A waiter stands up for a kid with Down syndrome: props!

In a perfect world, people wouldn't stoop so low as to mock or deride kids with special needs. Not going to happen, because there's no vaccination for ignorance (even then, it would probably only be 67 percent effective). So in a less perfect world, aka the real one, people would at least stand up for our kids when others demean them. That's what happened last week at a Houston restaurant, where a waiter defended this cutie pie with Down syndrome.

Milo Castillo, 5, and his family are regulars at Laurenzo's restaurant; Michael Garcia is a waiter there who usually carries Milo to his table when he arrives. Last Wednesday, according to Garcia, a diner moved his family away from Milo's and made the comment, "Special needs children need to be special somewhere else."

Garcia refused to serve him and when the man said he was leaving Garcia responded, "How could you say that about a beautiful 5-year-old angel?"

Our hero

Happily, the restaurant stood behind him.

This is awesome, though it's so disturbing to read about people this close-minded. Obviously, I have no objectivity whatsoever but I do know that even if I didn't have Max, I would still have a hard time understanding what could compel someone to be so clueless. For shame. I hope that guy is watching all the news on this and squirming his ass off.

If I'd been next to this guy at the restaurant, I would have asked to move to a different table. Ignorant people need to be ignorant somewhere else.

Props, Michael Garcia and Laurenzo's. You've made a difference in this one family's life, and inspired many, many others.

Images: screen grabs, Click 2 Houston