Virginia restaurant is slammed for shaming a generous 17 year-old boy who bought his friends lunch and left a 30 per cent tip in quarters because it was the only cash he had left
- Cohen Naulty decided he wanted to treat his friends to lunch at Beer 88 and paid with a $20 bill and the remaining $25 in change which included a $10 tip
- The Virginia restaurant posted a snap of the currency he used to their Facebook
- Beer 88's post read 'How NOT to pay at a restaurant,' & added #nohometraining
- The restaurant received angry backlash - and has since taken down their Facebook page
A Virginia teen who paid for his friends' lunch in mostly coins - and left a 30 per-cent tip, was mocked on the restaurant's Facebook page.
Cohen Naulty, 17, and his friends went to Beer 88 in Lynchburg for lunch and didn't expect to be publicly blasted after he paid the bill.
The bill totaled $35, he left a $20 bill and a generous $10 tip, paying most of the total in quarters.
After he left, the restaurant posted a photo of the change with the caption, 'How NOT to pay at a restaurant', blasted it as ridiculous and hashtagging it #nohometraining.
Virginia restaurant Beer 88 publicly ridiculed their generous customer, Cohen Naulty, 17, who not only paid for his friends' lunch but also left a 30 per cent tip, all because he paid in change
He left a great tip: Katie Wilson took to Twitter and blasted the restaurant for slamming Naulty
Their 'apology' included another dig about how its annoying to get paid in change
Generous teen: Naulty treated his friends to lunch on his own tips that he's received at another establishment
Naulty said he carried a lot of coins because he is a server at another restaurant and often receives them in tips. He couldn't imagine being ridiculed by a restaurant over the type of currency he used.
And neither could people in his community. Scores of Facebook users hits back at the restaurant for being unkind and shaming a kid struggling to do a good deed, prompting Beer 88 to delete their entire Facebook page.
'Not only did they pay, they left a 30% tip. The kid is a server at another restaurant. He paid with his tip money. It spends just like anything else. Their 'apology' was almost as asinine as their original post. Even if it was a joke, you don't mock a customer in order to do so. Ignorance', wrote Joshua Spencer.
Katie Wilson agreed, taking to Facebook, she said: 'Beer 88 should not be posting anything having to do with customers paying. Money is money. He left a larger tip than most. No need to post this sort of backdrop slam at the customer.'
'It's just U.S. currency,' Naulty told WSET. 'I'm allowed to use it. It's not Illegal. I'm not doing anything wrong.'
'They said we didn't have any home training,' said one of Naulty's friends, who has not been identified. 'That was dirty. That was one their hashtags, #nohometraining.'
Before the restaurant removed their Facebook completely, they posted a sort of apology, explaining 'In response to our earlier post, it was posted as a joke, intended as a joke and should be taken as a joke.'
'It was posted as a light-hearted way of saying that something like this can be annoying to people that work in the restaurant/retail industry. In no way did we publicly shame ANYONE for paying OR tipping. We try to keep our page funny and relatable. And had no idea that this would be offensive to anyone,' they concluded.
Naulty and his friends were particularly offended by the hashtag in Beer 88's post '#nohometraining'
Beer 88 has since completely taken down its Facebook since the incident
Cohen's mother, Kim Naulty, came to her son's defense, saying she can't imagine someone being negative about her son.
'If anybody met Cohen, they know it couldn't be farthest thing from the truth,' Kim Naulty told WSET. 'And, you know, he's a good kid.'
The owner, Yao Liu, is also catching heat for the post, she says she's been receiving threats, but isn't the one handling their social media.
'On that part, yes, I do apologize,' Liu said. 'Because, you know, I didn't see it.'
Naulty, who now cheekily also goes by the moniker The Quarter Boy, has decided to turn what he calls 'not a good day,' into something great.
He has started a fundraiser to help pay for other people's meals.
He wrote to Facebook: 'I like paying for people's meals even if I have to scrape together my last quarters to do so. Even though I got blasted for it, it only served to make me realize how much I love doing this. 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! We will use 100% of the donations to pay for others meals and post videos of their reactions!'
But Naulty says he's turning his experience around and using it to help others.
'I decided that I would find restaurants out there that didn't mind being paid in quarters and treat a patron at least once a week, just to see what this simple act of kindness could do for them! We will post videos so that you can see too how big a change just a little 'change' can make,' he wrote, and directed people to a fundraiser where they can donate to his cause.
'If you are a restaurant that wouldn't mind a register filled with quarters at the end of the night and a special treat for one of your patrons now and then please post so I know who I won't offend by coming by,' he wrote.
Other restaurants in the state have been inspired by Nulty's story of generosity.
At Bräuburgers, in Forest, they took to Facebook to say they will hold a special night where customers who pay in change will get a discount, and they say they will donate 20 per cent of the night's sales to charity.
'In light of an incident that went national at another local 'burger restaurant', we have decided to host an event this Thursday night that we are calling BURGERS FOR CHANGE,' the post from Bräuburgers reads.
'Customers who pay in change will be given a 15% discount on all food items and we will donate 20% of gross sales that evening to charity.'
