This story broke over the weekend, and I've been dying to give props in my blog to this waiter from Houston, Texas, who did a pretty stand-up thing for a kid with special needs. Besides the whole Manti Te'o thing is starting to become a bit annoying! Anyway, when a group of regulars walked into Laurenzo's Prime Rib in Houston and insulted a special needs customer in the restaurant, waiter Michael Garcia did what he felt was the right thing. He said that his personal feelings kind of just took over. He walked up to the regulars and kindly told them, "I'm sorry, I can't serve you." That is awesome!
The restaurant might've lost a few customers that day, but the waiter is still being hailed for his bravado. Garcia, who's been working at Laurenzo's for the past two years, was put in charge of two groups of regulars last Wednesday night (1/16). Kim Castillo was in one of those groups that Garcia was waiting on. Her 5-year-old son, Milo, who has Down syndrome, has been eating at Laurenzo's for most of his life. He's quite popular with the staff and since he hadn't been to Laurenzo's for a few weeks, he was chatting it up about his recent birthday. Castillo said that they usually encourage Milo to say hi to people and show off his new vocabulary. Some people at the restaurant apparently didn't share Milo's excitement. Castillo and her family were sitting at their table for all of 10 minutes when a group across from them got up and moved to the back of the restaurant. Their waiter Michael Garcia didn't think much of the move until a piece of the conversation caught his ear. He heard a man in the group say, "Special needs children need to be special somewhere else." My reaction to that would have been a BIG "F-U!" to that customer if I was waiting his table. This way it would have embarrassed him in front of all the other patrons and his friends. Who makes comments like that? Only an asshole!
Needless to say, Garcia found it very disturbing and couldn't believe that the customer could say something like that in front of his own children. Garcia wondered if he would lose his job or not, but in the end, knew what the man said wasn't right. If that guy had a child with special needs, would be saying the same thing? Some people have a lot of nerve. Garcia went on to say that the comment really upset him because Milo is only a 5-year-old little boy, who is just a precious little angel. Garcia flat out refused to serve the man and his family. A few minutes later, the family walked out, glaring back at the Castillo table as if they did something wrong. That guy really sounded like a piece of work!
When Castillo heard about what Garcia had done, she was impressed and extremely grateful. She told one news station that it 'felt good that somebody would stand up for another human being.' This was a case of discrimination and was just wrong! Milo is just a little kid and shouldn't have been discriminated against. Not to mention, he certainly didn't ask to be born with Down syndrome. I swear people can be assholes! Bravo to you, Michael Garcia, for standing up for what's right in the world.
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