After two customers walked out on their bill in the Brooklyn Cafe this week, a viral social media post brought them back in with debit card in hand.

General Manager Jonny McDonald, 32 from Shawlands, said the reaction to the post "blew him away".

"Two men came in on Tuesday and their bill came to £26. When it came to pay, one of the men said that he had left his bank card in the car and would be back. It became apparent after a while that that wouldn't be the case."

Although Jonny said that these types of things do occasionally happen, for someone to walk out at this particular time amidst the coronavirus crisis it felt particularly sinister - and so they decided to post on social media about it.

Glasgow Times:

"I managed to get some pictures from CCTV, and put a post up on Facebook. We were heartbroken about it, which I think you can tell even from our language on the post. I put my phone away, and brought it out about 15 minutes later where it had already been shared five times."

The post eventually continued to being shared over 1000 times, and the next day one of the men came back in to pay his bill.

"I know that to many people that doesn't sound like a lot of money, but to us right now it is vital" said Jonny.

Glasgow Times:

"Last weekend felt like a turning point, and by Monday we had two staff who willingly stepped back from the rota because they knew we couldn't afford to pay them."

The Brooklyn Cafe is one of the oldest family-run businesses in the Shawlands area, and will celebrate its 90th birthday next year.

Jonny says that although the cafe has served the local community since the second world war, the impact that coronavirus is having on small businesses may be one blow that the cafe can't recover from.

"The Brooklyn cafe has been here since the blitz came to Shawlands and hit just up the road.

Glasgow Times:

"This is unprecedented. We have hope that the government will provide support to smaller and independent businesses, but right now it feels almost morally wrong to be open - but we can't right now afford to close".

Testing times as they are, Jonny said the Shawland's community has helped the cafe through.

"The spirit in the community is wonderful."