Restaurant Refused To Serve Blind Man Because of His "Gay" Dog

What happens when a staff member of your restaurant thinks that a "guide dog" is a "gay dog" and refuses service to a blind man because of his dog's sexual preference? You give the man a written apology, attend an Equal Opportunity education course, pay him $1,500, and end up in the Idle section. From the article: "A statement given by restaurant owners Hong Hoa Thi To and Anh Hoang Le said one of the waiters had understood Mr. Jolly's partner Chris Lawrence 'to be saying she wanted to bring a gay dog into the restaurant. The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,' the statement said. Mr. Jolly and Ms. Lawrence were refused entry to the restaurant — which displays a 'guide dogs welcome' sign — even after providing staff with a guide dogs fact card."

Comments

the Lawrences are cunts

[FuckingNickName]

I can understand being a bit annoyed that restaurant staff can't understand your Australian, and would appreciate an apology and perhaps recommend that the restaurant send its staff on a basic English course.

But an Equal Opportunities Reneducation class because someone misunderstood "guide" as "gay" and then correctly refused entry of a random dog, gay or otherwise? Accepting $1500 because of the no harm that's been done to you? That's just playing the disabled card to gain special favours, and makes things harder for decent people who happen to be disabled.

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[unts]

1. The member of staff acted with prejudice towards sexuality, so I think the punishment is fair.
2. They were so dim-witted as to not figure out that they'd misheard the person, what with the GUIDE DOG AT HIS SIDE and all... they shouldn't be in that job, or have some serious learning to do.
3. It would be nice to see the $1500 go to a charity, but its their choice.

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[ArsenneLupin]

Why do you hate gay baboons?

Aren't all baboons gay?

...
...
O, sorry, I confused them with bonobos.

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[Locke2005]

You'd think the fact that THE MAN WAS BLIND would have been a major hint that this was actually a guide dog!

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[BlueKitties]

Did you even read the /. summary? It clearly said they refused entry even after the dog's papers as a guide dog were shown. In otherwords, they refused entry thinking it was gay, and after proving it was a guide dog, they still refused entry because they thought it was 'also' gay. lurn2read, engrish plox, etc etc.

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[Fenresulven]

Oh, really? Do you have any evidence? If I brought a baboon into a supermarket, would that be OK? If I pointed out that my baboon was gay, would it be homophobic to refuse the beast entry?

You're an idiot, allow me to quote the fucking SUMMARY for you:

"A statement given by restaurant owners Hong Hoa Thi To and Anh Hoang Le said one of the waiters had understood Mr. Jolly's partner Chris Lawrence 'to be saying she wanted to bring a gay dog into the restaurant. The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,' the statement said. Mr. Jolly and Ms. Lawrence were refused entry to the restaurant -- which displays a 'guide dogs welcome' sign -- even after providing staff with a guide dogs fact card."

They displayed a sign with the text "Guide dogs welcome" and then denied the dog access since they confused it for a gay dog. Yes, it WAS homophobic to deny the dog entry.

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[darthflo]

[They] denied the dog access since they confused it for a gay dog.

From what I can gather from TFS, they deny access to any dog - regardless of its sexual preferences. They make an exeption for guide dogs, because many blind people rely on these to, well, guide them. Mistaking guide for gay, the denier probably didn't realize he might be dealing with a guide dog, straight or not. The dog's skimpy leathery outfit might've played some part in the confusion as well. You might expect a gay dog to wear such a thing, or a guide dog, but both? At the same time? Who'd think of such a thing?

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[wisnoskij]

I do not see how they could not know it was a guide dog, they were even given a fact card.
Maybe they thought it was a guy guide dog.

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[Dthief]

I agree with you EXCEPT:

Mr. Jolly and Ms. Lawrence were refused entry to the restaurant — which displays a 'guide dogs welcome' sign — even after providing staff with a guide dogs fact card."

especially the last part

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[Dthief]

Mr. Jolly and Ms. Lawrence were refused entry to the restaurant — which displays a 'guide dogs welcome' sign — even after providing staff with a guide dogs fact card." Note that guide dogs are welcome, and the restaurant staff/owners are apparently illiterate

Re:the Lawrences are cunts

[Golddess]

Your own quoted section of TFS disproves you.

The staff genuinely believed that Nudge was an ordinary pet dog which had been desexed to become a gay dog,

So while they thought the dog was gay, they also thought the dog was not, I repeat, not a guide dog.

Or to put it another way...

They displayed a sign with the text "Guide dogs welcome" and then denied the dog access since they confused it for an ordinary pet (aka, non-guide) dog.

FTFY.

May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[ArsenneLupin]

No, because they won't sell any tickets to a blind man. Indeed, they use Ticketpod as their sole ticket outlet, and ticketpod only supports ordering via a proprietary flash applet which conveniently shuts out any blind person and his screen reader or braille line.

However, you're more than welcome to bring a gay dog :-)

Re:May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[Locke2005]

Wouldn't happen in the good ol' USA... the Americans with Disabilities Act forbids this type of douchebaggery. We even have braille keyboards on drive up ATMs!

Re:May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[Mal-2]

Wouldn't happen in the good ol' USA... the Americans with Disabilities Act forbids this type of douchebaggery. We even have braille keyboards on drive up ATMs!

For good reason. Who said the person using the ATM has to be the driver?

Re:May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[Locke2005]

ATMs don't talk... it is pretty much impossible to use an ATM without seeing the screen. Sure, you could memorize the entire sequence of screens, but then the first time they updated the software, you'd be screwed. Also, if you have a driver, wouldn't it be easier and faster to just let the driver do the transaction?

Re:May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[Mal-2]

On the contrary, ATMs DO talk. They even have headphone jacks for this specific purpose. In addition to that, there is no cost-effective reason to strip the Braille and talking abilities from a drive-up ATM. The physical layout is a bit different, but there's no reason the software or basic hardware needs to be.

I would rather handle my banking needs personally rather than by proxy. I don't see why a blind person would be any different. Say they're pulling up to the ATM in a taxi. Do YOU trust a cabbie to handle your transaction? Really? Even if you can trust them to be honest, can you trust them not to make a mistake? Do you want them knowing your PIN if you should ever leave your wallet in their cab?

Mal-2

Re:May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[Nexzus]

At IBM Burnaby (and probably alot of other places) they had signs on the inside of the washroom doors - "Remember to Wash Your Hands" with the braille translation underneath.

Re:May I bring my guide dog to Colour Cologne?

[canajin56]

Every ATM I've seen has a headphone jack. If you plug your headphones into it, you'll find that it has, in fact, been talking this whole time!