Starbucks Ballista Wins $100,000 in Face Mask Dust Up: “This is amazing.”

They put him gold in a silver metal briefcase and placed it on a picnic table in the Miramar Reservoir. The lid went up: $ 100,000 with a paper-tied stack of $ 50 bills.

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Starbucks Bali Staring Tierres, at the Miramar Reservoir in San Diego, a few days after receiving the proceeds from the GoFundMe campaign: “I feel like I’ve been given a great opportunity like never before.” (Sam Hodgson) / San Diego Union Tribune)

In addition to that blue water, all green backs. It’s no wonder that Lening Tieres’ eyes have grown bigger.

“I [have] I’ve never seen anything like this except in a movie,” he said.

Three weeks ago, when a 24-year-old college student worked at Starbucks in Claremont, a customer came in without wearing a face mask. He pointed out the rules of the coronavirus, she left and criticized him on Facebook for refusing to serve her.

This caught the eye of Irvine marketing and brand strategist Matt Cowan, who thinks masks are a good idea and the internet is bullying the bad. So, he launched “Lenin’s Tips to Face San Diego Cullen” using social media labels of those who qualify for the fuss in public.

He was expecting $1,000.

The campaign achieved that within a few hours, then reached $5,000 and continued to grow. Something about it got nervous, and even during the public health crisis, it oscillated along political and cultural fault lines that would destroy much of American life today.

Newspapers and television stations in San Diego and elsewhere spread the rumor and drew attention from donors to Australia.

Most people made a small amount of $10 or $20, but they were a lot-almost 8,000-and when cash was poured, Cowan said that his virtual chip jar was not just a statement. I noticed. It was changing life.

Gutierrez grew up in Chula Vista without much money in his family. He ate a lot of rice and beans. By Christmas, the boxes under the trees were nicely wrapped, but mostly empty.

So he was ecstatic when the GoFundMe drive reached $10,000. He was surprised when he reached $50,000. Hundred thousand? He has no words.

“It’s more money than anyone in my family has ever had,” he said.

Now, what once looked like a dream is a goal, and it can be achieved. He plans to move from community college to Calstate Fullerton to study kinematics, the mechanism of human movement. His passion is hip-hop dance, and he wants to apply what he learns to the art form and share it with others as an athletic trainer.

“I feel like I’ve been given this incredible opportunity I’ve never seen before,” he said, and “I don’t want to waste it.”

It wasn’t the first time a customer came to Starbucks without a mask, Gutierrez said. That wasn’t the last either.

“I think about 80% of people are supportive and wear masks,” he said. “I forgot the other 10% and apologize for not having it. And maybe 10% don’t want one.”

His experience is in line with opinion polls on this subject. Ah Pew Research According to a report in late June, 80% of Americans wore masks at least to some extent while at store, and 65% wore masks all or most of the time. 7% say they don’t wear a mask.

Gutierrez did not expect to receive the money in cash. Cowan and his colleague Wilcolet brought to him last week. They made it all video-capable Post to YouTube.. It was also a way to show donors that the campaign was legitimate. was there Financing scandal Includes raising money and pocketing the proceeds for a cause that seems to be of value to people.

“It’s a great day to change someone’s life,” Cowan said at one point in the video, just before he parked his car in the Miramar Reservoir and walked to Gutierrez with a metal briefcase.

“I don’t know what to say,” Gutierrez said when he opened the case and saw the mountain of bills. “This is amazing now.”

He lives in Claremont with one of his sisters at a picnic table. His other sister was also there. So was his lawyer.

He said he had to be smart about many things since this happened. What is legal What is wise He is also in discussion with the financial adviser.

“For this reason, many doors are open,” said Gutierrez. “I want to make sure that I am doing the right thing and set myself up for future life.”

That’s why the first place he went after leaving the reservoir was the bank. All that cash at hand strained him.

Even if a Starbucks colleague sometimes struggles with him to be “famous,” he is depositing money and trying to settle on something that is now close to normal.

He has been working as a coffee retailer part-time for about three years and has no plans to quit. “I don’t think this means that I can take a break from life,” he said. “I’ll keep going as if money didn’t exist.”

This includes the mask.

“It’s the minimum we can do,” he said. “If all doctors and health professionals are right, they can help stop the spread of the virus, and if they are wrong, it’s just a mask on your face. Not a big deal.”

Of course, unless someone made it.

Wilkens has contributed to the San Diego Union Tribune.