They Demanded Their Tip Back
There were two gay guys who worked at a Cracker Barrel in the deep South with me. None of the staff had any problem with them; they were just ordinary guys who happened to be attracted to other men. The managers were sort of prejudiced, though, and didn’t like them.
One day, two regulars came in to eat. These regulars were notorious for requesting a million things before the meal even got there. They were annoying, but at least they tipped decently. One of the gay guys accidentally told the regulars something about his boyfriend.
They went ballistic and asked him if he was gay. He told them he was. Then, one of the two regulars grabbed his hand and forced him to sit at the table. They then crossed the line—they proceeded to lecture him for about a half-hour about how he was going to the underworld for eternity.
I was watching this from another dining room and could not help him out because we were swamped. So, I got my girlfriend to help cover his tables because every time he told them he had to go, the man would grab his arm and physically force him to stay put.
I finally got the manager, who simply said, “Well, he needs to hear this stuff anyway.” and refused to do anything about it.
Eventually, after about a half-hour, once the regulars realized they couldn’t convince him to give up his “sinful” ways, they said, “Well, we’re going to need back every tip we ever gave you.
“It’s okay if you can’t remember exactly how much; just give us back an approximate amount. I think $200 should cover it. We can’t be supporting the gays.”