Featured Image Credit: KTLA5
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Los Angeles, Racism, Viral
Britt Jones
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Los Angeles, Racism, Viral
A restaurant server was left horrified after opening a checkbook he thought might be a tip, only to find something incredibly disturbing.
The man, who works in the Los Angeles International Airport was working like it was any other day, until two customers left him a nasty surprise.
Guillermo Ortiz, who works at Planet Hollywood, said to KTLA that toward the end of his shift on March 21, he was waiting on a couple.
He explained that after they left, he collected the checkbook and looked inside, where the receipt would be…and found something that left him feeling ‘bad’.
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Ortiz told KTLA that he initially thought that everything was going well with the couple and his service until he handed them his check.
He explained that the way they were acting gave him a clue about what they thought about him.
“The way they were looking at me, you can tell when something is not right,” said Ortiz.
However, the checkbook contents was something he wasn’t expecting to find, as inside, was a handwritten note from the pair.
What did it say? Well, it wasn’t a love letter, that’s for sure.
“No tip for illegal,” read the note. “Go back to Mexico.”
Ortiz explained: “20 minutes after [they left], I opened the checkbook and I found the message, and it made me feel bad.”
The server added that he’s ‘not even Mexican’, and that he is in fact Puerto Rican.
But his wife is Mexican and he believes that here is ‘no right to treat people like that’ based on their nationality or ethnicity.
To make things worse, customers have the option to refuse the 18.5 per cent gratuity add on to the bill if they are not satisfied with the amount.
And according to Ortiz, they took it off the bill.
“I’ve been working as a server since 2014, and this is the first time this has happened to me,” said Ortiz.
Sadly, it’s unlikely that the couple will be able to be tracked down, as they had left prior to the discovery of the note and they paid in cash.
But why would they write something like that on a note about a server who was just doing his job?
“Probably ’cause they saw me, they know I’m Hispanic, they thought I’m Mexican or illegal or I don’t know what they’re thinking,” Ortiz speculated.
Because of the current political climate on immigration, the employee believes that this has enabled people to feel like they can carry out acts such as this.
“This is happening because of what’s happening with President Trump right now,” said Ortiz. “I think that’s the reason people are acting like this.”
However, the server is not about to let it get to him, and is very proud of his lifestyle and work.
“I’m proud of what I do,” He said. “I’m a server; that’s the way I support my kids, that’s the way I support my family.”
Sadly, his Planet Hollywood location will be closing for good on Saturday, which will leave him without a job, making this interaction with the couple another nail in the coffin for Ortiz’s week.