A mother has thanked staff at her local Starbucks for checking up on her teenage daughter after she was approached by a man while by herself in the coffee shop.
Brandy Roberson took to social media to praise a barista who reacted quickly to step in and offer help to the 18-year-old, after spotting that she was receiving unwanted attention from a stranger.
Rather than causing a scene, the barista, who was working at a branch of the coffee chain in Corpus Christi, Texas, quietly wrote a message on a cup and passed it to the teenager, telling her it was a free drink so as not to alert the creepy customer.
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'My 18-year-old daughter was at Starbucks, alone, the other night. A man came up to her and started talking to her,' Roberson explained in her post. 'A barista handed her 'an extra hot chocolate someone forgot to pick up'. How grateful I am for people who look out for other people!'
The relieved mother shared a picture of the cup, on which the barista had written a message that read, 'Are you okay? Do you want us to intervene? If you do, take the lid off the cup.'
Thankfully, the teenage daughter felt she had the situation under control and didn't need the Starbucks team to step in, but nevertheless she and her mother were touched by the show of support.
'She felt safe and did not remove the lid, but let them know. She said the whole team was watching over her the rest of the time she was there,' Roberson explained.
The Facebook post has since gone viral, receiving more than 48,000 likes and 30,000 shares as people praised the actions of the barista.
'Faith in humanity restored,' one person commented, with another writing, 'Congratulations to Starbucks team!! Way to know there are still good people out looking after each other.'
Others wondered whether the barista's actions were part of a wider policy to check up on customers, suggesting that if not, 'they should have a policy like this everywhere'.
Amid a depressing rise in stories of women receiving unwanted and inappropriate attention from creepy men while out in public, many bars and cafes have begun employing similar methods to make sure women can ask for help discreetly, but this barista's actions are a good reminder to look out for the people around us.
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Hannah Smith