Earlier this month, I wrote (see here and here) about a gay N.J. waitress, Dayna Morales, who, instead of a tip, received an insulting note on a receipt, reading: ‘I’m sorry but I cannot tip because I do not agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life.’ After posting the receipt online, the story went viral and thousands of dollars in donations poured in which, reportedly, Morales stated she would donate to the Wounded Warrior Project.
As I noted: “But what is disturbing about these stories is the degree to which the public seems to inherently believe stories of victimization, with no proof required.”
Well, it now seems as though the real victims here are those who believed Ms. Morales’s story.
According to a new NBC4 New York exclusive, the customers (a husband and wife who dined with their two children) have come forward — and they claim they not only tipped Ms. Morales but never left the note.
The receipt (merchant copy) that Morales posted online shows a Subtotal of $93.55, a blank Tip line, $93.55 written into the Total line (indicating no tip), and the nasty message handwritten around it.
But the family’s copy of the receipt (customer copy) shows a very different story: Subtotal of $93.55, $18.00 on the Tip line, and a total of $111.55.
The family even has the credit card statement (showing a charge of $111.55) to prove it. They also assert that the note is not their handwriting. The wife states: “We’ve never not left a tip when someone gave good service, and we would never leave a note like that,” while the husband added that they both have worked in restaurants and did not even vote for Governor Christie due to Christie’s opposition to gay marriage.
Since Morales blacked out the customer’s name on the receipt she posted online, and thus the ‘culprit’ would not be identified, she likely figured no one would come forward with the true version of the receipt to contest her claims. But the family happened to catch the reports of this story and realized that was their ‘receipt.’
When the NBC4 reporter confronted the manager of the restaurant (Gallup Asian Bistro in Bridgewater, NJ), who has been very supportive of Morales’s claims (and gained a surge in customers, according to reports of folks expressly dining at the restaurant to show solidarity with Ms. Morales), he had no good answer for the discrepancy. And, although the restaurant claimed they had the original $93.55 receipt, it did not produce the receipt to NBC4 and could not explain why the family’s credit card was charged $111.55.
When the reporter confronted Morales, a visibly annoyed Morales said, shrugging her shoulders: “That’s not my handwriting [on the receipt]. I don’t know.” According to the report, she is sticking to her story.
The restaurant subsequently informed NBC4 that it has opened an ‘internal investigation’ into the matter.
In reaction to another gay-waiter-left-no-tip-and-a-nasty-note story coming out of Kansas shortly before this tale, Bill Maher delivered a scathing attack on Christians. Wonder if Maher will address this turn of events? Don’t hold your breath.
Watch the NBC4 video here.
h/t to NBC 4 New York
Photo via NBC 4 New York
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