Heroic Waiter Stands up for Boy with Down Syndrome
By: KPRC
Updated: January 21, 2013
A Houston, Texas waiter is being hailed as a hero after he refused to serve a customer who made a rude comment about a child in the restaurant.
Michael Garcia is a waiter at Laurenzo's Restaurant.
He said his regular customers are like family, especially 5-year-old Milo Castillo and his parents.
"Normally when they arrive, I pick him up at the door and carry him to the table," Garcia said.
Milo was born with Down syndrome.
On Wednesday, Garcia said another diner moved him family away from Milo's table and made a comment about the boy.
"I heard the man say, 'Special needs children need to be special somewhere else," Garcia said.
Garcia said he then confronted the customer.
"My personal feelings took over and I told him, 'I'm not going to be able to serve you, sir,'" Garcia said. "He said, 'If you're not going to be able to serve us, then we'll leave.' Then I told him, 'How could you say that? How could you say that about a beautiful 5-year-old angel?'"
The man and his family left. Milo's parents said they didn't know about what happened until another waiter told them about it.
"I was really impressed that Michael would stand up for Milo," said Kim Castillo. "He really doesn't know us ... he stood up for Milo just because it was the right thing to do."
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