Instead of a tip, this waitress got a racist note that said, "We only tip citizens"

Impact

It's a tale as old as time itself: waiter or waitress serves customer, customer harbors some sort of inherent racist/homophobic beliefs, customer decides to "helpfully" leave waiter or waitress sanctimonious advice regarding their life choices in lieu of a tip.

That's exactly what happened to 18-year-old Sadie Elledge of Harrisonburg, Virginia on Monday, and if you think it can't get any worse, it can, because she also happens to be a completely legal citizen of the United States.

During a run-of-the-mill shift at Jess' Lunch, where she works as a server, one of Elledge's tables decided to pay their $26.11 bill sans tip. Instead, the customers included a short note explaining their decision: "We only tip citizens."

But in a video interview with Isabel Rosales of local news affiliate WHSV News, Elledge explains that she was born in American, and is of Mexican and Honduran descent.

"I just thought it was really disrespectful ... you can tell that I'm Hispanic, but that doesn't mean anything bad. Treat me as the same way you'd want to be treated," Elledge says.

Sadie's grandfather, John Elledge, told the Huffington Post that he first heard about the incident from one of his other granddaughters at his law firm, where he works as an attorney.

"One of my other granddaughters works at my firm as a secretary," he said. "She told me and I flew off the handle."

The senior Elledge also posted a screenshot to Facebook of a nasty message he received from a stranger after writing about his granddaughter's ordeal on his personal page. 

According to the Huffington Post, Elledge said that police were eventually able to identify the customer who paid the check as a woman, but added that the woman denied having written the racist message and was blaming it on her lunch companion.

The manager of Jess's Lunch told WHSV TV that the customer has been banned from the establishment, regardless.