NBC - Patricia Barnes never thought there'd be such a fuss over something so harmless.
"I've been into plenty of restaurants in this town and other towns and you know other states," Barnes said.
You're away from home, you find yourself needing a restroom, you can't wait, what do you do? Barnes found a restaurant called The Flood Zone, went in and asked the woman behind the counter if she could use the facility.
"She just said, 'sure,'" Barnes said.
Then, a few days later, Barnes got a handwritten note from the restaurant - a bill of sorts - saying she owed them $5. The note mentioned there was a sign specifically saying "there is a $5 charge for non-Flood Zone customers."
Barnes says she did not see it until she came out of the restroom and a restaurant employee told her about it. She left without paying the $5.
"It was a little index card at the very bottom of the mirror," Barnes said. "I didn't look in the mirror at all that day."
How did the owners get Barnes' address? They looked it up based on her license plate. Barnes says she went back to the restaurant to pay the $5, but they would not take it. They required that she mail it certified.
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