A Massachusetts restaurant had to shut down for a "Day of Kindness" to help staff recover from the insults and threats of customers.
According to a story from WHDH, Brandi Felt Casellano, the owner of Apt Cape Cod, said insults and threats from customers drove her staff to tears. She took the action to help her staff recover, and since her story got out she's been hearing from servers across the country experiencing the same vitriol.
“Patrons have crossed the line from being just like rude or upset to verbally abusive,” Castellano said. “They told one of our workers that ’I hope you get hit by a car when you leave work today’.”
Castellano said the restaurant has struggled with supplies as it re-opened post-pandemic, and that younger, less experienced staff have been worn down by the harsh words.
“It just makes them like not wanting to come to work, the young ones crying or going home and crying,” Castellano said.
So she decided to close the restaurant for a day and treat the staff to a “Day of Kindness” free from abuse, telling them to decompress and focus on their own well-being. Castellano posted about the closure — and the reason for it — on the restaurant’s website, and soon heard from workers across the country about how they’re facing similar issues.
To see WHDH's whole story, click here.