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Very Real

Buffalo Wild Wings Gives Man Free Wings For A Year After Employees Allegedly Write 'Homeless F***' On Receipt

The franchise also donated hundreds of wings to the local Louisiana homeless community.

By Sharon Lynn Pruitt

A homeless man in Louisiana was gifted free Buffalo Wild Wings for a year after employees reportedly wrote rude messages on his receipt.

After ordering wings at a Buffalo Wild Wings location in Lake Charles on Monday, the unidentified man found that an employee had written “For Homeless F***! Let sit and get gross,” across the top of his receipt, according to a report from KPLC, an NBC station out of Louisiana. “I LOVE YOU” was also written on the receipt in different ink.

KPLC reports that the man was not supposed to see the receipt, but he did — and he showed it to other customers.

26-year-old Kailynn Weston, who saw the receipt, told KPLC that the man was in tears.

“I was like ‘That’s not okay, one, for someone to treat a customer like that, let alone a customer in his condition,’” said Weston, who was “really upset” about the receipt. The man reportedly told her that “you all know that I’m homeless, I don’t have anywhere to live.”

Weston complained to management, demanding that the employee or employees responsible for the message be reprimanded. As an apology for the incident, Buffalo Wild Wings gifted him with free wings for a year, Regional Manager Ray Rhodes told KPLC.

“It’s embarrassing for this gentleman and it’s very inhumane on the part of the employees. It’s not our culture and it’s not who we are,” Rhodes said.

In addition to free wings for a year, the company gave the man a Walmart gift card to help him buy clothes and paid for a hotel stay, Rhodes told the station. The employees involved in the incident were terminated as of May 28, he said.

Buffalo Wild Wings also donated hundreds of wings to those in need with the help of a local church’s homeless outreach division.

Kelli Tidwell Stawecki of Water’s Edge Gathering Church thanked the restaurant for their generosity in a Facebook post on Tuesday: “Thank you Buffalo Wild Wings & Ray Rhodes for the 800+ wings today. The homeless were ecstatic. In 7 years that I’ve been doing this we have never given out Wings. I think this is their new favorite!!”

Employees writing rude messages and even slurs on receipts and in other places customers can see isn’t an uncommon occurrence, unfortunately.

Earlier this year, a Latino Starbucks customer reportedly received a drink with “beaner” written on it instead of his name. Social media attention has increased accountability for businesses, who run the risk of alienating thousands of potential customers if news of discrimination is shared online.

After video footage of two black men being kicked out of a Philadelphia Starbucks for sitting without ordering went viral, the company was left scrambling to repair their image amid protests and widespread boycotts.

The coffee giant temporarily shut down 8,000 stores on May 29 so that employees could undergo racial bias training.

[Photo: BBQ wings and medium traditional wings at Buffalo Wild Wings in Arlington, VA on November 28, 2017. By Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images]