[nfbwatlk] restaurant rudeness

[Mary Ellen]

This suit bothers me. I certainly believe the restaurant workers were out of
line being rude to the woman, they should never be rude to anybody. However,
is it really the stuff of lawsuits? 
If the woman prevails, what sort of training will restaurant workers
receive? Sometimes people who have received "sensitivity training" are
harder to deal with than the untrained masses. They think they know the
rules, and they're afraid of making a mistake, so they run the "now I'm
dealing with a blind oopps, visually impaired, oops visually challenged,
person" tape. Airline employees have all been "trained" and look what that
often gets us. It's the culture of condescention I want to avoid. I'm tough
enough to deal with garden variety rudeness.
 
If the same thing happened to any of us with Federation experience, I doubt
it would have gotten to this level. We would have talked to the person who
was rude, and, if that hadn't worked, we would have taken it up with the
manager. I wonder if the staff knew she was blind. Was she carrying a cane?
Of course, she has a perfect right not to carry one, but it is often easier
to be believed when you do. I find that people who are blind with some
vision often have more trouble with this sort of thing than people who are
totally blind. 
I've sometimes had trouble getting the total menu of a fast food place read
to me, especially when the restaurant is crowded and employees are rushing
to serve a lot of customers in a short time. Perhaps I'm too willing to be
walked on, but sometimes I am willing to accept the Reader's Digest version
of a menu if it's clear to me that workers are being run off their feet.
I've also told staff they're being rude if I think they are. Being somewhat
older gives me an advantage here. I could easily be the mother of the people
behind the counter, so I can talk to them in that "Mom voice." It generally
intimidates all teenagers except my own.
 
Mary Ellen
-------------- next part --------------
Message
This suit bothers me. I certainly believe the restaurant workers were out of line being rude to the woman, they should never be rude to anybody. However, is it really the stuff of lawsuits?
If the woman prevails, what sort of training will restaurant workers receive? Sometimes people who have received "sensitivity training" are harder to deal with than the untrained masses. They think they know the rules, and they're afraid of making a mistake, so they run the "now I'm dealing with a blind oopps, visually impaired, oops visually challenged, person" tape. Airline employees have all been "trained" and look what that often gets us. It's the culture of condescention I want to avoid. I'm tough enough to deal with garden variety rudeness.
 
If the same thing happened to any of us with Federation experience, I doubt it would have gotten to this level. We would have talked to the person who was rude, and, if that hadn't worked, we would have taken it up with the manager. I wonder if the staff knew she was blind. Was she carrying a cane? Of course, she has a perfect right not to carry one, but it is often easier to be believed when you do. I find that people who are blind with some vision often have more trouble with this sort of thing than people who are totally blind.
I've sometimes had trouble getting the total menu of a fast food place read to me, especially when the restaurant is crowded and employees are rushing to serve a lot of customers in a short time. Perhaps I'm too willing to be walked on, but sometimes I am willing to accept the Reader's Digest version of a menu if it's clear to me that workers are being run off their feet. I've also told staff they're being rude if I think they are. Being somewhat older gives me an advantage here. I could easily be the mother of the people behind the counter, so I can talk to them in that "Mom voice." It generally intimidates all teenagers except my own.
 
Mary Ellen