No matter how horrible service is at a restaurant, the person serving you deserves a tip, even if it’s only a few dollars. In these times, it’s unacceptable to leave a waiter or waitress with nothing after they’ve brought you everything you asked for. Dayna Morales, a former marine now waitressing at Gallop Asian Bistro in Bridgewater, N.J., didn’t receive a tip, but it wasn’t for bad service. After serving a family of four, Morales found their $93.55 receipt with a line marked through the tip line, and a message that read, “I’m sorry, but I cannot tip because I don’t agree with your lifestyle & how you live your life.” The woman refused to tip because Morales was gay.
Morales took a picture of the bill and immediately posted it to the blog, “Have A Gay Day” with a note expressing how upset she was. Her note on the Facebook page said, “I am THOROUGHLY offended mad pissed off and hurt that THIS is what her kids will grow up learning and that I served in the Marines to keep ignorant people like them free. Sorry lady but I don’t agree with YOUR lifestyle and the way you’re raising your kids but you didn’t see me throwing that in your face and giving you shitty service. Keep your damn mouth shut and pray we never cross paths again.”
Users on Facebook immediately began filling the post with comments of support for the gay waitress. People even donated over $1,000 to her PayPal account online. Morales is planning on donating some of the money to the Wounded Warrior Project, which is a program that helps wounded service men and women transition to a normal life outside of the military. She plans to donate to an LGBT charity as well. The bistro Morales works at immediately repaid her the lost tip and claimed they would match however much money she plans to donate to charity.
Unfortunately, this is not the first incident similar to this to happen. Many other waiters and waitresses have been refused tips for being homosexual as well. Morales hoped that getting her story out would help people become aware that discrimination against LGBT people still exists. It’s never right to treat a person with disrespect, especially over something they can’t choose, such as gender, race, or sexuality. The world still has a long way to go before everyone treats each other with equality. Whether you agree with an aspect of someone’s life or not, treat them the way you would want to be treated- it’s as simple as that.