Gay waiter in tears over homophobic slur left on receipt instead of tip: ‘That hurt a lot’
"I'm not the type to cry at work"
A gay waiter in Wichita, Kansas has spoken out after a customer wrote a homophobic slur on his receipt instead of leaving a tip.
Noah Bierig says the incident occurred at his restaurant, Bubba’s 33, on Sunday 22 July 2024.
The 19-year-old claims he was serving a group of men who began staring at his Pride bracelet and nail paint. A customer later wrote the word “f*g” on his receipt in the place where the tip was meant to go.
However, this isn’t quite the sad story it seems. Noah has since received an apology, while his friends have turned the moment into a truly inspiring fundraising opportunity.
“I’m not the type to cry at work”
The incident became a news story after one of Noah’s friends shared a photo of the receipt on social media.
“The first time I went up to the table, they were just shooting me a couple dirty looks,” Noah later explained to KAKE News. “And every time I would walk away, they would kind of just start laughing a little bit.”
Addressing the anti-gay slur, Noah said: “That hurt me a lot. I’m not the type to cry at work, but I’ve got to say – that was definitely the first time that had happened to me.”
“I shouldn’t have dealt with it by saying what I did”
The man named on the receipt – James Blick – has since taken to social media to issue an apology, before deleting his accounts.
“I know it was wrong of me to write what I did,” Blick wrote on Facebook. “[A]nd for that I am very sorry. The overall dining experience wasn’t that great.
“I shouldn’t have dealt with it by saying what I did. I did try to call the restaurant to apologise to the guy but couldn’t contact him. I am very sorry to anyone who was affected or hurt by my words.”
‘Tip Noah 50%’
Bierig’s friends have since teamed up with ‘Proud of Wichita’, the town’s LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, to create an online fundraiser on the teenager’s behalf. There, people moved by his story can ‘tip Noah’ up to 100%.
“Whatever comes out comes from that, it’s going to be donated,” Noah explained.
“It’s absolutely insane,” he enthused. “I never thought anything like this would happen based off just a couple Facebook posts from my friends and family.”
The donations, including from Bubba’s 33, will go to GLSEN, an organisation combating discrimination, harassment, and bullying of LGBTQs.