'Enjoy the tea!': The simple gesture that helped combat racism

Upon overhearing two women having a distasteful discussion about the plight of "Aboriginals" in a Fremantle cafe, Indigenous man Jarred Wall decided to give them a serve... of tea, that is.

Jarred Wall hopes his gesture will show there are alternative ways to deal with conflict. Source: NITV

Jarred Wall was having a quiet lunch with his partner and daughter, when he couldn't help but overhear a conservation at the next table.

"The subject they were talking about was probably something close to my heart, talking about Aboriginals basically, and there were some less than distasteful words that were used during the conversation," he says.

It's the kind of talk Jarred, an Indigenous man, hears often in the course of his corrective services job, which sees him working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth.

I thought OK maybe I’ll just buy them a tea, and I’ll write a message on the receipt and have the wait staff bring it over.

Eager to weigh in on the discussion, but not wanting to make a scene, Jarred grappled with how to respond.  

"I was thinking to myself, 'what’s a way I can address this without obviously embarrassing anyone, or making a scene?', because that’s not what I wanted to achieve at all," he recalls.

"I don’t think there was a need for me to go up there and verbally go on a tirade or anything like that, so I thought OK maybe I’ll just buy them a tea, and I’ll write a message on the receipt and have the wait staff bring it over."

Jarred did just that, sharing the experience on his Facebook profile.

The post has since garnered more than 20,000 likes and captured national attention.

Jarred's Facebook post has attracted 22,000 likes in five days. Source: Supplied

Jarred stresses that the gesture was never meant to hurt or embarrass the women. 

"I didn’t mean any harm to the elderly ladies, I still don’t mean any harm. I hope they enjoyed the tea, hope they had a nice day and a nice meal," he says.

"I really wanted to show that there’s alternative ways in dealing with conflict, and this is probably a different way to go about it that probably has more of an impact without that confrontation. 

"I just want people to think and consider others, and not judge a book by its cover, because we’re all different." 

It seems Jarred's message has been heard. 

Five days later, at the same cafe, he received a pot of tea from a stranger, along with a post-it note. 

It read: "There should be more people like you, good on you for standing up."

Five days later, Jarred Wall receives his own pot of tea with a post it note, reading "There should be more people like you, good on you for standing up." Source: NITV