An Indiana waitress in a viral video address to a customer who wrote a gay insult at the reception

February 21, 2019, 23:53 GMT

By Janelle Griffith

The response of a waitress from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to a gay insult written on a receipt has become viral.

Michele Crider stated that she was working for lunch Tuesday at the Dash-In restaurant in Fort Wayne, where she has been working for almost a year, when she was assigned to a table occupied by two men. "who were not so nice".

Eight years in the service industry have taught her to recognize when customers seem to want space, she told NBC News during a phone interview Thursday. It seemed to be the case of the two men sitting at this table.

But when Crider, who is gay, went to get the check after the men left, she found, "I do not give a tip f —", written on it.

Crider stated that his interaction with customers was brief, but that the note on the check left a mark.

"If he walked into the restaurant today, I would not know who he is," she said of the one who, in his opinion, wrote the note.

So she uploaded a video on Facebook later that day and published it, thinking that some of her friends would share it and the client might see it. The video was viewed more than 680,000 times on Thursday afternoon.

"Why did you feel the need, sir, to write this here," she asked in the video. "If you do not like gays, then it's like that."

She added that her identity is more than her sexual orientation. "I need you to see," she said. "I am much more than that."

Crider said the note hurt her, but the support of her colleagues and Facebook users has been edifying.

"I look at the messages and messages that people have sent me and 99.9% of them are just positivity and encouragement and that makes my heart happy," she said. entrusted to NBC News.

Crider, who is wearing short hair, said she had to explain what had happened to her 7-year-old son Jax, after a local news channel visited their home this week.

"He asked what the tumult was," she said. "I've broken it down in terms of 7 years, I've used a lot the word" bullying "."

His son could not understand.

Crider said his response was, "Why would not they like your hair, Mom, you have really cool hair."