A 27-year-old Air Force senior airman's shock at getting a rebuke for speaking Spanish in uniform in a Starbucks near Hickam and her subsequent stand against discrimination have gained some fervent support on social media.

Xiara Mercado posted July 17 that while waiting for her drink during lunchtime at the Valkenburgh Street coffee shop, she was on the phone speaking Spanish.

Once her name was called, she ended the call and grabbed her drink. As she was walking out, she said, she was tapped on the shoulder by a woman who said, "You shouldn't be speaking Spanish. That's not what that uniform represents. … It's distasteful," Mercado related on Facebook.