A café owner from Australia was inundated with messages of support after explaining the heartbreaking reason why she closed her business for a day.
The woman, known only as Lisa, took to social media to share a post about the struggles staff at Bob's Your Uncle café had recently been facing.
She claimed she and other workers had been experiencing "excessive abuse" ever since they had re-opened following lockdown and it has left them feeling "broken" with one member of staff even bursting into tears over comments that were made this week.
In a post on the café's Instagram page, Lisa shared how they'd been criticised by customers over ridiculous things, such as the colour of the rice they were serving, as well as the safety measures they'd put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.
She wrote: "Dear customers due to excessive abuse from a customer today causing the owner and a staff member in tears we have made the decision to close for the remainder of the day to support mental health.
"We have encountered this type of abuse every day since reopening over minor things like our rice being white and not butterfly pea colour due to us not being able to get the ingredient and other examples like abuse with regards to our policies in place to protect you and our team through this pandemic.
"Today’s situation broke us and we are needing today to reflect and rebuild. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and we hope for your continued support."
Alongside this Lisa shared a photo of a sign she had put up in the café's window, which read: "Dear customers, due to excessive abuse from a customer today we have made the decision to close to support the mental health of our team and owner.
"Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you. Regards, Lisa."
People were quick to share their best wishes in the comments, with many horrified that people had been so abusive.
One person replied: "When I think of coming to your wonderful café I always think of a happy environment and good times. No one goes to work to be abused.
"You all deserve so much better. You are an incredible bunch of people and make such a difference in bringing joy to the community. Take care."
"You guys do an exceptional job and should not have to put up with any type of abuse! We hope you and your staff will be ok," said a second.
Another posted: "Lisa, you and your staff are gorgeous. You always make our family feel so welcome. Especially with a special needs child. We love our chats and your delicious and creative food.
"This is incredibly sad to read, but glad that you guys made the decision to be conscious about your mental health of yourself and your staff."
The business is believed to have been closed on Thursday (November 26) and reopened again on Friday.
The message is clear folks, always be kind to others, you never know what kind of impact your words might have on them.
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