'With all the bad news lately,' comedian shares a Raleigh coffee shop's kindness

A comedian is praising a Raleigh coffee shop after he says an employee offered a man who was begging for money a glass of water and "treated him like a human being."

Gary Owen posted a video on Instagram on Thursday about his experience at The Morning Times downtown. He said he stopped at the shop because he arrived too early to check into his hotel.

Owen said a black man was asking people for money at the shop, and a white employee told him he had to stop.

"He says, 'Hey man, you can't be begging in here," Owen said in the video. "'Can't be begging for money. But are you thirsty? You want something to drink? Come on, let me get you some water.'"

The employee treated the man "like a human being," Owen said, adding that the man accepted the water and left.

Owen started the video by saying, "With all the bad news lately ..."

He mentioned the recent incident at a Starbucks in Philadelphia in which two black men were arrested after sitting there quietly. He also mentioned a viral video from an LA Fitness gym in New Jersey where two black men claim they were racially profiled.

Owen is performing Thursday through Sunday at Goodnight's Comedy Club in Raleigh.

"It was just cool to see," he said of his experience at The Morning Times.

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 6:53 PM with the headline "'With all the bad news lately,' comedian shares a Raleigh coffee shop's kindness."