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$27,000 Raised For Barista Who Had Run In With Customer Who Refused To Wear Mask

$27,000 Raised For Barista Who Had Run In With Customer Who Refused To Wear Mask

Someone set up a GoFundMe for the man after seeing the viral post from the angry customer

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A San Diego Starbucks barista who refused to serve a woman who wasn't wearing a mask has received more than $27,000 (£21,746) in 'tips' after a GoFundMe was set up for him.

Amber Lynn Gilles visited a Starbucks in San Diego earlier this week but was left fuming when barista Lenin Gutierrez refused to serve her for not wearing a mask.

Sharing a photo of Gutierrez she wrote: "Meet Lenen [sic] from Starbucks who refused to serve me cause I'm not wearing a mask.

"Next time I will wait for cops and bring a medical exemption."

Facebook

The post went viral, and has been shared thousands of times as well as being flooded with comments - many of which were from people quick to call Gilles out for her behaviour.

One person wrote: "I hate the whole mask thing, but I don't blame the kid behind the counter. "They need to follow the rules that are given by their supervisors ... supervisors don't want to get in trouble either."

While a second posted: "You are a privileged mess. It's almost satire how incredibly aloof you seem."

After seeing the post blow-up, Matt Cowan, who doesn't know Gutierrez, decided to set up a GoFundMe for the barista.

He told KGTV: "I set it at $1,000, thinking that was a reach and we would be lucky if we hit like $250."

He went on to say that he was glad to see that people are 'rallying around somebody for doing what they're supposed' during the coronavirus pandemic, adding: "It just goes to show you there are a lot of good people out there, and that outweighs the bad."

GoFundMe

A spokesperson from Starbucks told CBS 8: "We want everyone to feel welcome in our stores. We respectfully request customers follow social distancing and safety protocols recommended by public health officials, including wearing a facial covering when visiting our stores."

Gutierrez has since released a video on to social media in which he thanked people for 'all the love and support'.

He continued: "It's been so helpful and so shocking to see something get so big that only happened within a few minutes."

Gutierrez said he will use the cash to pursue his dream of dancing and teaching children to dance - he added: "From the bottom of my heart thank you so much, it is just amazing to see that I can actually make these dreams pursuing more into dance a thing now. Thank you so much for it."

Featured Image Credit: Facebook

Topics: US News