Now that’s a big tip.
A California waitress has received over $78,000 in tips and praise as an “everyday hero” after kicking out the CEO of a San Francisco tech company who cursed at an Asian family during a racist rant at a restaurant over the Fourth of July weekend.
Gennica Cochran, who works as a server at the Lucia Bar & Restaurant inside the Bernardus Lodge & Spa, immediately intervened when she heard Michael Lofthouse, CEO of tech company Solid8, cursing and yelling at an Asian family who was celebrating a birthday at the Carmel Valley restaurant.
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WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANITY
“You need to leave right now. Get out, you are not allowed here, get out now,” Cochran ordered Lofthouse in a now-viral video. “You do not talk to our guests like that, they are valued guests, you are not allowed here ever again!”
The CEO has since issued an apology to the Orosa Chan family for his “appalling” behavior and racist remarks.
In the days since, three GoFundMe campaigns have surfaced online for Cochran. The largest, aptly dubbed “A Big Tip for an Everyday Hero,” had raised over $60,930 as of Friday morning. Together, the other petitions have also raised more than $17,652.
Cochran has since described defending the Orosa Chan family as simply the right thing to do.
“To hear the emotion coming out of my voice, to see my mannerisms, it was unbelievable. It was just something that came over me and I just did what needed to be done,” the waitress told KGO-TV on Wednesday. “I did what anybody else should or would do in that situation.
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“I felt very protective of them. You don’t come in here and say those kinds of things to people,” she continued. “Especially people feel so raw coming out of quarantine. Most of these people this is the first time that they’ve been out to dinner and then you have someone attacking them it was just no, no, I don’t have time for this.”
Explaining that she felt “almost maternal” towards that diners who were attacked, Cochran said that she followed her instincts to do “whatever I can to protect these people.”
“To have someone hate you just because of the way that you look, that’s beyond me. I don’t understand it,” she said.
In a message to the public, Cochran added: “If you see something do something. Stand up against racism and hatred in any form any time you can.”
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As for the generous gratuities that are still pouring in, KGO-TV reports that the windfall will allow Cochran to focus more on her passion for teaching yoga while brainstorming ways to donate the money to others in need, including those in the service industry.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
