Walmart cashier steps in to polish disabled woman's nails when salon refuses
After one of her regular customers, a woman with a disability that sometimes causes her hands to shake, was refused service at a nearby nail salon, Walmart cashier Ebony Harris decided to help.
Foregoing her break, Harris, 40, offered to paint Angela Peters' nails for her. The pair picked out a shade of sparkly blue that Peters liked and sat down at the Subway seating area inside the Walmart in Burton, Michigan.
Peters said she felt happy when Harris was doing her nails and the two were talking.
"Ebony is a nice person," she told ABC News. "I enjoy conversation with her."
Peters, 36, has cerebral palsy, which can make her hands shake. She said the nail salon felt it would be too difficult to do her nails.
Harris said after she found out, she wanted to create a special day for Angela.
"I knew her from her coming in here shopping," Harris told ABC News. "I’ve helped her shop a couple of times. I just wanted to do her nails and I didn’t want her day to be ruined."
Peters apologized for her shaking hands as Harris painted her nails the shade of glittery blue, but Harris told her not to apologize.
In fact, Harris said she was a little unsteady herself.
"I was a little nervous and was shaking because I didn’t want to mess her nails up," Harris told ABC News.
A woman who works in the Subway restaurant, Tasia Smith, saw the nail painting session. She said the act of kindness brought her to tears. She snapped a photo of Harris and Peters, posted it on her Facebook and it went viral.
"She did great, barely moved & was just so sweet," Smith wrote on Facebook. "It’s an absolute shame that they denied her for something so little."
Harris said she appreciates all the attention the story has been receiving.
"I love it and it hit my soul in a very deep place," she said. "It makes me feel good, but it’s very overwhelming."
Walmart also spoke highly of Harris's work.
"Ebony simply wanted to make sure our customer’s day was special, and that’s the kind of person she is -- someone with a wonderful attitude who goes the extra mile each day to make those around her feel important. We're not surprised at her act of kindness. Her service to customers defines the spirit of Walmart, and we couldn’t be more proud,” the company said in a statement to ABC News.
Both women said their main goal was to raise awareness for people with disabilities, not to punish or boycott the nail salon.
"I forgive the nail people for not doing my nails," Peters told ABC News in a statement. "When people do us wrong we must forgive, if not we harbor bitterness. I don't want anyone fired, I just [want to] educate people that people with different challenges like being in a wheelchair, we can have our own business and get our nails done like anyone else."
Harris hopes this will inspire others to treat people with disabilities in the same way they would like to be treated. She wants the focus to be "not so much being mad at the nail salon."
"We want people to look at the positive side of the story, that there are a lot of good people out here," Harris said.
Harris, Peters and Smith intend to continue their new friendship and go out to dinner sometime soon.
