It’s safe to say that no one wants to go out to eat, have a perfectly pleasant meal, then go home and discover that they’ve been publicly shamed on the internet. That’s what happened to one teenager this past week, when a restaurant shamed him for paying for his bill in quarters. They’re now facing a ton of backlash.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Beer 88 Restaurant in Lynchburg, Virginia called out a teen boy for paying his bill almost entirely with quarters. According to The Charlotte Observer, 17-year-old Cohen Naulty was the teen in question. He went to Beer 88 with his friends, and when the meal was over, he paid with a twenty-dollar bill and paid the rest of the $45 tab in quarters. He included a $10 tip, also in quarters.
Despite the fact that quarters are still money, the restaurant was not happy.
In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, the restaurant wrote, “We’ll just caption this… ‘How NOT to pay at a restaurant,’ cause that’s about the nicest thing to say about this ridiculousness. #wearebeer88notcoinstar #anybodyneedchange #nohometraining #atleasttheyleftatip #workingwiththepublic.” Yikes.
Facebook/The Quarter Boy
The post immediately got attention. According to WSET, many people left comments saying that the post was rude and done in poor taste. Some people encouraged others to pay there the same way. Others said it was no big deal and just “proof that people get offended over minor things.” Beer 88 first responded by saying things like, “welcome to social media” and “obviously the SARCASM and HUMOR of this post is lost on most of y’all.” They eventually added another post saying the earlier post was a joke, and that paying in coins is annoying to people who work in restaurants. Shortly after that, they deleted their Facebook page.
While it has to be frustrating to receive $45 worth of quarters, it’s never a good business move to publicly shame a customer on social media. Plus, the customer paid and left a tip. He didn’t do anything wrong!
Naulty also heard about the post, and actually created a Facebook page called “The Quarter Boy.”
His first post explained the situation from his point of view, stating: “Though it was enough for the meal and a great tip, I was blasted on Facebook by the restaurant for paying in quarters. It was not a good day.” He finished off the post by saying that he’s searching for restaurants that don’t mind being paid in quarters, so that he can pay for a fellow patron, at least once a week.
Facebook/The Quarter Boy
Naulty added a link to a Facebook fundraising page called “Turning a bad day around one meal at a time!” The page states, “Paying for someone’s meal can change a really bad day around in just one moment of kindness. I would like to keep this going and make it fun. I am sure there are places out there that wouldn’t mind being paid in quarters and perhaps you can help me out by donating a little to help me pay for their meals!” He plans to use 100% of the donations to pay for someone else’s meal, and will post videos of their reactions.
It’s pretty awesome that Naulty took a negative situation and turned it into something much more positive. He has almost reached his fundraising goal of $5,000, and we’re sure he’ll surpass it. It’s nice to see kindness come from something petty.
If you want to pay it forward and help out someone in need, just like Naulty, you can find your local food bank here. And here’s additional information on how to donate food, safely.
