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west3man · 01-20-2005, 12:41 PM

To say my I had "a bad experience" at a particular Waffle House in the Atlanta area, this weekend, would be an understatement.

I debated whether it was worth starting a thread over, then I saw the similarities to the following article and decided it WAS worth it: *deep breath*

source: http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site....ws/wafflehouse

ARTICLE:NAACP Joins Federal Bias Lawsuits Against Waffle House Chain
Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2005
By: Nia Ngina Meeks, BlackAmericaWeb.com

A consortium of attorneys, including a contingent from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, filed suit Tuesday morning against Waffle House and its franchisees in at least four Southern states.

Charging that employees and managers either conducted or turned a blind eye to blatant acts of racial discrimination, the legal force contends that the Southern roadside institution has to do a better job of enforcing its policies.

“What we want is to get Waffle House to change how it’s treating African-American consumers,” interim NAACP Chief Counsel Angela Ciccolo told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

The four cases filed today added to a case file that includes some two dozen claims against the Norcross, Georgia-based chain.

The NAACP joined the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, plus four law firms representing plaintiffs alleging racial bias.

The charges range from rude behavior to being verbally assaulted to maggots present in food served to people of color, whether in Virginia, Alabama, Georgia or North Carolina.

MY EXPERIENCE:
I was in the Atlanta area, for the past few days to celebrate my birthday and to spend time with family - particularly my father. There was already plenty of potential for drama. I did NOT need more from Waffle House employees.

I called a Waffle House near the hotel to order breakfast, so it'd be ready by the time we got over there. The young man on the phone wasn't exactly cordial, but I was going to let that slide until he hung up before my girlfriend, to whom I'd given the phone to detail HER order, before she could find out when the food would be ready.

I called back said to the woman who answered the phone, "We just ordered some food, but ol' boy hung up before..." when she abruptly put me on hold.

This displeased me. I waited a short while, then hung up the phone and drove over there.

When I arrived, I politely asked to speak to the manager and was directed to a large, Black male behind the counter. I asked if I could speak with him and he kept saying, "What?" like he wanted me to say it out-loud. I preferred to keep things quiet and not have our exchange take place before the Waffle House patrons, so I, again, asked if I could speak with him for a second. He paused and said, "... I'll be with you in 30 minutes."

This displeased me some more. I said, half-talking to the employee at the cash register, "I get rude treatment on the phone - TWICE, come here to speak to you and THIS is how you treat me? What did I do to deserve this? What IS this?" His response, "Waffle House #[x,y,z]." No lie.

I continued to stand and speak to him, as he ignored me. At one point, he turned around, saw me still standing there and said, "What're you DOING?" and instructed me to sit down in a chair near the window. I refused and continued talking to him as he turned his back on me and walked into another room. When he returned, I continued, again, telling him how rude his behavior was and how I could understand how his employees could be so rude on the phone if THIS is how the MANAGER treats customers IN-PERSON.

I told him, at one point, that I wasn't going to stand there for 30 minutes waiting on his "ass." That was the one bit of near-profanity from me. I thought it only fair to mention the less-than-nice behavior on my part, as well. This, however, was only after he'd repeatedly treated me rudely.

He soon said he'd speak to me outside. I went out there and as he approached me, I told him to keep his distance and then we began talking. Within five seconds, he was yelling at me. This is the manager, in the parking lot, yelling at his customer. I responded by yelling back at him. He said, "Couldn't you see I was busy?" and said he thought I was there to apply for a job. I told him he'd have known that wasn't the case if he'd taken two seconds to ask me. I said I could've been telling him his BUILDING was on fire. He didn't hear much of this, I imagine, since he was still yelling at me.

His mobile phone rang and he answered it, saying it was his wife. He then talked to her, at length, while, apparently, expecting me to stand there waiting on him. Instead, I took a close-up picture, using my mobile phone, of him talking on his. Then I took pictures of the employees so that it'd be clear who was working, at the time.

I reported this to a Waffle House district manager and plan to contact their corporate office. I also showed her the pictures of him standing five feet in front of me talking on his mobile phone and of the other employees.

Now, if this guy weren't Black (which he was), one might be tempted to say he made this assumption about me and then proceeded to treat me rudely, simply because *I* am Black. It occurs to me, now, that just because HE'S Black, that doesn't mean he wasN'T doing JUST THAT.

So... if you're still reading, after all of THAT... what do YOU think - about my experience, my guess about the manager's prejudice, or Waffle House, in general?

SteelTownr · 01-20-2005, 12:51 PM

I'm a bit confused.

The manager that gave you such a hard time was black?

I've had cruddy treatment at Waffle Houses too.

Then again, I've had good treatment.

Mark B.

west3man · 01-20-2005, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTownr

I'm a bit confused.

The manager that gave you such a hard time was black?

Yes, sir.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark

I've had cruddy treatment at Waffle Houses too.

Then again, I've had good treatment.

Mark B.

Same here.

In fact, the people at the other Waffle House, where I reported the rude manager, were fairly pleasant. The district manager was VERY pleasant. The other employees, became that much MORE pleasant, after they heard me tell her that I'd had nothing but positive experiences at that particular store.

Ecoman · 01-20-2005, 12:56 PM

Holy Shit man.

That's absolutely unacceptable. That kind of behaviour should have died out an extremely long time ago. That's just disgusting. I hope you get better help from the corporate office. In theory they should come down on their asses hard for this. You were blatantly ignored by the sound of it and you have a right to be pretty pissed about it. It's disgusting that such ignorant prejudices still exist.

It's funny. Here we are in 2005 and this shit still goes on. I thought we were supposed to be the intelligent creatures on this stupid chunk of dirt.

Shades0077 · 01-20-2005, 12:56 PM

I say go to IHOP next time. Pancakes are better than waffles.

Sucks that the manager was a jerk though.

macul · 01-20-2005, 12:57 PM

I'm not sure I've ever had a good experience at a Waffle House. They vary from "meh" to "ugh."

Sounds like a really bad manager and person to boot. He should in no way be in charge of anyone or working in a customer service field.

SUPERECWFAN1 · 01-20-2005, 12:58 PM

Go to Cracker Barrell. Better place. :)

Nate C. · 01-20-2005, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by west3man

Now, if this guy weren't Black (which he was), one might be tempted to say he made this assumption about me and then proceeded to treat me rudely, simply because *I* am Black. It occurs to me, now, that just because HE'S Black, that doesn't mean he wasN'T doing JUST THAT.

So... if you're still reading, after all of THAT... what do YOU think - about my experience, my guess about the manager's prejudice, or Waffle House, in general?

My own opinion is that hardly no one wants to work for minimum wage anymore. If I started a thread about Wal-Mart employees, I would still be here tommorrow, cussing all the way.

I'm delivering pizzas on weekend nights right now, while I'm back in school for my third degree :o , and I can tell you, none of the 18-25 year olds I work with, white or black, is worth knocking in the head.

You didn't get treated poorly because you are black. You got treated poorly for deigning to bother an employee while they were at work. How dare you?

tricksterpup · 01-20-2005, 01:00 PM

hmmm.. that is why we used to call them the AWFUL WAFFLE.

SteelTownr · 01-20-2005, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macul

I'm not sure I've ever had a good experience at a Waffle House. They vary from "meh" to "ugh."

Yeah, I guess that is more like it.

They are strictly "Well, I am hungry and that is the only thing open fare" for me.

The foods so-so and the prices are actually high.

Mark B.

Dreadstar · 01-20-2005, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tricksterpup

hmmm.. that is why we used to call them the AWFUL WAFFLE.

New one on me. We call them the Awful House.

Doesn't stop us from hitting it at 2 in the morning to counter the effects of the alcohol, though. I mean the only other choice is Sliders... err.... Rat Burge... um... White Castle.

Indy24LA · 01-20-2005, 01:10 PM

If I had an experience with Awful House like yours, I'd send their main office a detailed letter and pretty much write off ever going there again! There are a buncha Waffle House type restaurants (most are an improvement), so it's not a big loss.

Dreadstar · 01-20-2005, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indy24LA

If I had an experience with Awful House like yours, I'd send their main office a detailed letter and pretty much write off ever going there again! There are a buncha Waffle House type restaurants (most are an improvement), so it's not a big loss.

I'd just write off that particular Waffle House. I've had bad experiences at one of the Max and Erma's here in town (local chain), but never have a problem at any of the others.

To respond to the original post, it appears that with the lead-off article that west is trying to put his own experience under the heading "racially motivated."

I'm having a tough time seeing that. The telephone problem wouldn't be, for example, and the remainder doesn't exactly scream prejudice, especially if you came on like gang-busters when you first got there in person.

Not that the manager wasn't WRONG in treating you that way. I'd certainly narc his ass out on this, no doubt.

SUPERECWFAN1 · 01-20-2005, 01:23 PM

I will say this. I have ate at a Waffle House and the food Is so/so . But the service was usually nice whenever I ate there. Maybe Its the fact that some people are assholes I suppose.

Awhile back at a Bob Evan's I had an experince that Is just as bad. We walked In , ordered and wasn't served for an hour. Time we got the food It was cold or wrong. My order was wrong. My mom & dads was ice cold. We finally left after an hour & half and paid.

We told the guy In charge about and all he did was shrug his shoulders. My dad took that as not givin a damn.

Listen you stupied asshole , we tell more people to not eat here and tell them the service we got , you think they will. We paid and at least wanted an apology! Now I'll contact your Manager and tell him!

My dad told someone at another Bob Evans and the guy walked out and talked to my dad as we ate breakfast. He told him that he was going to that restraunt due to complaints. They had put him In charge and he wrote down what went wrong with our orders that night. He gave us the Breakfast as my dad offered to pay. But he told my dad he was gonna fix things at that location.

west3man · 01-20-2005, 01:30 PM

re-posted after mini-crash...

Quote:

Originally Posted by noljoner

You didn't get treated poorly because you are black. You got treated poorly for deigning to bother an employee while they were at work. How dare you?

I appreciate your response, but have to wonder...

... why you're comfortable assuming that if I'd been white and well-dressed (:p heh, *I* think I was, anyway) that he'd STILL have assumed I was there to apply for a job... and then treat me like boo-boo.

Of course, I don't know that "White West" would've been treated any differently, either.

--------------------------

To be clear, though, I was polite... exceedingly so, to both people I was on the phone with AND the people I encountered in-person... until ol' boy not only mistreated me, but REPEATEDLY did so. That's when I said, "I'm not gon' wait on yo' ass." That was about as raw as I got, but I feel it was completely justified, considering how nice (for lack of a better term) I'd been even AFTER being mistreated.

This dude assumed I was there for a job, but why? For what reason would he assume that *I*, as opposed to any other person to walk through that door, was there for a job? The main difference between me and the other people in the restaurant was the fact that I was alone. The next was NOT my skin color, to be fair, however, what this comes down to is what about *me* made him assume I was there for a job. Clearly, I don't have empirical data, but I am having a very hard time picturing this man behaving similarly to a 31 year old white male wearing a cream turtle-neck sweater with tan horizontal stripes, matching boots, leather jack, leather hat, and jeans.

The people on the phone may or may not have treated someone with "less bass" in his voice differently, but in-person, I'm becoming less and less confident that a white male, similarly dressed, would've been treated similarly.

01-20-2005, 12:41 PM	#1
west3man Elder Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 17,728	What's up with WAFFLE HOUSE? To say my I had "a bad experience" at a particular Waffle House in the Atlanta area, this weekend, would be an understatement. I debated whether it was worth starting a thread over, then I saw the similarities to the following article and decided it WAS worth it: deep breath source: http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site....ws/wafflehouse ARTICLE:NAACP Joins Federal Bias Lawsuits Against Waffle House Chain Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 By: Nia Ngina Meeks, BlackAmericaWeb.com A consortium of attorneys, including a contingent from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, filed suit Tuesday morning against Waffle House and its franchisees in at least four Southern states. Charging that employees and managers either conducted or turned a blind eye to blatant acts of racial discrimination, the legal force contends that the Southern roadside institution has to do a better job of enforcing its policies. “What we want is to get Waffle House to change how it’s treating African-American consumers,” interim NAACP Chief Counsel Angela Ciccolo told BlackAmericaWeb.com. The four cases filed today added to a case file that includes some two dozen claims against the Norcross, Georgia-based chain. The NAACP joined the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, plus four law firms representing plaintiffs alleging racial bias. The charges range from rude behavior to being verbally assaulted to maggots present in food served to people of color, whether in Virginia, Alabama, Georgia or North Carolina. MY EXPERIENCE: I was in the Atlanta area, for the past few days to celebrate my birthday and to spend time with family - particularly my father. There was already plenty of potential for drama. I did NOT need more from Waffle House employees. I called a Waffle House near the hotel to order breakfast, so it'd be ready by the time we got over there. The young man on the phone wasn't exactly cordial, but I was going to let that slide until he hung up before my girlfriend, to whom I'd given the phone to detail HER order, before she could find out when the food would be ready. I called back said to the woman who answered the phone, "We just ordered some food, but ol' boy hung up before..." when she abruptly put me on hold. This displeased me. I waited a short while, then hung up the phone and drove over there. When I arrived, I politely asked to speak to the manager and was directed to a large, Black male behind the counter. I asked if I could speak with him and he kept saying, "What?" like he wanted me to say it out-loud. I preferred to keep things quiet and not have our exchange take place before the Waffle House patrons, so I, again, asked if I could speak with him for a second. He paused and said, "... I'll be with you in 30 minutes." This displeased me some more. I said, half-talking to the employee at the cash register, "I get rude treatment on the phone - TWICE, come here to speak to you and THIS is how you treat me? What did I do to deserve this? What IS this?" His response, "Waffle House #[x,y,z]." No lie. I continued to stand and speak to him, as he ignored me. At one point, he turned around, saw me still standing there and said, "What're you DOING?" and instructed me to sit down in a chair near the window. I refused and continued talking to him as he turned his back on me and walked into another room. When he returned, I continued, again, telling him how rude his behavior was and how I could understand how his employees could be so rude on the phone if THIS is how the MANAGER treats customers IN-PERSON. I told him, at one point, that I wasn't going to stand there for 30 minutes waiting on his "ass." That was the one bit of near-profanity from me. I thought it only fair to mention the less-than-nice behavior on my part, as well. This, however, was only after he'd repeatedly treated me rudely. He soon said he'd speak to me outside. I went out there and as he approached me, I told him to keep his distance and then we began talking. Within five seconds, he was yelling at me. This is the manager, in the parking lot, yelling at his customer. I responded by yelling back at him. He said, "Couldn't you see I was busy?" and said he thought I was there to apply for a job. I told him he'd have known that wasn't the case if he'd taken two seconds to ask me. I said I could've been telling him his BUILDING was on fire. He didn't hear much of this, I imagine, since he was still yelling at me. His mobile phone rang and he answered it, saying it was his wife. He then talked to her, at length, while, apparently, expecting me to stand there waiting on him. Instead, I took a close-up picture, using my mobile phone, of him talking on his. Then I took pictures of the employees so that it'd be clear who was working, at the time. I reported this to a Waffle House district manager and plan to contact their corporate office. I also showed her the pictures of him standing five feet in front of me talking on his mobile phone and of the other employees. Now, if this guy weren't Black (which he was), one might be tempted to say he made this assumption about me and then proceeded to treat me rudely, simply because I am Black. It occurs to me, now, that just because HE'S Black, that doesn't mean he wasN'T doing JUST THAT. So... if you're still reading, after all of THAT... what do YOU think - about my experience, my guess about the manager's prejudice, or Waffle House, in general? Last edited by west3man : 01-20-2005 at 12:55 PM.

01-20-2005, 12:56 PM	#4
Ecoman RESURRECTED Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Sea of Tranquility, The Moon Posts: 373	Holy Shit man. That's absolutely unacceptable. That kind of behaviour should have died out an extremely long time ago. That's just disgusting. I hope you get better help from the corporate office. In theory they should come down on their asses hard for this. You were blatantly ignored by the sound of it and you have a right to be pretty pissed about it. It's disgusting that such ignorant prejudices still exist. It's funny. Here we are in 2005 and this shit still goes on. I thought we were supposed to be the intelligent creatures on this stupid chunk of dirt. __________________ Tucker fell back with an exasperated sigh. He didn't understand religion. It was like Heroin or Golf: he knew a lot of people did it but he didn't understand why.

01-20-2005, 12:56 PM	#5
Shades0077 The Immitigable Superstar Join Date: May 2004 Location: Portland word, yo Posts: 2,677	I say go to IHOP next time. Pancakes are better than waffles. Sucks that the manager was a jerk though. __________________ Sean "Hutch" Hutchinson Creator of Hutch University LiveJournal Yay Writing! SFW SMRZNP

01-20-2005, 12:57 PM	#6
macul Hunker down! Join Date: May 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 4,497	I'm not sure I've ever had a good experience at a Waffle House. They vary from "meh" to "ugh." Sounds like a really bad manager and person to boot. He should in no way be in charge of anyone or working in a customer service field. __________________ http://www.hobnailedboot.com Last edited by macul : 01-20-2005 at 12:59 PM.

01-20-2005, 12:58 PM	#7
SUPERECWFAN1 6-Time Rita's Champion ! Join Date: May 2004 Location: Somewhere In....AMERICA! Posts: 43,199	Go to Cracker Barrell. Better place. :) __________________ Paul Heyman: " I am the GOD , the Messiah and the Spirit of ECW. You , my children will drink the coolaid." (Heyman on ECW on Sci-Fi) Guns n Roses "CHINESE DEMOCRACY" IS HERE !!. At all BEST BUY outlets and on ITunes ! "See , the Good do Die Young , but Pricks live forever !" : Lewis Black "You're a poor deluded dude, dude." : Rick Olney to me July 29th 2009.

01-20-2005, 12:51 PM	#2
SteelTownr Kiss the Ring Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Myers Florida Posts: 5,042	I'm a bit confused. The manager that gave you such a hard time was black? I've had cruddy treatment at Waffle Houses too. Then again, I've had good treatment. Mark B.

01-20-2005, 01:00 PM	#9
tricksterpup Tricksterpup says Pudd'n Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Mpls Posts: 10,573	hmmm.. that is why we used to call them the AWFUL WAFFLE. __________________ No worries. But I'm sorry to say that I've already named a character after you that gets killed off horrible for his insolence. Nah, just kidding. - Andy Schmidt

01-20-2005, 01:10 PM	#12
Indy24LA The Wanderer Join Date: May 2004 Location: Look Behind You Posts: 766	If I had an experience with Awful House like yours, I'd send their main office a detailed letter and pretty much write off ever going there again! There are a buncha Waffle House type restaurants (most are an improvement), so it's not a big loss.

01-20-2005, 01:23 PM	#14
SUPERECWFAN1 6-Time Rita's Champion ! Join Date: May 2004 Location: Somewhere In....AMERICA! Posts: 43,199	I will say this. I have ate at a Waffle House and the food Is so/so . But the service was usually nice whenever I ate there. Maybe Its the fact that some people are assholes I suppose. Awhile back at a Bob Evan's I had an experince that Is just as bad. We walked In , ordered and wasn't served for an hour. Time we got the food It was cold or wrong. My order was wrong. My mom & dads was ice cold. We finally left after an hour & half and paid. We told the guy In charge about and all he did was shrug his shoulders. My dad took that as not givin a damn. Listen you stupied asshole , we tell more people to not eat here and tell them the service we got , you think they will. We paid and at least wanted an apology! Now I'll contact your Manager and tell him! My dad told someone at another Bob Evans and the guy walked out and talked to my dad as we ate breakfast. He told him that he was going to that restraunt due to complaints. They had put him In charge and he wrote down what went wrong with our orders that night. He gave us the Breakfast as my dad offered to pay. But he told my dad he was gonna fix things at that location. __________________ Paul Heyman: " I am the GOD , the Messiah and the Spirit of ECW. You , my children will drink the coolaid." (Heyman on ECW on Sci-Fi) Guns n Roses "CHINESE DEMOCRACY" IS HERE !!. At all BEST BUY outlets and on ITunes ! "See , the Good do Die Young , but Pricks live forever !" : Lewis Black "You're a poor deluded dude, dude." : Rick Olney to me July 29th 2009.

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