Issue With Deaf Patrons

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TXiang

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Hello to all. I am new here. Sorry if I offend or if this is the wrong place to post this, but I am a business owner and I am having an issue with Deaf patrons.

I am a partial owner of a small Pan-Asian Cuisine Restaurant in the Mid-West America. It is my job to run the restaurant at dinnertime during the weekends. The restaurant is small and fire codes will only allow Our restaurant is in a shopping complex which borders an apartment residence.

Business was going well. We just had to hire a second chef. One month later the business has struggled on the weekends.

The problem is that Deaf People moved into the apartment residence. The three Deaf People will come in to our restaurant with their friends who also cannot talk or hear sounds.

The Deaf People come in every Saturday and Sunday during dinner. They have scared the other patrons away.

The Deaf People make loud noises, and they do this constantly, but they cannot hear the noises they make. The Deaf People are rude when ordering because they will not point to what they want on the menu. But worse things have been done by the Deaf People.

I need to keep the business profitable. We used to have two or three regular customers who came to our restaurant every weekend for over eight months. Now the Deaf People came in. Here is the part that might cause offense. They sat by the regular customers customers and loudly passed gas all night.

Now the regulars do not come in anymore. How do I tell the Deaf People to behave so I can keep the business profits? Is it legal to make a separate Deaf Person section whenever the Deaf People come in to eat? Can I turn them away, not for being Deaf People, but for their bad behavior?

Thank you in advance.
 
Don't think about separating deaf people and make them have their own section at the restaurant. Have you tried asking them to try to keep it quiet because they're being a little too loud, or stop doing what they do that annoys other people (like farting), in writing?

If nothing works and they refuse to cooperate, then I think you may have the right to ask them to leave and not come back. I don't know, but keep asking around for other opinions and decide what you want to do.

Good luck with your business.
 
I would do what Alex suggested.

Really, this is typical deaf people behavior. I tried to explain to my hearing friend one major thing I disliked about deaf world - they always gather around and stayed in one place for long time. My friend couldn't understand what I meant till I invited him to watch open caption movie. When the movie's over, they would gather near exit and chatting for hours. And the movie theatre employees were trying to tell them to leave and they ignored them and then they were frustrating with them. My friend understood what I meant.

I actually like what Alex suggested - or you could make an excuse by telling them to leave because you need table for your other customers.
 
Hmmm, very interesting. The Deaf people at his restaurant is really rude. They can not help making the loud noises but if they signed and use voice off to communicate, they would be quiet. I am puzzled whether they are oral or just want to make noises while signing just to make the customers upset. As for farting, they should have gone to the bathroom to do that and get rid of their systems and they will feel better not have to fart.

As for the Deaf people, are they young or old people? If they are young, then the Deaf people need to learn how to respect and show good manners in the restaurant environment. If they refuse to respect you after you wrote to them that you want them to behave like gentlemen and ladies so that you can run the business in the restaurant. Otherwise you will have to tell them to leave the restaurant and not come back if they don't behave better. I understand your frustrations. Young people are terrible when there is no rules.

Both in the media (newspaper and internet) and the newspapers give them bad manners a lot. This is what I noticed. No respect for humanity and property everywhere. So you are not the only one. **sigh** :(
 
No advice here. Just saying it's sad that this makes deaf people in general bad. I would not want to be friends with those deaf folks. I feel for you. I wish you the best luck and hope you get those regular customers back.
 
Wow! You did a good job to find this website. I understand that it's a tough situation for you since you may be afraid to be sued for an act of discrimination.

OK, what kind of noise are you talking about? Banging on a table to get another deaf person's attention? Some, no, not some... many deaf people tend to do that but it's still unacceptable in your situation. As for fart, oh my God, they obviously don't grow up and have no respect for other patrons.

Another question is do you have a poster on the wall that says that you have rights not to serve a customer? If so, simply point your finger to that poster to warn them and tell them to stop making unnecessary noise. Otherwise, kick them out and tell them not to come back anymore. If they refuse to leave, call police.
 
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I forgot to mention one more thing. Most of us, Deafies, who are in the Deaf community like to sign long hours as we have many things to say before leaving the table or Deaf event. Hearing people are really different than Deaf people when communicating at the table or at the Deaf event. So it is common when we sign for a long time but I would like for you to tell them it is time to leave so that other patrons can use their table to eat. They should be able to respect that. Don't forget to use paper and pen to tell them that. :)
 
Bebonang said:
I forgot to mention one more thing. Most of us, Deafies, who are in the Deaf community like to sign long hours as we have many things to say before leaving the table or Deaf event. Hearing people are really different than Deaf people when communicating at the table or at the Deaf event. So it is common when we sign for a long time but I would like for you to tell them it is time to leave so that other patrons can use their table to eat. They should be able to respect that. Don't forget to use paper and pen to tell them that. :)
Click to expand...
That's true since it's part of our Deaf Culture. If the OP also complains about that, well, that makes things worse. Nevertheless the owner still has rights. As a matter of fact, some deafies have no common sense. Not you! :cool2:
 
Mr xiang
Thank you for making this effort. My idea is to present a note to your deaf customers saying just what you told us. As you see by the responses here most deaf want you to feel free to ask the deaf to respect your other customers and dine civilly
You can also print out this thread here on alldeaf and ask them to look at the response of the deaf here..
Good luck on your business,
 
If they are rude and purposely making very loud noises, kick them out. However, if they are signing away and making some noises, it could be a cultural difference.

My Deaf friends and I go to restaurants and we dont pass gas, make loud noises, or purposely be rude to people but I have noticed that many hearing customers get up and leave as soon as my group sit down.

It could be a problem with some of your regular customers if they view Deaf people as people to stay away from.

I think both sides need to make a compromise to respect each other and the restaurant employees.
 
Some people, hearies & deafies both ....just don't give a damn...hence the "farting" in public....These types of people have no class whatsoever.

As for the "loud noises" that deafies make....they can't hear themselves, but need to be made aware of it.

It's embarrassing to think about it...and sorry ur business is suffering because of a few inconsiderate and low-class deafies.....We're all not like that, but it just takes a few to make tje rest of us look really bad.

I would ask them to leave, and if they refused, I'd call the Police and have them banned from my restaurant.
 
All have good points here. It is your restaurant, you have every right to ban anyone for any reason.

Just remember that they are being rude because they are morons, not because they are deaf.

I would write down what you just said and show it to them. If they dont respect you, tell them to leave and never come back.
 
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