“‘How could you say that?’” Garcia said he asked the man before he left the restaurant
with his party. “‘How could you say that about a beautiful 5-year-old angel?’”
Castillo, who noticed the family move but didn’t hear the remark, was grateful when
she later found out what Garcia had done, even more so when she learned that the other
family were regular customers as well.
“I was impressed that somebody would step out of their own comfort level and put their job
on the line as well as to stand up for somebody else,” she said. “I know Michael did it from
his heart, and from reacting to the situation. I don’t think he stopped and thought about
what he was doing.”
Of the other family, she said, “It’s sad that they’re ignorant.”
Castillo, 40, wrote in an online post that she has been taking Milo out to eat since
he was born, and said her son, her only child with husband Eric, is better behaved than
most children and was not misbehaving that night.
Courtesy Kim Castillo
Milo, age 5: His mom takes him out to restaurants frequently and says he’s very well behaved.
“Was he loud?” she wrote. “Maybe a little in the moment,
t honestly, the adults at our table were three times louder
than he was. … If he had been obnoxious, which like any
other 5-year-old he can be, I wouldn’t have thought twice
about the family asking to move.”
Garcia, who has worked at the restaurant for about
two years, knew the Castillos, and has his own special way
of greeting Milo. “Normally when they arrive, I pick him
up at the door and carry him to the table,” Garcia told KPRC.
As news of Garcia’s action spread across the Internet, with
praise for him on the restaurant’s Facebook page and elsewhere,
customers have been seeking out Garcia.
“The business has just been huge,” said Candace Roberts, the Castillos’ regular server at Laurenzo’s,
adding that patrons are mentioning Garcia’s story. “People are coming in to shake his hand and
eat at our restaurant and loving it.”
Castillo said she has never heard anybody say something negative about her son, a boy who hates
fighting, loves to hug and has lots of preschool chums, both with and without Down syndrome.
But she said she has seen kids and adults stare at him or take “second and third glances,” and
has witnessed parents pull their kids away from Milo on the playground.
“It’s just ignorance,” she said. “Kids aren’t going to catch anything from him.”
She hopes that the story of Garcia’s kindness will lead to greater tolerance for others,
especially for those like Milo, who look different than other kids.
“It’s just impressive to see the outpouring of love and support,” she said, adding that she
hopes the story encourages “people to stand up for other people who can’t stand up for
themselves and that it’s worth taking the risk.”
“Maybe next time they’ll think twice before they utter those words or say something
derogatory about somebody else,” she said.
.
Tony Paulauski Executive Director
The Arc of Illinois
20901 S. LaGrange Rd. Suite 209
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-464-1832 (OFFICE)
815-464-1832 (CELL)
Tony@www.thearcofil.org
