News
Ellie Abraham
Aug 01, 2024
Fox - 7 Austin / VideoElephant
A teenage waiter was reduced to tears after a homophobic slur was written on a receipt by a table he had been serving.
When it comes to dining out, some servers say there is a marked difference in how different certain behave at a restaurant.
A 19-year-old waiter in Kansas was left tearful following the shocking actions of a table he was serving, after experiencing homophobic abuse.
Noah Bierig has been working a shift at Bubba’s 33 in Wichita, Kansas when he began serving a group that exuded bad energy.
Bierig claimed that he felt the group were making fun of his painted nails and Pride bracelet – a gift from his mother when he came out six years previously.
He told local news outlet KAKE: “The first time I went up to the table, they were just shooting me a couple dirty looks. And every time I would walk away, they would kind of just start laughing a little bit.”
The young waiter ignored their behaviour and continued to serve them as he would any other customer.
Despite his professionalism, at the end of the meal, Bierig noticed a three-letter homophobic slur written in the “tip” field of the receipt by one of the customers.
“I looked at one of their receipts and I noticed that it had a certain three-letter derogatory term written on it,” Bierig explained, adding: “That hurt me a lot. I’m not the type to cry at work, but I gotta say, that was definitely the first time that had happened to me.”
Bierig explained “I’m not used to sort of blatant homophobia like that” and his friends didn’t think he had to. They shared a picture of the receipt online which had the customer’s name printed on it.
After their social media account was found, they later apologised for writing the homophobic slur.
“I know it was wrong of me to write what I did and for that I am very sorry,” they reportedly wrote on Facebook. “The overall dining experience wasn’t that great and I shouldn’t have dealt with it by saying what I did.”
Bierig’s friends also set up a fundraiser for him, but he has chosen to donate the proceeds to charity.
“Whatever comes out comes from that, it’s going to be donated,” Bierig explained. “There’s an organization called GLSEN. It’s essentially an anti-bullying organization. It helps out kids who are LGBT kids specifically who are getting bullied in school, and it helps them out.”
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