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.
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"Next time I will wait for cops and bring a medical exemption."
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."
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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."
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."
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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: FacebookTopics: US News