A 17-Year-Old Boy Paid With Quarters for His Meal in a Restaurant and Was Sneered At (Spoiler: They Now Regret It)

People
3 years ago

An interesting thing happened recently to a 17-year-old boy in the US. He became a good example of how someone can turn an unpleasant situation into a positive one. Cohen Naulty, a senior high school student, lives in Virginia and works as a waiter. Very often he is given tips with small change. Once, having collected a bag full of small coins, the boy paid for himself and his friends at a local restaurant. He’s even left good tips. He never imagined that an innocent action, like paying with quarters, could cause so much noise.

We at Bright Side would like to remind you that you shouldn’t put up with injustice when the truth is on your side. This story is a good example of how one can remove themselves from a conflict without scandal or blame.

Meet, Cohen Naulty who recently got the nickname ’The Quarter Boy’ in honor of the quarter.

Cohen doesn’t think that his nickname is offensive, he is actually proud of it and we are going to tell you why.

Soon after Cohen and his friends had lunch at a pub and paid with coins, the Facebook page of this pub published an ironic post. The employees of the pub took a photo of the coins left by Cohen and wrote a scathing caption to it:

Additionally, the caption contained a hashtag implying that teenagers don’t have a proper upbringing.

This inappropriate joke consequently turned into bad press for the pub. Their subscribers sharply criticized the actions of the pub and advised other clients to also pay with coins. Cohen himself also saw this post and was unpleasantly surprised by the reaction from the restaurant. Soon after, the pub deleted the post because of all the criticism toward them, but Cohen had already taken a screenshot and posted it on his page.

Anyone would expect that this guy might complain to his parents about how he was humiliated, or simply express his resentment on social media. But his actions were much wiser.

Cohen had an incredible idea. He told this story on his Facebook account and set up a charity campaign. He started a fundraiser to collect donations so that he and his friend could treat strangers with food for the collected money.

Cohen wrote, “I love paying for people’s meals even if I have to scrape together my last quarters to do so. This whole thing made me realize how much I love doing this and why... 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.”

A local TV company did a story about Cohen Naulty’s campaign.

The campaign established by Cohen was widely supported by the public.

People started to actively donate money and write kind words to the 17-year-old American boy. Many people wrote that they feel extremely proud of young people like Cohen.

Cohen, in his turn, kept the promise and started to regularly treat complete strangers.

Turns out that other local restaurants and cafeterias don’t mind being paid with quarters.

Some restaurants even supported Cohen’s campaign with their own donations — some donated money, others — pizza.

Cohen regularly uploads videos where he buys food for people and pays for their bill. He has treated everyone from kids to policemen with pizza and doughnuts. He also paid someone’s bill in a cafe.

In a very short time, people donated more than $5,000.

Cohen didn’t expect that his initiative would get so much support and make him so popular. And even though the very pub that started this has officially apologized, they have still tarnished their reputation badly. Hopefully now the employees of this restaurant will treat all clients with equal respect.

This story is proof that there is always a place for acts of kindness in our life. And even if you have been offended, you can always respond to a negative with a positive.

Dear readers! We are curious about what’s happening in your life. If you have ever volunteered in a nursing home, lived in Bangladesh, worked in a Michelin-star restaurant in Paris, or just want to tell the world why it is so important to pick people up at the airport, write an email to hello@adme.ru with the title, “My Story” and let the whole world know about you.

Comments

Get notifications

Loved this story! Thanks for sharing the love Bright Side!

-
-
Reply

Its cool story and all... But still. Paying whole order in small coins in a restaurant is considered rude across the globe. In some countries it is even legal to refuse such a payment. The owner handled it unprofessionally, yes... Nevertheless its like if you need a small report printed on a single page to do your job and someone prints it on 100 pages for you. Rude

-
-
Reply

Related Reads