Deaf Coffee Frustrations

jillio said:
Why in the world would they need permission to use a restaurant that is open to the public and spend their money. That is just absurd.
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To get seating for a large group together rather than take your chances on what seating can be found upon arrival.
 
jillio said:
Why in the world would they need permission to use a restaurant that is open to the public and spend their money. That is just absurd.
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Are you kidding? Lot of people don't buy, and it takes up the restaurant space. It's always arranged. It's not a spontaneous activity.
 
joycem137 said:
Well, it is a large, multi-hour social gathering, not just a small group meeting or something. I figure any group of that size would need special permission to hold it there, or at least need to communicate with the staff, which I'm sure they've done. They've been doing this for 10 years there.
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The Deaf socials I attend are always held in the same restaurant/bar. The management really doesn't care who is there or how many of them are there because filling the place with deaf people is the same as filling it with hearing people. Money is money.:P

But you are correct. If they have been using the same location for 10 years, the business has come to expect them. They just need to do a little sensitivity, cross cultural training with at least one employee.
 
Bottesini said:
Are you kidding? Lot of people don't buy, and it takes up the restaurant space. It's always arranged. It's not a spontaneous activity.
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Not being spontaneous does not mean having to get permission for deaf people to gather there. That is crossing into some sticky territory.

I see hearing groups gather at restaurants all the time, and not all of them are purchasing something. Many are just there to socialize. They do not have to get permission, and the waitresses expect them to be there at a certain hour on a certain day each week.
 
Jane B. said:
To get seating for a large group together rather than take your chances on what seating can be found upon arrival.
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There is a difference between informing the place that you will have a large party of people, and asking permission.
 
Bottesini said:
Are you kidding? Lot of people don't buy, and it takes up the restaurant space. It's always arranged. It's not a spontaneous activity.
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You bet...some just go for the social and chat...not buying anything....I got an email awhile back about Starbucks (Deaf Coffee Chat),,and he stated that it would be nice...or "please" buy at least 1 coffee or something!....
 
rockin'robin said:
Well, maybe the clerk did stick her foot in her mouth....I just feel it wasn't intentionally....Clerks are taught to say "I'm Sorry" a lot to the customers if there is a long wait...or whatever....If the deafie would have wrote down exactly what he needed, all this much ado about it would not have happened!

She (the clerk) was probably a young girl...and all I would have said back to her was...."No worries!...I'm deaf also"....I do feel the clerk was not actually apologizing for the deafie becuz he was deaf....she was just apologizing for the wait....(not understanding what the deafie needed). .....

I've seen many many deafies trying to make their order to a clerk and the clerk could not understand them...hence, a pad and pen would suffice...and the clerk says over and over "I'm sorry"....but "what?".....

As for the shouting that the store was about to be closed....seems just dimming the lights would have worked......Seems to me most people do know what time most stores do close wherever they go.....the workers there want to go home too....
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Yeah, the "I'm sorry" seemed appropriate. There was a situation with a customer that was not going well, and it delayed the ability of another customer to get service. Sure. Totally appropriate to apologize for the wait to me.

But to blame it on him entirely, and on his deafness, as if I needed this explained to me somehow for some reason?! Yeah. No. Bad. It would have been more appropriate to say, "I'm sorry for the delay. May I help you?"

You're right, though. Not only was she young, she also seemed like a new employee, so she probably was panicking as she was trying to handle a problematic communication barrier as well as learning how to run the register and stuff. Her behavior seems understandable, certainly. It's still inappropriate.

The thing about the lights and the yelling was just another thing that seemed to indicate to me that they didn't get what they were doing or how to deal with deaf/hoh folks.
 
rockin'robin said:
You bet...some just go for the social and chat...not buying anything....I got an email awhile back about Starbucks (Deaf Coffee Chat),,and he stated that it would be nice...or "please" buy at least 1 coffee or something!....
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But that is the point. Situations like that don't just happen with deaf gatherings. I've seen it happen with AA groups, with church groups, with school groups...none of whom asked permission to be there.
 
joycem137 said:
Yeah, the "I'm sorry" seemed appropriate. There was a situation with a customer that was not going well, and it delayed the ability of another customer to get service. Sure. Totally appropriate to apologize for the wait to me.

But to blame it on him entirely, and on his deafness, as if I needed this explained to me somehow for some reason?! Yeah. No. Bad. It would have been more appropriate to say, "I'm sorry for the delay. May I help you?"

You're right, though. Not only was she young, she also seemed like a new employee, so she probably was panicking as she was trying to handle a problematic communication barrier as well as learning how to run the register and stuff. Her behavior seems understandable, certainly. It's still inappropriate.

The thing about the lights and the yelling was just another thing that seemed to indicate to me that they didn't get what they were doing or how to deal with deaf/hoh folks.
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Exactly. "Sorry for the wait", or "I apologize if there was an inconvenience" is very, very different from, "Sorry. He's deaf."
 
jillio said:
Why in the world would they need permission to use a restaurant that is open to the public and spend their money. That is just absurd.
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As usual, you are wrong. If a group wants to use the establishment for other than its intended purpose permission must be granted. That is why a business meeting, a social, a birthday party, etc. must be cleared first with management.
Get a clue!
 
BTW: I've been to some socials that had not first been cleared (the last was at Olive Garden) and management told the group of about 50 "Eat, pay and leave" Those tables are too valuable not to turn over regularly.
 
rolling7 said:
As usual, you are wrong. If a group wants to use the establishment for other than its intended purpose permission must be granted. That is why a business meeting, a social, a birthday party, etc. must be cleared first with management.
Get a clue!
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You are completely and utterly incorrect. A group of friends can meet ina restaurant for any purpose they choose, be it to visit with each other over coffee or drinks, celebrate a bithday, or have a business meeting. It does not have to be cleared with management. It is a place open to the public. It isn't like they came in and tried to use a coffee shop as a shooting range. They went in and had coffee with friends. That is what a coffee shop is for. And since they had been doing it for 10 years, I'd say the coffee shop was not doubt grateful for their business. You act like the business was doing something for the customer when it is the other way around. It is the customer that is patronizing the business and the business who is grateful. They could choose any place they wanted to to have a cup of coffee and a chat. They chose this place, and they don't need permission to go into a public place.
 
rolling7 said:
BTW: I've been to some socials that had not first been cleared (the last was at Olive Garden) and management told the group of about 50 "Eat, pay and leave" Those tables are too valuable not to turn over regularly.
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Yeah, right. :roll: Management cannot throw a group of 50 people out just because they think they aren't eating fast enough. :roll: I'd love to see that one called into the cops. Hey, can you come get these paying customers out of my place of business because they eat too slow?:laugh2:
 
jillio said:
Yeah, right. :roll: Management cannot throw a group of 50 people out just because they think they aren't eating fast enough. :roll: I'd love to see that one called into the cops. Hey, can you come get these paying customers out of my place of business because they eat too slow?:laugh2:
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THere are big signs in some spots where people used to try that here saying that they can only stay for a certain period of time, and it is not a place for card games, etc.
 
Bottesini said:
THere are big signs in some spots where people used to try that here saying that they can only stay for a certain period of time, and it is not a place for card games, etc.
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Who was playing cards?
 
jillio said:
Yeah, right. :roll: Management cannot throw a group of 50 people out just because they think they aren't eating fast enough. :roll: I'd love to see that one called into the cops. Hey, can you come get these paying customers out of my place of business because they eat too slow?:laugh2:
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The deaf are not eating too slow but not at all. The deaf want to makie a social event out of the meal. Which is ok if management says they have the space for it. Otherwise ,they hang around and take up table space where the seats could be turn over to the next paying customer. It is a good thing you never went into the business because you are tooooo nice to people.:giggle::giggle::giggle:
 
rolling7 said:
The deaf are not eating too slow but not at all. The deaf want to makie a social event out of the meal. Which is ok if management says they have the space for it. Otherwise ,they hang around and take up table space where the seats could be turn over to the next paying customer. It is a good thing you never went into the business because you are tooooo nice to people.:giggle::giggle::giggle:
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Thank God that curmudgeons are in the extreme minority. And they don't go into business because no one will patronize a curmudgeon's establishment.:laugh2:
 
jillio said:
Where? At this deaf coffee?
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Yeah. I see it all the time here too. Not necessarily at a "deaf coffee" but even at restaurants where (even I'm guilty of this!) we sit for hours and play cards. I'm sure management would rather have had the turnover to another paying customer, but we usually only do it at restaurants that are not "full" - no lines/people waiting for our tables.
 
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