’t involve crying in the bathtub every week. Every single one of my coworkers is struggling. They’re taking side jobs, they’re living at home. One of them started a GoFundMe because she couldn’t pay her rent. She ended up leaving the company and moving east, somewhere the minimum wage could double as a living wage. Another wrote on those neat whiteboards we’ve got on every floor begging for help because he was bound to be homeless in two weeks. Fortunately, someone helped him out. At least, I think they did. I actually haven’t seen him in the past few months. Do you think he’s okay? Another guy who got hired, and ultimately let go, was undoubtedly homeless. He brought a big bag with him and stocked up on all those snacks you make sure are on every floor (except on the weekends when the customer support team is working, because we’re what makes Eat24 24-hours, 7 days a week but the team who comes to stock up those snacks in the early hours during my shift are only there Mondays through Fridays, excluding holidays. They get holidays and weekends off! Can you imagine?). By and large, our floor pummels through those snacks the fastest and has to roam other floors to find something to eat. Is it because we’re gluttons? Maybe. If you starve a pack of wolves and toss them a single steak, will they rip each other to shreds fighting over it? Definitely. 
 
 I haven’t bought groceries since I started this job. Not because I’m lazy, but because I got this ten pound bag of rice before I moved here and my meals at home (including the one I’m having as I write this) consist, by and large, of that. Because I can’t afford to buy groceries. Bread is a luxury to me, even though you’ve got a whole fridge full of it on the 8th floor. But we’re not allowed to take any of that home because it’s for at-work eating. Of which I do a lot. Because 80 percent of my income goes to paying my rent. Isn’t that ironic? Your employee for your food delivery app that you spent $300 million to buy can’t afford to buy food. That’s gotta be a little ironic, right? 
 
 Let’s talk about those benefits, though. They’re great. I’ve got vision, dental, the normal health insurance stuff — and as far as I can tell, I don’t have to pay for any of it! Except the copays. $20 to see a doctor or get an eye exam or see a therapist or get medication. Twenty bucks each is pretty neat, if spending twenty dollars didn’t determine whether or not you could afford to get to work the next week. 
 
 Did I tell you about how I got stuck in the east bay because my credit card, which amazingly allows cash withdrawals, kept getting declined and I didn’t have enough money on my BART Clipper card to get to work? Did I tell you that my manager, with full concern and sympathy for my situation, suggested I just drive through FastTrak and get a $35 ticket for it that I could pay at a later time, just so I could get to work? Did I tell you that an employee at CVS overheard my phone call with my manager and then gave me, straight from his wallet, the six dollars I needed to drive into work? Do you think CVS pays more than Yelp? I worked a job similar to one at CVS. A manager spends half an hour training you on the cash register, you watch a video, maybe take a brief quiz, and you’re fully trained to do the entire job. Did you know that after getting hired back in August, I’m still being trained for the same position I’ve got? But Marcus at CVS has six dollars in his wallet, and I’m picking up coins on the street trying to figure out how I’ll be able to pay him back. 
 
 Speaking of that whole training thing, do you know what the average retention rate of your lowest employees (like myself) are? Because I haven’t been here very long, but it seems like every week the faces change. Do you think it’s because the pay your company offers is designed to attract young people with no responsibilities, sort of like the CIA? Except these people don’t even throw away their trash, because they still live at home and this is their very first job and they don’t have to take an aptitude test like at the CIA. Do you know how many cash coupons I used to give out before I was properly trained? In one month, I gave out over $600 to customers for a variety of issues. Now, since getting more training, I’ve given out about $15 in the past three months because I’ve been able to de-escalate messed up situations using just my customer service skills. Do you think that’s coincidence? Or is the goal to have these free bleeders who throw money at angry customers to calm them down set the standard for the whole company? Do you think there’s any point in training a customer service agent to learn and employ customer service skills? Or is it better to attract those first-time employees with their poor habits and lack of work ethic with the same wage part-time employees at See’s Candies make for standing by the door in a stupid outfit and handing out free chocolate? Do you think those free chocolates cost $600 a month per employee? Have you ever seen an angry See’s Candies customer? You know what I could do with $600 extra a month? For starters, I probably wouldn’t have to take money from Marcus at CVS just to get to work. 
 
 Will you pay my phone bill for me? I just got a text from T-Mobile telling me my bill is due. I got paid yesterday ($733.24, bi-weekly) but I have to save as much of that as possible to pay my rent ($1245) for my apartment that’s 30 miles away from work because it was the cheapest place I could find that had access to the train, which costs me $5.65 one way to get to work. That’s $11.30 a day, by the way. I make $8.15 an hour after taxes. I also have to pay my gas and electric bill. Last month it was $120. According to the infograph on PG&E’s website, that cost was because I used my heater. I’ve since stopped using my heater. Have you ever slept fully clothed under several blankets just so you don’t get a cold and have to miss work? Have you ever drank a liter of water before going to bed so you could fall asleep without waking up a few hours later with stomach pains because the last time you ate was at work? I woke up today with stomach pains. I made myself a bowl of rice. 
 
 Look, I’ll make you a deal. You don’t have to pay my phone bill. I’ll just disconnect my phone. And I’ll disconnect my home internet, too, even though it’s the only way I can do work for my freelance gig that I haven’t been able to do since I moved here because I’m constantly too stressed to focus on anything but going to sleep as soon as I’m not at work. Should I sell my car? It’s not my car, actually, it’s my grandpa’s. But the back left tire is flat and the front right headlight is out and the registration is due to be renewed in April and I already know I can’t afford any of that. I haven’t even gotten an oil change since I started this job (in August). But maybe I could find someone on Craigslist who won’t mind all of that because they’ll look at the dark circles under my eyes and realize I need the cash more than they do. 
 
 How about this: instead of telling you about all the ways I’m withering away from putting my all into a company that doesn’t have my back, I offer some solutions. I emailed Mike, Eat24’s CEO, about a few ideas to give back to our community for the holidays. He, along with someone named Patty, politely turned them down. But maybe you could repurpose them? 
 
 Originally, I suggested that Eat24/Yelp employees volunteer at local soup kitchens and food banks to give back to our Bay Area community (I see on your twitter that you care deeply about the homeless epidemic in our city) while also helping the different departments meet and mingle. Maybe instead, you can help set up something to allow Eat24/Yelp employees to get food from local food banks and soup kitchens? I’m pretty proficient at rice, but some hot soup would sure make up for not being able to afford to use my heater. 
 
 Originally, I suggested that Eat24 offer a matching donation with customers where they can choose a donation amount during checkout and Eat24/Yelp would match it and donate those profits to a national food program. Maybe instead, you can let customers choose a donation amount during checkout and divide those proceeds among your employees who spend more than 60% of their income on rent? The ideal percent is 30%. As I said, I spend 80%. What do you spend 80% of your income on? I hear your net worth is somewhere between $111 million and $222 million. That’s a whole lotta rice. 
 
 Originally, I suggested that Eat24 offer special coupon codes where half of the code’s value ($1) goes to charity. Maybe instead, you can give half the code’s value ($1) to helping employees who live across the bay pay their transit fares? Mine are $226 monthly. According to this website, you’ve got a pretty nice house in the east bay. Have you ever been stranded inside a CVS because you can’t afford to get to work? How much do you pay your gardeners to keep that lawn and lovely backyard looking so neat? 
 
 I did notice — and maybe this was just a fluke — that Yelp has stopped stocking up on those awful flavored coconut waters. Was that Mike’s suggestion? Because I did include, half-facetiously, in that email he and Patty so politely rejected that Yelp could save about $24,000 in two months if the company stopped restocking flavored coconut waters since no one drinks them (because they taste like the bitter remorse of accepting a job that can’t pay a living wage and everyone kept falling over into the fetal position and hyperventilating about their life’s worth. It really cut into the productivity that all those new hires are so prolific at avoiding). I wonder what it would be like if I made $24,000 more annually. I could probably get the headlight fixed on my car. And the flat tire. And maybe even get the oil change and renewed registration — but I don’t want to dream too extravagantly. Maybe you could cut out all the coconut waters altogether? You could probably cut back on a lot of the drinks and snacks that are stocked on every single floor. I mean, I could handle losing out on pistachio nuts if I was getting paid enough to afford groceries. No one really eats the pistachios anyway — have you ever tried answering the phone fifty times an hour while eating pistachios? Those hard shells really get in the way of talking to hundreds of customers and restaurants a day. 
 
 Anyway, those are my thoughts. I know they’re not worth your time — did you know that the average American earns enough money that the time they would spend picking up a penny costs more than the penny’s worth? I pick up every penny I see, which I think explains why sharing these thoughts is worth my time, even if it’s not worth yours. 
 
 Your Friend In Food, 
 
 Talia 
 
 UPDATE: As of 5:43pm PST, I have been officially let go from the company. This was entirely unplanned (but I guess not completely unexpected?) but any help until I find new employment would be extremely appreciated. My PayPal is paypal.me/taliajane, my Venmo is taliajane (no hyphen). Square Cash is cash.me/$TaliaJane. Thank you so much for helping my story be heard. 
 
 UPDATE 10/11/2017: The Monday after I published this letter (which resulted in me losing my job), the customer support team held one-on-one meetings with support reps who confirmed my letter expressed their grievances, specifically with regards to pay. These meetings were confirmed to a reporter by several employees. And as a result, Yelp raised the wages for its customer support reps (among other changes I also pointed out). Yelp claimed that the raise and other systemic improvements had been “in the works” long before my letter (this is a lie). 
 
 For those looking to scold and/or blame me: It has been more than a year since this letter was written. What the hell are you doing? Did you just emerge from a coma? I have two jobs and a roommate now, paying far less than what I had been, and I’m still not getting by. That is because the issues I outlined here are the result of much larger problems within the gig economy. And if you really think someone working full time shouldn’t point out that it’s insane that a full time job isn’t enough to support a single person just doing their best (when the minimum wage was established to support a family of three and has failed to keep up with skyrocketing cost of living), you’re being willfully stupid and that’s not my problem. But if you really need to call me a whiny entitled millennial just to feel superior and/or less afraid of the reality of our world, have at it. I don’t give a shit. ||||| Yelp's popular online reviews guide the hungry to the best restaurants, the thirsty to the friendliest bars and the flabby to the toughest personal trainers. But, on the eve of its initial public offering, the eight-year-old, still unprofitable company has yet to convince analysts of its long-term prospects. 
 
 FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2011 file photo, the logo of the online reviews website Yelp is shown in neon on a wall at the company's new Manhattan offices in New York. Online reviews site Yelp is expected... (Associated Press) 
 
 San Francisco-based Yelp Inc. late Thursday priced its initial public offering of stock at $15 a share. That's above its expected range of $12 and $14 per share. Yelp is selling 7.1 million shares, while its charitable foundation will sell 50,000. Investment bankers also have an option sell an another 1.07 million shares, depending on investor demand. 
 
 The offering could raise as much as $123 million before expenses. It values Yelp at $900 million. 
 
 That's a lot for a company that hasn't turned a profit since its 2004 founding. Rick Summer, an analyst at Morningstar, says that while Yelp is at "the head of the pack" compared to other review sites, he's concerned that businesses "may not see enough value in (Yelp's) advertising platform to increase spending and justify the expected price of this IPO." 
 
 Though it's best known for restaurant reviews, Yelp's users have reviewed churches, strip clubs, hospitals, hotels and high schools. The company makes money from advertising. Most of the ads come from the local businesses that its users review. In 2011, it booked revenue of $83.3 million, up 74 percent from 2010. It had a net income loss of $16.7 million last year and $9.6 million the year before. 
 
 Like so many startups, Yelp originated as a solution to a problem. Jeremy Stoppelman co-founded Yelp with former PayPal colleague Russel Simmons. Stoppelman, who serves as the company's CEO, wrote about the Yelp's beginnings in an op-ed printed in the San Francisco Chronicle in January 2009: 
 
 "One day in the summer of 2004, I got sick and needed to see a doctor. I asked friends for referrals, but most of them were Bay Area transplants and didn't have any good recommendations. I searched on Google, but found only generic lists on health insurance Web sites. I wanted a doctor that fit my needs, not just any doctor," Stoppelman wrote. "I wondered why it was so easy to find consumer reviews for products like books and electronics, but so hard to find good referrals for local service providers like doctors and plumbers." 
 
 That's where Yelp came in. By 2009, Yelp had grown to 17 million monthly users and 4.5 million reviews. It has expanded overseas, to the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany and beyond. 
 
 Yelp.com attracts 66 million monthly unique visitors and is home to 25 million reviews as of the end of 2011, according to its regulatory filings. People used the company's mobile application, meanwhile, on 5.7 million mobile devices a month, on average. That's an impressive run, but Summer is worried that Google and Facebook "could grab more of the local advertising pie" and take business away from Yelp, constraining the company's potential growth and profitability. 
 
 Foursquare is also edging in on Yelp's territory. The New York-based company best known for letting users check in to venues using their mobile phones, offers local recommendations and user tips on what to eat or do once you've checked in to a restaurant, store or other business. 
 
 Even so, Yelp's stock will likely see a big jump on its first trading day, as investors who didn't get in at the pricing clamor to grab a share. That's what happened with LinkedIn Corp., the consumer reviews site Angie's List Inc. and others. Online deals company Groupon Inc. saw its stock jump 31 percent on its first trading day. On Thursday, though, Groupon's stock was trading slightly below its IPO price of $20. 
 
 Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop.com, expects Yelp's IPO to price above the expected range and thinks "there will be a lot of happy users who don't know valuation metrics" who will buy the stock on its first trading day. Even so, Gaskins says he's a "little bit skeptical" about Yelp's long-term prospects. 
 
 "Sooner or later people will be wanting them to make money," he said. "They won't go away, it's not like the dot-com bust. (But) at some point in time, people are going to get tired of them losing money all the time." 
 
 Nick Einhorn, research analyst at IPO investment advisory firm Renaissance Capital, thinks Yelp has done an "impressive job so far" in building up its user base and content. 
 
 "While it is still reasonably small from a revenue standpoint, the company is still in the relatively early stages of monetization _ a large percentage of its revenue comes from its 20 oldest markets, so it should be able to continue to grow strongly as it drives monetization in its other 51 markets," along with new ones, he said. 
 
 Yelp's users are its bread and butter. They're the ones who write the reviews, see the ads and hopefully click on them. To ensure that they trust the site _ and keep using it _ Yelp has kept a sturdy wall between its advertisements and reviews. Businesses can't run ads to boost their ratings and ads are clearly marked. Still, Yelp has elicited complaints from businesses about the way it screens out fake or biased reviews. The company uses an automated program to weed out unreliable posts, such as those written by business owners about their own restaurants _ or a competitor's. Some merchants have complained that the program made legitimate reviews disappear. In 2010, Yelp responded by adding an option to let users see reviews that are filtered out. 
 
 That said, most user reviews are positive. As of August 2011, 38 percent of the reviews on Yelp were five stars, the highest possible rating, and just 11 percent were one-star reviews. On Friday, investors will get a chance to give their own ratings on the company's business. 
 
 Life as a public company will be a change of pace for Yelp. Its new status will invite scrutiny from investors, regulators and the public. The challenge will be to keep it all in perspective. 
 
 "Some companies feel that there is a lot of short-term focus," once they have gone public, said Gordon Tucker, the managing director of Protiviti, a company that helps businesses go public. "The companies that are successful are able to keep the long-term focus in mind." ||||| Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of yelp Inc., San Francisco, California, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing called ''The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?'' on Capitol Hill, September 21, 2011. 
 
 (Reuters) - Consumer review website Yelp Inc made a sparkling market debut on Friday, buoyed by optimism ahead of Facebook's public listing and hopes for further successful public listings by Internet companies down the road. 
 
 Yelp's stock closed 64 percent higher at $24.58, a day after Yelp priced its IPO at $15 a share - above its indicated range of $12 to $14. 
 
 At Friday's closing price, the company is worth about $1.47 billion - about 17 times its 2011 revenue. 
 
 "If you look at it, there's been a very high trading volume, much higher than normal," said Scott Rostan, a former Merrill Lynch analyst who founded Training The Street, an investment banking school in New York. 
 
 Yelp could be benefitting from the optimism about Facebook's upcoming IPO, he added. "Investors are getting a little excited; there's a social media momentum." 
 
 Yelp's stellar debut follows those of other Internet sensations like LinkedIn Corp, Groupon Inc and Zillow Inc. But while those stocks made large first-day gains, they have since declined. 
 
 Groupon stock's soared as much as 56 percent on its opening day, but has since fallen below its offer price of $20. 
 
 Like Yelp, Groupon is losing money. Yelp generates revenue by selling advertising on its sites, where it has more than 25 million reviews of a range of local businesses and services - from plumbers and shoe-repair shops to restaurants and nightlife options. 
 
 Yelp also competes with Angie's List, which unlike Yelp charges for memberships and whose stock fell 5.4 percent on Friday. 
 
 "Angie's List charges for memberships. That will prevent growth. It can maybe grow to 2 million memberships, but there's a finite number of people who want to pay to access this content," Sameet Sinha, an analyst at B. Riley & Co, said. 
 
 "Their unique visitor growth accelerated in the past year and they are forecasting solid growth over the next few years," Sinha said. 
 
 The company, however, faces stiff competition from Facebook; Google Inc, through its recent buy of restaurant reviewer Zagat; and others like Groupon and Angie's List. 
 
 Stoppelman told CNBC that he was not fazed by competition from the likes of Google. 
 
 "That's a potentially lucrative market, which could be interesting for some big companies such as Google, Facebook to muscle in," Rostan said. 
 
 "It could make Yelp a takeover candidate. As a public company it is a little harder to turn down an offer and it could be a $2 billion morsel for an established company to enter that market," he said. 
 
 According to media reports, Yelp has rejected approaches by Google and Yahoo in the past. 
 
 AMAZON OF LOCAL ADVERTISING 
 
 The San Francisco-based company was started eight years ago in 2004 by former PayPal engineers Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons, when Stoppelman needed a doctor and online searches turned up only generic lists on health insurance websites. 
 
 Stoppelman, a computer engineer by training, told CNBC he wanted his company to become the Amazon.com Inc of local advertising. 
 
 "We're just scratching the surface of local advertising," Stoppelman said. "It's an enormous market." 
 
 Yelp had 66 million unique visitors and was used in 5.7 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis in its latest quarter. It was active in 46 markets in the United States and 25 internationally at the end of last year. 
 
 But the company has incurred losses since inception, and had an accumulated debt of about $41.2 million as of December 31. 
 
 In 2011, Yelp recorded a loss of about $17 million but saw revenue jump 74 percent to $83.3 million. 
 
 Like a slew of recent tech and Internet offerings and the upcoming Facebook IPO, Yelp will have two classes of stock - class A shares worth one vote each and class B shares with 10 votes each. 
 
 This structure is seen by many as a method to keep voting power restricted to the major stockholders as the outstanding class B common stock will represent about 98.7 percent of voting power following the offering. 
 
 Scott said this may be the time for more Internet companies to seek a public listing. 
 
 "In the IPO market there's a window of opportunity, when it's open you better rush through it before it closes," Rostan said, adding that LinkedIn's IPO in May last year created a window until about August. 
 
 "There needs to be some kind of event to open it (the window) and Facebook might be that event," he added. 
 
 B. Riley's Sinha noted that Yelp was a good investment ahead of Facebook. 
 
 "In general, crowd sourcing, social and mobile are the key buzz words for investors and Yelp hits them all. Before Facebook comes along, this is a good social and mobile play for investors," Sinha said. 
 
 Goldman Sachs is the lead bookrunning manager for the offering, while Citigroup and Jefferies acted as joint bookrunning managers. 
 
 (Reporting by Aman Shah, Tanya Agrawal in Bangalore and Alistair Barr in San Francisco.; Editing by Supriya Kurane, Lisa Von Ahn and Richard Chang) ||||| Photo: Getty Images File Photo Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close 
 
 Image 1 of 29 Zynga’s 668,000-square-foot headquarters on 8th and Townsend in San Francisco. Zynga’s 668,000-square-foot headquarters on 8th and Townsend in San Francisco. Photo: Getty Images File Photo 
 
 Image 2 of 29 Campari America: The spirits company is not only headquartered in the city; its most famous vodka, Skyy, was invented by San Franciscan entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar in 1992. Campari America: The spirits company is not only headquartered in the city; its most famous vodka, Skyy, was invented by San Franciscan entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar in 1992. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 3 of 29 GAP Inc.: The famous retailer was founded in San Francisco in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher. The headquarters remain in the city where it all started. GAP Inc.: The famous retailer was founded in San Francisco in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher. The headquarters remain in the city where it all started. Photo: LM Otero, AP 
 
 Image 4 of 29 Good Vibrations: The women-oriented sex business was founded in 1977 by Joani Blank. Good Vibrations: The women-oriented sex business was founded in 1977 by Joani Blank. Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 5 of 29 Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants: The hotel and restaurant company began in San Francisco over three decades ago. It was the first boutique hotel and restaurant company in the U.S. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants: The hotel and restaurant company began in San Francisco over three decades ago. It was the first boutique hotel and restaurant company in the U.S. Photo: Courtesy Hotel Solamar 
 
 Image 6 of 29 Jessica McClintock: The Jessica McClintock headquarters are located in San Francisco. The designer is famed for her Gunne Sax line of prom dresses, which were huge in department stores in the 1980's. Jessica McClintock: The Jessica McClintock headquarters are located in San Francisco. The designer is famed for her Gunne Sax line of prom dresses, which were huge in department stores in the 1980's. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 7 of 29 Craigslist: An online classified site founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Craig Newmark, a former computer programmer. Craigslist: An online classified site founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Craig Newmark, a former computer programmer. Photo: Justin Sullivan / Justin Sullivan / Getty Images 2006 
 
 Image 8 of 29 Dropbox: A file hosting company, founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, is headquartered in SOMA. Dropbox: A file hosting company, founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, is headquartered in SOMA. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 9 of 29 Eventbrite: A self-service ticketing platform headquartered in San Francisco. Here employees pose for a photo at the Eventbrite office. Eventbrite: A self-service ticketing platform headquartered in San Francisco. Here employees pose for a photo at the Eventbrite office. Photo: Josh Edelson, JOSH EDELSON / SAN FRANCISCO CHR 
 
 Image 10 of 29 Buy photo Lyft: The transportation network company is headquartered in San Francisco. Here the Lyft mustache is displayed in a car at the community driver rally event in 2015. Lyft: The transportation network company is headquartered in San Francisco. Here the Lyft mustache is displayed in a car at the community driver rally event in 2015. Photo: Amy Osborne, The Chronicle Buy this photo 
 
 Image 11 of 29 Buy photo Yelp: Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman poses for a portrait at Yelp headquarters in SF. Stoppelman and Russel Simmons founded Yelp after leaving PayPayl. Yelp: Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman poses for a portrait at Yelp headquarters in SF. Stoppelman and Russel Simmons founded Yelp after leaving PayPayl. Photo: Craig Hudson, The Chronicle Buy this photo 
 
 Image 12 of 29 Airbnb: Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco. Airbnb is an online marketplace for people to list and book accommodations around the world. Airbnb: Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco. Airbnb is an online marketplace for people to list and book accommodations around the world. 
 
 Image 13 of 29 Levi Strauss & Co.: The denim company was founded during the Gold Rush of the mid 1800s and remains headquartered in San Francisco. Levi Strauss & Co.: The denim company was founded during the Gold Rush of the mid 1800s and remains headquartered in San Francisco. 
 
 Image 14 of 29 LucasFilm: The film and television company was founded by filmmaker George Lucas and is located in the Presidio. Many fans of the Star Wars series make a pilgrimage to the Yoda statue in the courtyard of LucasFilm headquarters. less LucasFilm: The film and television company was founded by filmmaker George Lucas and is located in the Presidio. Many fans of the Star Wars series make a pilgrimage to the Yoda statue in the courtyard of ... more Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 15 of 29 Pinterest: Originally located in Palo Alto, the photo board company made the move to San Francisco, California in 2012. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images Pinterest: Originally located in Palo Alto, the photo board company made the move to San Francisco, California in 2012. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images Photo: JOSH EDELSON / AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Image 16 of 29 Williams-Sonoma Inc.: Is headquarted in San Francisco and is one of the United States' largest e-commerce retailers with brands in home furnishings. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Williams-Sonoma Inc.: Is headquarted in San Francisco and is one of the United States' largest e-commerce retailers with brands in home furnishings. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Photo: David Paul Morris, Bloomberg 
 
 Image 17 of 29 Salesforce: The cloud computing company is headquartered in San Francisco and currently building the largest skyscraper in the city. Salesforce: The cloud computing company is headquartered in San Francisco and currently building the largest skyscraper in the city. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 18 of 29 Wells Fargo: The financial services company has been around long enough to have operated this stagecoach on display at its headquarters in San Francisco. Wells Fargo: The financial services company has been around long enough to have operated this stagecoach on display at its headquarters in San Francisco. Photo: Paul Sakuma, STF 
 
 Image 19 of 29 Twitter: The social networking service company was founded by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Noah Glass and Biz Stone. The company recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary. Twitter: The social networking service company was founded by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Noah Glass and Biz Stone. The company recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary. Photo: Eric Risberg, Associated Press 
 
 Image 20 of 29 Square: The mobile payments services company co-founded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is headquartered in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) Square: The mobile payments services company co-founded by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is headquartered in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) Photo: Seth Wenig, Associated Press 
 
 Image 21 of 29 
 
 
 
 Image 22 of 29 Esprit: The clothing retailer that was formerly headquartered in San Francisco ended its US operation in 2011. Esprit: The clothing retailer that was formerly headquartered in San Francisco ended its US operation in 2011. Photo: Getty Images: Ullstein Bild / Contributor 
 
 Image 23 of 29 Hearst: One of the nation’s largest diversified media, information and services companies was once headquartered in San Francisco and now is located in New York City. Hearst: One of the nation’s largest diversified media, information and services companies was once headquartered in San Francisco and now is located in New York City. Photo: John McMurtrie, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 24 of 29 Folgers: The 150-year-old Folger Coffee Company was founded in San Francisco. The company has since been acquired by Procter & Gamble and now headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Folgers: The 150-year-old Folger Coffee Company was founded in San Francisco. The company has since been acquired by Procter & Gamble and now headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo: Stephanie Wright Hession 
 
 Image 25 of 29 Sharper Image: The company is most known for its gadgets and accessories was founded in San Francisco and later relocated to New York City. Sharper Image: The company is most known for its gadgets and accessories was founded in San Francisco and later relocated to New York City. Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images 
 
 Image 26 of 29 Bank of America: San Francisco was home to the world headquarters of Bank of America until 1998 when it merged with Nation's Bank. The company is now headquartered in North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) less Bank of America: San Francisco was home to the world headquarters of Bank of America until 1998 when it merged with Nation's Bank. The company is now headquartered in North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark ... more Photo: Mark Lennihan, Associated Press 
 
 Image 27 of 29 Hills Brothers Coffee: Before being acquired by Nestle, the coffee company that was founded in 1878 had headquarters located in the Embarcadero. Hills Brothers Coffee: Before being acquired by Nestle, the coffee company that was founded in 1878 had headquarters located in the Embarcadero. Photo: Mike Maloney, The Chronicle 
 
 Image 28 of 29 The Rolling Stone Magazine: The bi-weekly magazine was founded in 1967 by Jann Wenner in San Francisco. A decade later the magazine moved its headquarters to New York City. The Rolling Stone Magazine: The bi-weekly magazine was founded in 1967 by Jann Wenner in San Francisco. A decade later the magazine moved its headquarters to New York City. Photo: AP ||||| In an open letter to the city’s mayor Ed Lee, entrepreneur Justin Keller said he is ‘outraged’ that wealthy workers have to see people in pain and despair 
 
 Super Bowl protests flare up over plight of San Francisco’s homeless residents Read more 
 
 In only the latest cultural altercation between San Francisco’s tech workers and the city’s impoverished population, one tech worker has declared the homeless are “riff raff” whose “pain, struggle and despair” shouldn’t have to be endured by “wealthy” people commuting to work. 
 
 It’s a familiar story. A male entrepreneur (some might even call him a “tech bro”) – flush with the sense of self-worth and self-satisfaction that comes from living and working in a city and industry that treats him and his friends as the most important and intelligent human beings ever to grace a metropolitan area with their presence – takes a moment to think about homelessness. Not content to wrinkle his nose and move on with his day, he types those thoughts out. He publishes them on the internet. 
 
 And, there, with the click of a button, he enters the pantheon of infamous San Francisco tech bros. 
 
 Justin Keller, an entrepreneur, developer and the founder of startup Commando.io, joined those exalted ranks on 15 February when he published an open letter to San Francisco mayor Ed Lee and police chief Greg Suhr: 
 
 I am writing today, to voice my concern and outrage over the increasing homeless and drug problem that the city is faced with. I’ve been living in SF for over three years, and without a doubt it is the worst it has ever been. Every day, on my way to, and from work, I see people sprawled across the sidewalk, tent cities, human feces, and the faces of addiction. The city is becoming a shanty town … Worst of all, it is unsafe. 
 
 The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city Justin Keller, tech entrepreneur 
 
 Keller explained that he had been moved to action by his experience over the holiday weekend, when his parents and relatives came to visit. Three encounters with “a homeless drunken man” in the street, a “distraught, and high person” outside a restaurant, and a man who “took his shirt off and laid down” in a movie theater left him angry and frustrated with the city’s homelessness “problem”. 
 
 While Keller is not alone in his frustration that there are nearly 7,000 people living in San Francisco without homes, his letter is distinctive for its total lack of sympathy for the plight of those in difficult circumstances, focusing instead on the discomfort of the “wealthy”: 
 
 The residents of this amazing city no longer feel safe. I know people are frustrated about gentrification happening in the city, but the reality is, we live in a free market society. The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city. They went out, got an education, work hard, and earned it. I shouldn’t have to worry about being accosted. I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day. I want my parents when they come visit to have a great experience, and enjoy this special place. 
 
 Keller does not propose a solution to San Francisco’s complex and intractable civic conundrum, though he does seem to cite approvingly the controversial “sweeps” of the homeless during the recent Super Bowl festivities: 
 
 I don’t have a magic solution … It is a very difficult and complex situation, but somehow during Super Bowl, almost all of the homeless and riff raff seem to up and vanish. I’m willing to bet that was not a coincidence. Money and political pressure can make change. So it is time to start making progress, or we as citizens will make a change in leadership and elect new officials who can. 
 
 After facing significant backlash against the post on Twitter, Keller appended an apology for his use of the term “riff-raff”, writing that the word choice was “insensitive and counterproductive”. 
 
 As of publication, however, he has not reached the next stage of the tech bro homeless rant cycle. First comes the deletion of the post. In 2013, startup founder Peter Shih deleted his 10 Things I Hate About You: San Francisco Edition rant from Medium after the backlash reached such a fevered pitch that posters featuring his photograph were posted on telephone poles around the city. 
 
 Next comes the apology tour. In 2015, startup CEO Greg Gopman attempted to make amends for his own anti-homeless screed (he described the homeless as “the lower part of society” and “degenerates [who] gather like hyenas” and bemoaned the “burden and liability [of] having them so close to us) by launching a program of his own to “solve” homelessness. 
 
 (Gopman’s plan never went anywhere. One city hall official told the Guardian in 2015 that the entrepreneur’s plan to house homeless people in domes “remind me of a dog house”.) 
 
 In an email to the Guardian, Keller said that he was writing an additional blog post about the issue. 
 
 “The thesis of the post was that inaction by the city and officials is not working. We all as citizens of San Francisco need to figure out how we can improve the city and address the homeless and drug addiction problem straight on,” he said. 
 
 “I in no way meant to vilify homeless or drug users, my frustration was that we as citizens don’t feel safe. The amount of violent crime is increasing, and it affects everybody. What specific measures is the city taking to proactively help the homeless and drug addicted? 
 
 “Instead of crucifying me, we all as citizens should be crucifying the city and elected government officials for ineptness. The status quo is not working.” 
 
 They don’t care about nobody but themselves ... If you got money, you just want to grab anything you can get Bercé Perry, homeless resident 
 
 Of course, Keller will likely only be the pariah of the internet for the next few days, while San Francisco’s homeless people are made to feel like the pariahs of the city every day. 
 
 
 
 “Being homeless is like being the germ of the city. That’s how they treat you,” said Bercé Perry, a homeless resident of San Francisco. Perry was standing outside his tent in an encampment underneath the Highway 101 overpass. The 42-year-old said he had been homeless for about one year, and he has little patience for the distaste some people have for his presence in the city. 
 
 “They don’t care about nobody but themselves,” Perry said about the wealthy tech workers who’ve moved into San Francisco. “If you got money, you just want to grab anything you can get.” 
 
 A few blocks away, Michael Jones, who has been homeless for about three years, was frustrated that people are homeless and hungry in a city with so much wealth. 
 
 “I see all the food that they throw away,” Jones said. Still, asked about how he feels about wealthy tech workers, he would only say, “I don’t judge anyone.” 
 
 Madeleine McCann, 27, had some more pointed words for tech bros who disapprove of her. McCann has been living in a tent under the highway for about a month, ever since her van was towed, leaving her without a roof. 
 
 “They need to be a little more tolerant”, she said. “It’s not like they’re going to let us come shower at their house.”
– A Yelp employee who complained about having to live in near-poverty conditions has a new problem—she needs a job. Talia Jane wrote an open letter to CEO Jeremy Stoppelman on Friday seeking higher compensation and detailing her struggles to afford food, rent, and transportation in San Francisco, and got fired hours later, Re/code reports. "My manager and HR told me the letter and what I wrote violated Yelp’s terms of conduct," she tells BuzzFeed. Stoppelman tweeted that he wasn't involved in her firing and "it was not because she posted a ... letter directed at me." Either way, the letter has drawn attention for its depiction of life with an entry-level customer-support position at Eat24, Yelp's food delivery service, in one of America's most expensive cities. Seems Jane lived mostly on rice and water, slept fully clothed because she couldn't afford heat, and put 80% of her bi-weekly $733.24 check toward rent. (She netted $8.15 an hour.) "So here I am, 25 years old, balancing all sorts of debt and trying to pave a life for myself that doesn’t involve crying in the bathtub every week," she writes in the 2,392-word letter. "Every single one of my coworkers is struggling. They’re taking side jobs, they’re living at home." So did Yelp overreact? A Forbes blogger says the letter has "a condescending tone replete with a smug, accusatory naïveté," and a Reddit user accuses Jane of posting "unprofessional" tweets before the letter. But Stoppelman concedes Jane's point that "the cost of living in SF is far too high" and proposes expanding Eat 24's operations in Phoenix as a solution. Jane, who is accepting donations, doesn't seem impressed: "Yelp is trying to make this die down by lying about it," she says. "Things have just exploded." (A San Francisco "tech bro" called for the city to deal with homeless "riff raff.")