Kansas waitress’ message to Brownback goes viral

A critical note a Kansas waitress wrote on a receipt to Gov. Sam Brownback on Saturday has gone viral.

This restaurant receipt provided to the Journal-World by Chloe Hough, a Topeka resident and Kansas University student who served Gov. Sam Brownback on Saturday at Boss Hawgs Barbecue in Topeka, her final night working at the restaurant, shows Hough's message to the governor: Tip

National media outlets including NBC News and the Huffington Post have latched onto the story of Kansas University student Chloe Hough, a Topeka senior, who happened to be working her final shift at Boss Hawg’s Barbeque in Topeka when the governor was seated in her section. When it came time for the bill to be paid, Hough exed out the customer tip section on Brownback’s credit card receipt and wrote instead: “Tip the schools.”

Hough, who opposes Brownback’s recent education funding cuts and switch to the block grant system, said she felt like she had to say something.

“He’s been gutting our infrastructure,” Hough told the Journal-World on Sunday afternoon. “Education is the pathway to a more progressive society.”

Hough took a photo of the receipt and shared it on Facebook, thinking a few of her friends might find it amusing. Instead, Hough’s original post has been shared more than 700 times, and the story has garnered thousands of Facebook likes and shares via national media outlets.

Hough said she hopes the publicity opens up more discussion on the issue of education funding in Kansas.

“It’s not about me or the restaurant, it’s about creating a dialogue for schools,” she said.

Hough said she didn’t see the governor’s reaction to the note, but in spite of her suggestion, he did leave her a tip.

The restaurant has been getting some calls about the incident, but Hough said it was an impromptu decision she made on her own. Boss Hawg’s posted on Facebook that it was “unaware of the incident until after the fact, and we do not endorse her actions.”

Feedback on social media has been mostly positive and supportive, Hough added, but if anyone disagrees with her, it doesn’t make sense to call the restaurant.

“If people are offended, they can talk to me,” she said.