One group of friends in Pantego, Texas, closed out their year in shock after discovering that their server had labeled each of their receipts with the word “nigga,” CBS DFW reports.
The group from North Texas wanted to celebrate New Year’s Eve at Shatila, a Lebanese restaurant, and had a good time, but when it came time to pay the bill, things took an unpleasant turn. Every ticket for the table had the n-word on it, marked by the server, followed by a number to separate the individual orders.
According to the news station, when the friends realized what had happened, they checked other tables to see if it was some sort of misunderstanding and if anyone had similar notes. However, no other receipts did—the racial slur had apparently been used only to describe their table, the group told the news station.
“It’s sad that it’s still occurring,” one of the customers, Ta’les Russell, told CBS DFW. “We are here in the new year, starting fresh, celebrating with family and friends. This is the worst way to start, with everything going on in our society, in Ferguson [in Missouri]. It’s sad that we have to experience this still today in 2015.”
CBS DFW reports that the manager did apologize and offered them a free meal and that the server has been fired. The manager, however, also “downplayed” the incident, according to the website, and said that “the server was new and didn’t mean any harm.”
That’s where the group took issue.
“We’re forgiving people. We’ve accepted their apology,” Justyce Hill told the news station. “But it’s more about allowing it to happen in the first place. It wasn’t something that should have been tolerated. Should have been noticed right then and there.”
“They need to emphasize it to their staff,” Jasmine Tucker said. “They can let go our waiter, but what if the rest of their waiters are doing the same thing? They need to emphasize this is not OK.”
Read more at CBS DFW.