An act of “blatant homophobia” left a 19-year-old serverin tearsafter a customer from a table he’d served left ahateful messageon the receipt.
“That hurt me, a lot. I’m not the type to cry at work but I have to say that definitely was the first time that had happened to me,” said Noah Bierig, who works for the restaurant Bubba’s 33 in Wichita, Kansas.
The server was wearing a pride bracelet and painted nails when the incident occurred, which he believes to have been an indicator for the customers, who immediately started staring at and mocking him.
“Every time I would walk away, they would kind of just start laughing a little bit.”
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A gay waiter was brought to tears after a rude customer left a homophobic slur on a receipt, sparking online backlash
Image credits:KAKENews
Instead of a tip, a customer recently wrote a homophobic slur on this server’s receipt. Tonight, we’ll hear how he’s trying to turn the hurtful act into a powerful anti-bullying message.#KAKENewspic.twitter.com/bUFxeiCQ60
This was the first time Bierig was subjected tohateful remarksover his sexuality since he came out in 8th grade.
“I have received nothing but support,” he said, explaining that he was “not used to blatanthomophobialike that.”
After the incident, friends of Bierig shared the photo of the receipt online, where theinsultcan be seen where the tip amount should’ve been.
“I looked at one of their receipts and I noticed that it had a certain three-letter derogatory term written on it,” theserversaid.
The picture, which has since been blurred, originally contained both the signature and full name of the rude customer, which led to him getting chastised online for his homophobic behavior.
Image credits:Southeast Journalism
“I was going to wait until the morning to say anything. I know it was wrong of me to write what I did and for that I am very sorry,” he wrote.
His regret did little to calm the waters, and the rude customer was forced to delete all of his social media accounts after his wife, who was not with him at the restaurant, started getting threats.
“I never wanted her to get the backlash of this. Her business is being harassed now,” he stated.
The server’s friends contacted a local LGBTQ+ non-profit to set up a fundraiser in hopes of covering his missing tip, with the end result far exceeding their expectation
Image credits:James Blick
On the flip side, Bierig received an outpour of support, as his friends set up anonline fundraiserthrough Proud of Wichita, a non-profit that labels itself as an “LGBT Chamber of Commerce.”
“Our friend Noah works as a server here in Wichita, and recently some jerk from out of town refused to tip and left asluron the receipt instead,” the fundraiser page states.
“While sending a tip can’t fix that theLGBTQcommunity still deals with this kind of hate in 2024, it can fix that Noah was left empty-handed. We’ve connected with Noah and his mom, Sarah, and they are grateful for any contributions you make. He says he intends to donate to organizations he supports.”
The campaign appears to have been a success. According toDailymail, it has collectedthousands of dollars, which Bierig intends to donate toGLSEN, a firm dedicated to stopping discrimination, bullying,harassment, and other types of attacks against LGBTQ+ citizens.
“[The support] is absolutely insane. I never thought anything like this would happen based off just a couple Facebook posts from my friends and family,” Bierig stated.
The insults garnered almost universal scorn among netizens, with many congratulating the young man for donating the funds to charity, while others expressed concern at the ease with which the customer’s personal information was divulged
“Actions have consequences. Even more so in our modern technology driven society. When I was growing up I was always told I needed to watch how I behaved and what I said as it could end up on my permanent record,” one reader shared.
“Consequences. He probably didn’t realize his name was on there. It’s the lack of consequences that is wrong with today’s society that make people think there are no rules and they can do whatever they want,” argued another.
“Now this is an outcome I love. This young man probably could have taken in lots on a go fund me, but instead it’s all going to a charity,” said one viewer.
“He did wrong yet people threaten him and his loved ones and don’t see that as equally bad if not worse? This doesn’t excuse what he did but should those threatening him and his partner now be called out, named and shamed in the same way?” said another.
“Is it legal for waiting staff to take photos of credit card receipts and share them with friends? If I were his boss, I would be having a serious conversation with him about this data breach,” expressed a reader.
“Do the crime, do the time.” Netizens joined in scorn against the customer for his homophobic insult
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