How Can I Tell Her?

Through Facebook I reconnected with an old friend. She and I were in the Upward Bound program together. We were not close, but good friends since we spent several summers together.

Through her timeline I have learned that she had went back to Vietnam and opened a restaurant. I admired her adventurous career. When I looked at the logo of the restaurant, I immediately recognized the London Underground’s mark. The colors of the line and circle remained the same; just the text changed to the name of her restaurant. The logo is already incorporated into a huge neon light in front of the restaurant as well as all over the menu and marketing materials.

I did not want to tell her that’s a rip-off; therefore, I sent her a message carefully worded that her logo looks just like the London Underground’s. Her response was, “That is what we were striving for.” From what I knew of her back in the days, I do think that her response was honest and it came from a genuine place, but taking someone’s work is unacceptable.