Credit: GoFundMe

The customer’s attempt to threaten and shame the barista backfired.

24-year-old Lenin Gutierrez, a barista at a San Diego Starbucks, was verbally berated by a customer who entered the store without a protective face mask. When this customer, Amber Lynn Gilles, attempted to place an order, Gutierrez informed her of Starbucks corporate policy requiring all staff and customers to wear a mask, she began loudly cursing at him, followed by taking a picture of him and posting it to her Facebook profile.

“Meet Lenen from Starbucks who refused to serve me cause I’m not wearing a mask. Next time I will wait for cops and bring a medical exemption,” Giles captioned her post.

However, in a turnaround on Gilles intentions, the comments of the post filled with overwhelming support for Gutierrez and condemnation of her actions and attitude.

“When I realized who it was I just thought ‘wow, she really blasted me on Facebook,'” Gutierrez told CNN. “I started reading the comments and just laughed at the memes people created about this ‘encounter in the wild.”‘

Multiple people expressed their desire to visit the Starbucks and give Gutierrez a tip, but one particular person, Matt Cowan took it a step further. Cowan, who has no personal relationship to Gutierrez, decided to open a GoFundMe campaign so anyone who wanted to tip Gutierrez could do so from home. The campaign, titled “Tips for Lenin Standing Up To A San Diego Karen,” had an initial goal of $1,000, likely just as a formality. At time of writing, however, the campaign has raised over $90,000.

“I thought it was heartwarming to see Matt created a GoFundMe for me, even though we didn’t know each other,” Gutierrez said. “I felt baffled and honored to receive so much support and love when it was at $1,000. The fact that now it went over $65,000, I don’t know how to truly vocalize how grateful and blessed I feel with this opportunity everyone has given me.”

Gutierrez has stated that he plans to donate a portion of the money to various San Diego charities, though he will also be investing some of it into a personal dream of becoming a dancer.