Baseball Player Claims Waiter Refused To Serve Him After He Kneeled

When the issue of National Anthem protests comes to mind, most folks will naturally associate it with the National Football League. Former player Colin Kaepernick started the trend last year, and others have followed suit in his absence.

The whole matter came to a head a few weeks back when President Donald Trump expressed his angst over anthem protests. More players protested the anthem in response, but it wasn’t just relegated to the NFL.

Major League Baseball player Bruce Maxwell, a catcher with the Oakland A’s, took a knee soon thereafter, but he was the only MLB player to take the bait. Maxwell received some flak for his decision, and he has just revealed that it’s happened away from the ballpark as well.

As the New York Daily News shares, Maxwell claims that a pro-Trump waiter refused to serve him because he knelt for the anthem.

During an interview with TMZ Sports, Maxwell says the off-putting incident happened when he returned home to Alabama. Maxwell was out to lunch with a local councilman, and he says things became political.

"He denied us service at lunch and they had to go get us another waiter to wait on our table in that same restaurant," Maxwell explained. "He was like, 'You're the guy who took the knee? I voted for Trump and I stand for everything he stands for.'"

From that point, the politician that Maxwell was with went and spoke with the manager of the establishment. A new server was assigned to the table.

"That's where I'm from. Unless you're subject to it, you won't understand it, you won't feel it. I'm 26 years old. I'm very respectful. I'm very educated. And it still happens to this day,” Maxwell added.

“That's the reason that I'm kneeling - stuff like that."

If the incident went down exactly the way that Maxwell explained it, then he has every right to be upset. The waiter was in the wrong. Period. If the waiter, in fact, had a problem with serving Maxwell’s table, then he had the opportunity to address that with his manager as opposed to making an unnecessary scene.

Maxwell has explained that he comes from a military family, and he only took a knee in response to Trump calling out players for doing so.

"This is beyond race. This is about our president speaking out in a vulgar, negative way against people exercising their rights in a peaceful manner. It's about mankind," he said.

Maxwell is certainly entitled to his opinions, but he also has to understand that not everyone sees things the way that he does. As such, he may receive criticism for taking a knee from those that view it as disrespectful. If it’s ok for him to voice his concerns by taking a knee, then it should also be fine for others to voice concerns in response - albeit in a respectful fashion.

Sounds like the waiter from this tale needs to learn that, especially when it comes to the treatment of guests that visit the establishment that affords him the chance to make a living.

Source: NY Daily News
Photo: YouTube