Many are outraged after a police officer in Oklahoma tried to do a good deed for his fellow dispatchers working on Thanksgiving Day and was blatantly disrespected.
Chief of Police in Kiefer, Okla., Johnny O’Mara, shared about the incident on Facebook. His post has since gone viral with over 19,000 shares, 13,000 likes, and 44 comments.
O’Mara in his post explained that one of his on-duty officers went to a local Starbucks “to get the dispatchers coffee as a thank you for all they do (especially when they’re working a holiday.)”
“This is what he gets for being nice,” he wrote.
The picture attached to the post shows a Starbucks hot chocolate with “PIG” written on it as the customer’s name.
“What irks me is the absolute and total disrespect for a police officer who, instead of being home with family and enjoying a meal and a football game, is patrolling his little town,” O’Mara wrote. “This cup of coffee for a ‘pig’ is just another little flag. It’s another tiny symptom and a nearly indiscernible shout from a contemptuous, roaring and riotous segment of a misanthropic society that vilifies those who stand for what’s right and glorifies the very people who would usher in the destruction of the social fabric. It’s another tiny pinprick into the heart of men and women who are asking themselves more often: ‘Why am I doing this?’”
“Just pour the coffee, please,” he continued. “Are we at a point where a task as simple as pouring an exceptionally overpriced cup of coffee is so complicated that it cannot be accomplished without ‘expressing oneself?’”
O’Mara went on to say that he spoke with Starbucks and was told “they’d be happy to ‘replace the coffee with a correct label.’”
“Thank you, first responders, for risking it all this Thanksgiving away from your families,” said Chief O’Mara. “If you’re looking for coffee use a place where you pour your own and you’re certain of what’s in it.). Stay safe; go home.”
The Starbucks employee responsible has reportedly been suspended and meant the “PIG” label “to be a joke between her and a co-worker.”
Jory Mendes with Starbucks told local station Fox 25 that the incident was “absolutely unacceptable and we are deeply sorry to the law enforcement officer who experienced this.”
“We have also apologized directly to him and we are working to connect with the police chief as well as to express our remorse,” Mendes continued. “The barista has been suspended pending the outcome of our investigation into this matter. This language is offensive to all law enforcement and is not representative of the deep appreciation we have for police officers who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe.”