Waiter Risks Job to Stick Up For Special Needs Boy

A waiter in a restaurant near downtown Houston is being hailed as a hero after making a difficult choice last week when two groups of regular customers sat down at the same time. 

What he ended up doing was making a very public, and potentially job-endangering, stand in defense of one special little boy. 

The Castillo family, including 5-year-old Milo, who has Down Syndrome, was seated adjacent to another party that arrived at the same time. The other group got up and moved to a table in the rear of the restaurant, away from the Castillos.  

"I wonder if they're moving because of us," Milo's mom Kim Castillo said she thought at the time. 

Turns out they were. 

Michael Garcia, a waiter with more than two years under his apron strings, didn't think much of the move at first. Until, that is, he says he heard one of his regulars say: "Special needs children need to be special somewhere else."

Plus: A Special Joy: Babies with Down Syndrome 

Garcia could have ignored the comment and served his regular. But he opted instead to do something harder. "It was very disturbing and my personal feelings just took over," he told the local ABC affiliate. 

The waiter approached the table and told them he couldn't serve them. "It upset me because he's a 5-year-old little boy. He's an angel, he's precious," said Garcia. 

The party left and the Castillo family remained, unaware of the confrontation until later in the evening. "I was so impressed and felt so good that someone would stand up for another human being," said Kim.

It impressed more than just Milo's mom. Support has been flowing in from online and off ever since word has gotten out. 

"I think he did the right thing," said regular Bill Baker. "There's the door."

Do you think you would have done the same thing as Garcia? Let us know in the comments.