April26

DISCRIMINATION N' THINGS...

Hey all welp this week's entry is an actual letter that I've written to
the Owner of a Restaurant in Simi Called "EGGS N' THINGS". I also
sent copies to the ACLU, Consumer Affairs, and the Simi Valley
Chamber of Commerce. If you have any opinions after reading this,
email me and let me know. If you think there's someone else I should
contact let me know. Thanks and read on...

Mr. McCarthy,
I am sending you fax of what transpired in one of your restaurants in
Simi Valley on Sunday 4/23/06
Between my family and Bettina the manager of your establishment. I
tried to get a direct contact number for you and was only given a fax
number. I stated that this was an urgent matter, but no one would give
me your direct line so I had no choice but to send this letter by fax. I
have also sent a copy of this letter to Consumer Affairs, the ACLU, and
MALDEF (Mexican American League Defense Education Fund) I would
appreciate your response to this situation as soon as possible.

I arrived at Eggs-N-Things after church with my two sisters and my
mother who is in a wheelchair. The restaurant was busy, but looking at
the list I noticed that there were 4 tables waiting to be seated. I put
my name on the list and as I was giving my name to the hostess (who I
later would find out was Bettina, the Manager) I didn’t realize that a
man right behind me was asking how long the wait was. She answered in
my direction “oh, it’ll be just a few minutes” in a pleasant voice to which
I answered (because I thought she was speaking to me) “oh, thank you”.
She then snapped at me “NO, NOT YOU, you’re going to wait AWHILE”.
This threw me off guard and I replied “oh, how long will it be?” Bettina
replied “10 minutes” very dismissive to which I replied “well, that’s not
that long is it?” Bettina at that point gave a little chuckle and went
back to her list. My sister Gabriela who was right next to me asks me
“did you tell her we need a booth for mom?” I said no and she starts to
address Bettina “just please make sure it’s a booth, my mom is
handicapped” instead of accommodating us she barks very abruptly to my
sister “WHO ARE YOU?” and I reply “she’s my sister, we all came in
together” and she then says “tables have easier access” we said my
mother was more comfortable in a booth and she can get in and out of
one very easily. Bettina says “fine” and goes back to her list. We then
start to wait by the front door. More people come in after us and put
their names on the list. As we begin to wait, I notice a round booth
that would seat 4 – 5 people that is set up and ready to go. I assume
there must be another party of 4 or more ahead of us or they would
have seated us there. I am still watching the table as she calls out the
parties. She calls parties of 3,2,2,3 and after 15 minutes I ask my
sister Gabriela to ask where we are on the list. She asks Bettina and
is told that there is one more table and we are after a girl named
Kelly. I say okay and keep waiting. My mother, sisters, and I are
jammed up just inside the front door waiting and I notice she is calling a
lot more tables. My sister Gabriela was going to ask again, but I told
her that she has to seat smaller tables first and they are probably the
ones that opened up first. We saw a party of 3 get seated, then 2,
then 2. We hear Kelly get called, and I tell my sister that if we don’t
get seated after Kelly to ask again where we are on the list. Bettina
then starts to call for a party of 5 to which I say to my sister “There’
s a booth that’s been open this whole time, find out what’s going on” and
she asks Bettina “I thought we were next” Bettina tries to dismiss my
sister by saying “well you wanted a booth” and my sister Gabriela
replies “yes, and there is a booth that has been free” Bettina starts
raising her voice and becoming irate saying “WELL THAT BOOTH
SEATS FIVE” my sister replies “But we were next and my mother is
disabled” at this point Bettina is just belligerent and yelling that this
party of 5 was before us (which is untrue they arrived after us, by
about 5 minutes) My sister never raises her voice but asks “why are you
yelling?” and Bettina replied “YOU’VE BEEN ON MY BACK FOR 5
MINUTES!” my sisters says “no I haven’t and you’re being rude” Bettina
then replies “WELL IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT YOU CAN LEAVE, I DO MY
JOB VERY WELL THANK YOU VERY MUCH!” and then turns and looks at
me and my sister Monica, and my MOTHER (who have just been
watching the whole thing) and says “WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE
SERVICE TO ANYONE!” I then told my sister Gabriela to please ask
for the manager. Bettina does not acknowledge that she is the manager
she just walks away to seat people in the booth that had been empty
this entire time. I find out from the two girls working the front desk
that Bettina is the manager. I then ask if she is the owner and she isn’
t so I ask who is and Bettina by this time comes back and is still
belligerent. I ask for the owner’s information only to have her yell at us
“GOODBYE!” my sister Gabriela tells her she wants the owner’s
information and Bettina says “FINE, OKAY” and scribbles furiously on a
coffee doily but I calmly take out a notepad and write down the phone
number of the restaurant seeing as at this point I can’t be assured
whether we are receiving the right information from Bettina or not.
After she writes down the information she keeps saying “YOU CAN GO,
OR GOODBYE, HAVE A NICE DAY” all in an irate tone. My sister
Monica and I apologize to the young girls at the front desk saying “we
only wanted to know where we were on the list, and I’m sorry it had to
come to this” they never said a word. My mother this entire time was
very upset, and as we were leaving began crying and saying she was
sorry, that this was her fault because she wanted a booth. This upsets
me very much, because my mother does not leave her house very often.
She was embarrassed that we were asked to leave and we tried to let
my mother know that this was not her fault but she was inconsolable.
There were at least two couples who saw Bettina irate and left the
restaurant before being seated because of how she treated us. I called
the restaurant later in the day to ask the names of the girls who sat
up front when this incident occurred. I spoke to a woman named Jillian
who told me one of the names of the young girls sitting up front was
“Therese”. After we calmed my mother down we did end up dining at
another restaurant that managed to treat us with the courtesy and
respect that we should have received at Eggs-n-things. I would just
like to lastly add that my family has been residents of Simi Valley for
over 27yrs and we have never encountered anything like this. I only
hope that the attitude with which we were treated does not reflect the
attitudes of Eggs-n-things and that something will be done to remedy
this situation. I am awaiting your reply.

....This is the letter I sent. Every time I read it I am amazed that
people would be allowed to treat us like that. She never ONCE
apologized for yelling, or anything. I hope you'll all let me know what
your opinions are on this letter. I'd love to hear them !

                       Thanks and peace
                               Carla
                  Ask_Carla@carlajimenez.com