Dozens of people turned out Sunday at a Wawa convenience store in Monmouth County to protest the firing of a beloved gas station attendant.

Mike Cuzzo, a former field-manager at the Wawa store on Route 9 in Howell, regularly donned a tuxedo, clown nose and even pink knee-high socks as part of an outfit to entertain customers as he worked the gas pumps.

Last week, Cuzzo apparently used a squirt toy that shoots out water by making it appear that a boy is urinating to clean a customer's windshield and mirrors. The toy is commonly used at Japanese hibachi restaurants to squirt wine. 

The 52-year-old Brick resident was fired on Thursday after a customer filed a complaint about his use of the squirt toy. "We would never make a decision about any associate based on a single isolated incident like this," said Wawa officials in a news statement. "As a company, we give our associates the benefit of the doubt as well as second chances. This situation was no different."

Hundreds of supporters took to Facebook and Twitter over the weekend to protest the firing. Many shared their stories of how Cuzzo positively impacted their lives.