A waiter at Odessa’s Saltgrass Steak House was almost “sick” to his stomach after a racist customer left an offensive comment on a receipt on Saturday.
Restaurant server Khalil Cavil was disgusted after picking up a customer’s bill and seeing his name circled with the message, “We don’t tip terrorist.” The person also left a zero tip on a $108.73 check.
“My stomach just dropped… I didn’t know what to say or what to think in the moment, but of course there’s hurt there,” Cavil told Abc News.
The server initially shared the racist post on his Facebook account and wrote, “I share this because I want people to understand that this [is] racism and this hatred still exists.”
COO Terry Turner of Saltgrass Steak House defended their employee and said the customer who wrote the demeaning message is banned from dining at the restaurant.
“We stand by and support our employee,” Turner told USA Today. “Racism of any form is unacceptable and we have banned this customer from returning to our establishment.”
The 20-year-old server was named after his friend’s dad who’s a fallen soldier. “My dad was in the military and a buddy that he was very close to, served with him … Khalil was killed in an accident and so my dad just named me after him, one of his best friends.” Cavil has no Middle-Eastern roots that he’s aware of. The young man’s name “Khalil” means ‘friend’ in Arabic.
The “Seagrass” employee said he’s received countless support from different people since the post has gone viral.
“I definitely hope this encourages other people — no matter what race, no matter what religion — to voice out that this kind of racism and this kind of hatred is not OK,” Cavil told Odessa American.
The 20-year-old plans on attending Dallas Baptist University and said the experience has tested his Christian faith.
I had to think, what would Jesus do in this situation,” Cavil expressed to KMID. “I hope the people who left me that note find Jesus.”