Money is money whether it’s in quarters, dollars, or plastic and most of us are grateful for whatever kind of money we have.
We’re happy to get paid in whatever way we are paid, as long as we’re paid.
But one Virginia restaurant didn’t see it that way. They publically shamed one of their customers who paid their $45 check and tip with a $20 bill and a bunch of quarters.
They left about 40 quarters to cover the rest of their check and $10 tip.
Instead of being happy that they were tipped more than 20 percent when people usually get between 15 and 20 percent tips, Beer 88 Beer & Burger Society of Lynchburg, Virginia took to Facebook to complain.
“We’ll just caption this… ‘How NOT to pay at a restaurant,’ cause that’s the nicest thing we can think to say about this ridiculousness,” their Facebook post read along with the hashtag #nohometraining.
The restaurant received a backlash on social media with people saying the post was in poor taste and that they shouldn’t shame their paying customers.
Cohen Naulty, 17, claimed that it was his check shown in the Facebook post and wrote: “Hey at least I left a $10 tip.”
The restaurant claimed they were being sarcastic and blamed more of their customers online for not getting what they said was “joke.”
They later released an apology saying, “it was posted as a joke, intended as a joke, and should be taken as a joke,” WSET reports.
“We try to keep our page funny and relatable, and had no idea that this would be offensive to anyone,” the apology continued.
The “apology,” if you can call it that, also stated that it was “annoying to people that work in the restaurant/retail industry” when they are paid in coins.
And Naulty should know. He’s a server at a local restaurant in town which is why he had so much change on him.
He was treating his friends to a nice meal and wasn’t able to cash in his coins.
“I walked there with my friends and that is all I had to take with me,” Naulty told MUNCHIES. “As a waiter, I have a lot of change at the end of the day. Without a car, I can’t just drive somewhere to change it all in whenever I want.”
He says he has no regrets and that it brings him joy to treat his friends.
“The only way to have done it differently would have been to pay for only my meal with my $20 and not paid for my friends,” he said. “I can’t say I am sorry for covering them. I love to buy others meals.”
But Naulty wasn’t about to sink down to the restaurant’s level and take shots at them like they did to him.
He decided to do something positive instead.
“I don’t wish them anything but good, but they never really seemed to feel sorry about what they said,” Naulty said. “[And they] insulted our parents, if not us.”
He started a movement and Facebook page called The Quarter Boy where he will collect all of his quarters and will use the money to treat strangers to meals.
“I love paying for people’s meals even if I have to scrape together my last quarters to do so. This whole thing made me realize how much I love doing this and why… Even if I get made fun of for it!” Naulty wrote on Facebook. “Everyone had bad days now and then. A bad day can make you see the world in a very dark and depressing way. But, one little act of kindness can change a person’s entire perspective about their life. I love picking up the tab for others and seeing what it does for them.”
This time he’s going to find restaurants that don’t mind taking quarters. He started a fundraiser which has raised more than $5,000 of it’s $10,000 goal.
You can find that donation page here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/280337462730434/.
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