[humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Dr. Chappell mtc5 at cox.net
Sun Jul 13 12:13:50 UTC 2014 

Good morning,
I caution each of us on this list to be aware of our own implicit bias.
Being of immigrant status does not relegate anyone to a lesser position in
life. Nor does having another primary language  (speaking something other
than English)  indicate under education or ignorance. People of every
demographic: black,  white, foreign,  domestic, fat, skinny, straight teeth
or gapped, anyone may walk in a lack of understanding about blindness. The
fact of the matter is, unless you have been personally or intimately
confronted with blindness  there is little that may inform. There are few
examples in family, in the media, and yes, even in the streets that
exemplify the blind experience either poorly or aptly. I ask that before we
move to the common place of denegration of people based on race, religion,
workplace, hair color, etc. that we note that this situation is exclusive to
none. This is, as Merry and Marion have demonstrated, an opportunity to
educate. An opportunity to not only educate the folks at McDonalds but, all
of our family members, the cashier in the grocery store, our best friends
and our worst enemies. So, please, allow any outrage to motivate positive
actions rather than negative rants and expressions of disparity.
Just a few thoughts.
Genuinely,
Mary Tatum Chappell, Psy. D.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ashley Bramlett [mailto:bookwormahb at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2014 12:53 AM
To: Dr. Chappell; 'Michael Babcock'; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Cc: 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Hi,
Well, its not right  what they did. But, Mary I'm not surprised at all these
employees are undereducated and are not customer friendly.  I'm also a cane
user as you know. We met years back after all.

There are many factors contributing to such misunderstandings. The two top
ones are the language barrier and lack of training in my opinion.
Mcdonalds employees' are generally immigrants, not  well educated, and speak
enough english to  get by.
Now, all are not this way, but generally, this is the case. This, coupled
with the fact they pay low wages and probably get little training about
customer service, let alone civil rights laws makes misunderstandings bound
to happen.
I've had trouble getting the info I need to make orders at mcdonalds and
other fast food places due to the language issue. I often want to ask the
food staff the menu, specials, and pricing.
I cannot always do this effectively with the language issues.

Guys, if you think its bad at Mcdonalds, try getting help at a popular
convenience store, 711.
At 711, they act clueless how to help me or don't understand what I need
even if I am specific and repeat it. I recall wanting to buy a certain
peanut butter cracker and got some type of peanut butter cookie instead.
I have some vision but the part of the label I read was unclear as to what
it was.
I've also stood a while at the counter and they simply continue to ring
customers up and ignore me, or it seems they ignore me.
Finally, my polite requests for help are acknowledged with something like,
"I'll be with you in a minute." Often other customers assist me which works
out better.

Its unfortunate this incident happened and sadly I'm not sure a large
corporation with turnover of employees will do much to rectify this issue.
of course calling them and doing advocacy will raise awareness and help you
feel better.

Ashley
-----Original Message-----
From: Dr. Chappell via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 3:35 PM
To: 'Michael Babcock' ; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Cc: 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

As a strict cane user, I have children and am in need of no other being to
depend on me--laughing out loud-- I have been somewhat ignorant to the
indignities  that have burdened guide dog users. This is an atrocity and to
think such a high-profile, public entity such as McDonald's has gotten away
with under educating their employees and subjecting their customers to such
unfair practices is, OUTRAGEOUS. I am angry and also proud that Merry and
Marion are taking a stand.
Again, I say BRAVO!
Mary Tatum Chappell As a strict cane user, I have children and am in need of
no other being to depend on me--laughing out loud-- I have been somewhat
ignorant to the indignities  that have burdened guide dog users. This is an
atrocity and to think such a high-profile, public entity such as McDonald's
has gotten away with under educating their employees and subjecting their
customers to such unfair practices is, OUTRAGEOUS. I am angry and also proud
that Merry and Marion are taking a stand.
Again, I say BRAVO!
Mary Tatum Chappell

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael
Babcock via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 1:16 PM
To: 'Michael Babcock'; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

This video is live here, it might be easier to access:
http://youtu.be/kePK2vedOog
thanks and hope it helps:
Michael Babcock
I work from home, and you can two, learn how here:
http://myownpay.com/
Changing lives
541-379-0891
-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael
Babcock via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 9:34 AM
To: 'Merry Schoch'; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

I have put this video on youtube. Go ahead and view it here:
http://youtu.be/kePK2vedOog
also feel free to share that video with your social networks, in order to
assist with educating the world about what's going on in the world still.
It looks like this video is still processing; and should be live in 29
minutes. I'll send another email when it's live.
Michael Babcock
I work from home, and you can two, learn how here:
http://myownpay.com/
Changing lives
541-379-0891

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Merry
Schoch via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 8:31 AM
To: 'Dr. Chappell'; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Well before everyone views the video I will give a brief description of what
happened before the video was taken.

Marion and I walked into our local McDonalds- we have been in this
restaurant hundreds of times.  I have lived in this area off and on since
1988 and permanent residence since 1997.  This area is great for pedestrians
because it has  some stores and restaurants within walking distance -
perfect for our lifestyle.
Continuing on...
We stood together in the lobby waiting for an available cashier for a few
minutes.  When we approached the counter a  young man came from the back of
the restaurant and stated that the manager said no dogs allowed. We shared
these were service dogs and the cashier stated it as well.  I then asked to
speak with his manager, he replied that his manager did not speak English.
I was actually dumbfounded by this.  Ordered our food and got our drinks and
sat down to eat.

As we ate we discussed with each other that we needed to educate the manager
before we left and video this interaction.  We were going to ask for a
translater.  We video recorded  an introduction before moving towards the
counter area.  As we began to move toward the counter area the manager
approached us.

Now some thoughts before we spoke to her.  Yes our neighborhood has a great
deal of Hispanic speaking individuals, our local Latin American Grocery
store has the best and cheapest Cuban sandwiches. Back to topic:  As we
discussed over our meal although there is a great deal of Hispanic speaking
individuals in our neighborhood there is more of  a percentage of English
speaking people.  It did not make sense to us that McDonalds would put a
manager in a restaurant that does not speak English well.  The video will
show that the manager still claims she speaks little English.  After the
recording, our cashier was in the lobby taking a break and I asked her if
the manager spoke English she stated she did.  Unfortunately, as the video
will demonstrate that the manager took no responsibility for her employees
actions and basically threw them under the bus.

We have worked in the past with this McDonalds to do local events and have
contacted an authority within the Corporation.  I am sure we will hear from
him on Monday.  He can view the video as well.

I was a restaurant manager in 1984 and if something liked this occurred in
my store; I would have been at my customer's table while eating, took their
receipt, reimbursed them their money, gave them tickets for free meals on
their next visit,and  I would have told them my employees were wrong in
their behavior and I would train them appropriately.  This manager did none
of these things and only appeared to have her employees do her dirty work
and then be deceitful in the area of communicating with us.  Apologies are
not well received when they don't appear genuine!

This was not so brief but that is my perspective of the situation.

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dr.
Chappell via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 11:00 AM
To: 'Marion Gwizdala'; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Marion,
Thanks. I want to see what happened and get the overall gist.

-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marion
Gwizdala via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 10:52 AM
To: 'Danielle Antoine'; 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Dear All,
I am not as tech savvy as some others, so I am getting a better link to this
video so others may view it. I will send it out again soon.

Marion


-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Danielle
Antoine via humanser
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 12:35 AM
To: Dr. Chappell; Human Services Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

I couldn't view as well. I don't have a Drop Box account so does that
matter?

On 7/11/14, Dr. Chappell via humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Tried to view the video but I was unsuccessful. Could someone please 
> tell me about it...
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
> Marion Gwizdala via humanser
> Sent: Friday, July 11, 2014 10:59 PM
> To: 'Human Services Division Mailing List'; 'NFB of Florida Internet 
> Mailing List'
> Subject: [humanser] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's
>
> Dear All,
>
>                 Here is a link to a video of my wife, Merry Schoch, 
> President of the NFB's Human Services Division and Vice President of 
> the Florida Association of Guide Dog Users (FLAGDU) confronting 
> discrimination at our local McDonald's!
>
>
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/xy8c6iqmjp8bglv/2014-07-11%2019.43.18.mov
>
>
>
> Fraternally yours,
>
>
>
> Marion Gwizdala, President
>
> National Association of Guide Dog Users Inc.
>
> National Federation of the Blind
>
> (813) 626-2789
>
> (888) 624-3841 (Hotline)
>
> President at nagdu.org
>
> http://www.nagdu.org
>
>
>
> High expectations create unlimited potential for the blind!
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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