WARNING: the following post may offend some people. I would like to take this opportunity to come out & say I've got nothing against people with any kind of handicap/disability. I've got issues with people who use said impairment as a crux or for that matter feel the world owes them big time because they have some sort of disability. This letter is addressed not only to those people, but to every other self-entitled loser out there (whether disabled or not).
Dear blind guy who came into my place of employment today...
I don't know if you were having a bad day, or if you had only recently become blind due to an accident of some description, or perhaps you just hate Christmas (join the club) – however, that is no reason to act the way you did today – not only to myself but to all the members of staff... and I'd like to take a minute to clarify/elaborate/make you understand my words/motives that were completely honest and was definitely not a reason for you to automatically jump on your high horse & start pulling out your “blind” card.
1. When I said I'd have to check with the Manager to see where I could seat you. This was not a dig at you being handicapped (however temporary/permanent/serious). You may or may not have noticed that I said the same thing to the people in front of you, behind you and continued to do so throughout the entire day. It's my job to seat people. As it's so close to Christmas, many of our tables had been pre-booked & I needed to acquaint myself with which ones were available. I was not discriminating against you as you so accused me of doing.
2. When I mentioned that I couldn't seat you near the open kitchen due to your lovely canine companion. This was not me forbidding your entry into the establishment because you had a guide dog. This was merely a health & safety/food issue as it's an open kitchen & we don't want law suits because someone finds a bit of dog fur in their salad. I am well aware that it is against the law/frowned upon to refuse entry to someone with a guide dog – funnily enough I asked the question yesterday when a customer wanted to bring a dog into the restaurant (simply because she'd taken the pup for a walk & required sustenance before heading home). Had you stopped flapping your gums for one moment & listened to what I was saying you would have realized this was no cause for your self-entitled rant and would have let me seat you somewhere more suitable for everyone involved.
3. In regards to treating you differently because you have a disability... let me tell you, had my Manager not been in the vicinity at this point I would have called you every name under the sun & argued with you – as I would have done with any customer acting like a complete smacktard at my place of work. I don't give a damn if you have less than perfect vision/no vision at all.. act like a douche and I'm going to treat you like one. The anger in my system was so great, that had I not been thinking like a rational adult, I would have arranged for someone to spit in your food/drink – however, I am not an irrational idiot & have self-control when it comes to dealing with other human beings.
4. I don't know how many times in 2 minutes you want to say the phrases “don't discriminate against me” or “I'm blind” etc etc... but I don't care. I can SEE that you are blind and have a guide dog. I KNOW what I am allowed/not allowed to do. Frankly, I don't care if you happen to accidentally walk off a cliff – I'm more concerned about your adorable puppy than your feelings - after the way you chewed me out for no reason. It's a pub. It's Christmas time. It's going to be loud & busy.. and a lot of our regulars are coming in to enjoy themselves & can get a bit rowdy at times. I wanted to make sure you were in a comfortable spot, where your poor dog wasn't going to be trampled on, or have beer spilt on him which would have resulted in yet another one of your rants about equality or whatever and someone was going to throw a punch to shut you up. It may have ended up being me had you kept attacking each member of staff with the same crap... and if you'd started on the customers – oh boy, you do not want to even go there.
I've got no qualms saying this to you or anyone else who feels that society owes them something. Nothing to do with you having a disability. In my book, if you act like an idiot, you will get the same treatment. Pull your head in. Let me do my job and we'll get on just fine.
Obligatory TLDR - don't be a douche. Just because you're blind doesn't mean people are out to get you. You don't need to get offended at every little thing. Chill the F*** out! Sincerely, Everyone in Society.
