A waiter in Ogden, Utah received a tip with more than anyone asked for. The bill had a homophobic slur scrawled on it.
Ashton Bindrup says that the message came from a family he served on Saturday after they asked him for a pen toward the end of their meal.
The situation is shocking.
Bindrup shared his story to his Facebook page. As he explains it, he was serving a family of Trump supporters, wearing "Trump 2020" hats.
He says:
"I can't imagine hating someone enough to go out of my way to write a slur on the tip I'm going to give them. They asked me for the pen, by the way. Guess I shouldn't have walked away after giving it to them 😅."
After the family left, Bindrup went to collect the check and his tip. They left him $5 on a $22 bill, which was a very good percentage.
The message left on the bill however, made bindrup understand why they asked for a pen.
On the $5 bill was the message:
"Get out of America, F**!"
It can be seen on the pictures of the bill he shared.
Ashton Thayne Bindrup / Facebook
Ashton Thayne Bindrup / Facebook
Bindrup was shocked by the message. The biggest shock is just how little recourse he has for the hate speech.
Utah has laws against hate speech, but they require a threat of violence. And while defacing public currency is illegal, it's a quite common crime with very few people ever getting charged.
Ultimately, sharing his story to social media may be the best way to see change.
Bindrup is unsure what to do with the bill, so for now it just stays in his wallet. He says he'd feel embarrassed to take it to his bank.
"I haven't wanted to turn it into the bank yet, I don't know how to explain that one."
Despite his experience and what he believes to be a message targeted at him, Bindrup is hoping his story can get people to understand each other.
He says:
"We have to help people become not so biased. This needs to be a learning opportunity, above all else, because there's hate speech out there and we can all do our part to say things differently."
Bindrup is not interested in punishing anyone, and despite some negative comments online, there is no fundraiser. Just a victim of hate speech wanting people to be a little more understanding.