(I work in a coffee shop that’s most often frequented by the local youth and the occasional tourist. We have a loyal regular who is about 17 and shows up every day for a beverage on his way home from work, along with other times in the week. He is gay, very shy and soft-spoken, and usually wears something purple or pink. He has long hair and also wears eye shadow; his orientation is pretty clear. A customer in her mid- to late-50s is in the line adjacent to our regular, who is chatting with me in his casual, sweet tone and demeanor. These two are the only customers in the cafe. The lady snorts after taking a good long look at our regular, and then, after having her order taken, she follows him to the table he normally sits at.)

Customer: “You know, God sees you as a filthy, fornicating sinner!”

Regular: *flabbergasted* “Wh… What do you–”

Customer: “He hates your kind, you little [slur]. You and all your b****-boy kind. You’re all going to Hell unless you quit being little scum-bag, d**k-sucking [slur]s!”

(Our regular is stammering and starting to cry. I see a guy about [Regular]’s age who has just come in the door in time to hear everything, walk up angrily to the both of them, and then decide to step in. I see that this new fellow is wearing a cross necklace, and I can just see it getting worse for [Regular]. But before I can get out from behind the counter, I’m floored.)

New Guy: *stands between the woman and [Regular] and points a finger at her* “You’re the sickening one! Not only do you use foul language, but you have the audacity to tell someone God hates them. If you’ve ever read the Bible, you’ll know that Jesus loves all of us despite any flaws.”

Customer: “What?! You mean you stand with this little s***? You think don’t homosexuality is an abomination?”

New Guy: “I think exactly what the Bible says about it, but I also listened to the part where it tells us to love people unconditionally, especially the sinners.”

(This goes on for about another minute, with the new guy not once letting her get past him to even look at [Regular]. My manager leaves her office after hearing the commotion outside and tells the woman she needs to leave immediately.)

Customer: “You little b****! You’re trying to cheat me out of the coffee I bought!”

Manager: *angrily takes out about eight bucks worth of ones and change from her own pocket* “Take it and get the h*** out, or I’m calling the police!”

Customer: *grabs the money and starts to leave, lividly screaming on her way out* “You’re all going to Hell, you f****** heathens!”

(I turn from watching my manager to look at our new hero who turns around to finally face [Regular], who is crying quite hard at this point. He sits down next to him.)

New Guy: “Are you all right?”

Regular: “I think so.”

(The new guy looks at [Regular] for a moment, then leans in to hug him. They both stay that way for several minutes until [Regular] stops crying.)

New Guy: “Hey, for the record, there’s only one thing God can’t do, and that’s hating us.”

(This guy turned one of the worst days for [Regular] into one of the best! A little bit of love for fellow man goes a long way.)