Gay Kansas waiter left in tears over homophobic slur on receipt
Noah Bierig was left a homophobic slur on a receipt instead of a tip. (X/Kake News)
A gay waiter from Kansas was left in tears after a customer left a homophobic slur on a receipt, instead of a tip – but the incident has raised thousands for an LGBTQ+ education organisation.
Noah Bierig, who had painted nails and was wearing a Pride bracelet while working at Bubba’s 33 in Wichita, was serving a group of men two weeks ago and felt at least one of the men was staring at him.
“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,” he told news station Kake (via the Daily Mail).
After the group left, Bierig returned to the table to find the group left no tip and instead wrote the homophobic slur “f****t” on the receipt.
‘I’m not the type to cry at work’
The 19-year-old server continued: “That hurt me a lot. I’m not the type to cry at work, but that was the first time that had happened to me.
The receipt, which featured the man’s print name and signature, was shared by one of Bierig’s friends online. It went viral, with many people expressing their anger at what had happened, leading the man responsible to apologise online.
The man took to Facebook to write that he was sorry for his actions, before he deleted his social media accounts.
Customer promises ‘nothing like this will ever happen again’
Bierig said the incident made him want to show that “we can always keep our smiles up” and be happy. “We don’t have to hate anyone, we can always just love,” he added.
Despite it being a negative experience, it prompted his friends set up an online fundraiser, and thousands of dollars have been pledged.
Bierig said the money will be donated to GLSEN, an education organisation working to end discrimination, harassment and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Bubba’s 33 has vowed to match the donations.
