A Dunfermline cafe owner was left feeling “shocked and vulnerable” after receiving racist abuse from a teenager while at work.
Jiordia Wragg, who opened Plaza Real on Douglas Street earlier this year, said she removed the boy from the cafe after he came behind the counter on Sunday.
The 27-year-old, who was working with her mother-in-law and another staff member, feared he could cause damage or steal knives stored in the area.
However, once outside he aimed a racist gesture at her before also making a derogatory remark.
Dunfermline cafe owner felt ‘shocked and vulnerable’ after racist abuse from teen
Jiordia told The Courier: “The boy has actually come back since and I think he is doing it for fun.
“I didn’t know what to do at the time, I was annoyed at him coming into the shop and behind the counter.
“I was feeling shocked and vulnerable.
“I don’t know what he was going to do when he came in but he looked smug and he was halfway into the back of the cafe when I turned him away.
“I don’t know if he wanted to destroy or chuck things all over the floor, my first thought was the knives I have lying around.
“Then when he was outside the cafe he pulled his eyes at me and ran off.
“A man then got him and told him to apologise.
“He said ‘I apologise’ but it wasn’t sincere.
“The man then heard him call me a ****.”
‘Growing up I was able to ignore these things but I can’t ignore it now’
Jiordia, who was born in the Philipines but grew up in Kirkcaldy, says she has experienced racist abuse before and that she notices it more now she is an adult.
She said: “I was shocked but also I don’t feel shocked about it.
“It has happened before, not in the cafe – but it has happened.
“It seems that some people think it is acceptable.
“When I was in high school I had a racist nickname but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.
“I know now it is not acceptable to mimic people who look a certain way.
“This boy thought everything was funny.
“It all happened so quick I find it hard to remember what happened, because of the adrenaline.
“My mother-in-law said he tried to come back on Monday.
“I think for them they are just trying to disrupt a small business but this is all we have, if we had to replace things then we would have to sacrifice something else.
“Growing up I was able to ignore these things but I can’t ignore it now.”
Jiordia says she could not believe the support she received after posting about the incident on Facebook.
She said: “I am amazed at the amount of support I was given, I wasn’t expecting it at all, even support from other businesses.
“I don’t usually get a lot of support from local businesses but businesses as far away as Lanzarote were commenting on my post.
“I didn’t have enough time to respond to everyone on social media but it was really nice to see and people were on the same page.
“What this boy was doing is intimidating people; if you are a woman alone with a bunch of teenage boys then there is not much you can do.
“It ruins your day when something like that happens and makes you not want to do anything.
“It is then like you are always on guard looking at who is coming into the cafe, especially when you are on your own.”
Jiordia says the cafe, which serves only gluten-free items, has been busy with visitors travelling from as far as Inverness and Devon to try her cakes since it opened in July.
Police investigate hate crime incident at Dunfermline cafe
Police are investigating the incident and it is being treated as a hate crime.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 2.30pm on Sunday, December 29, 2024 we received a report of racial abuse at a premises in Douglas Street, Dunfermline.
“This is being treated as a hate crime and extensive enquiries are ongoing.”
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