Britain: Must not describe blacks as black
More wackiness from the home of political correctness
"A student and his girlfriend are furious after being called a 'black couple' on their receipt by staff at a pub. Johnson Abraham, 24, and Roxanne Duhur, 21, claim they were the only couple dining when they received their bill at the Slug And Lettuce in Islington Green, North London.
They ordered at the bar, without a table number, before going upstairs to find a seat. When they went to pay for the meal the comment 'upstairs blk couple' was printed on the bill.
Mr Abraham said: 'I was outraged. They wouldn't have written "white couple". 'They could have found another way to describe us. I don't feel it's appropriate. Mr Abraham complained to Slug and Lettuce area manager Nick O'Donnell, who admitted the words were 'insensitive'.
Source
12 comments:
Perhaps nobody told them they're black?
Or, could it be they (deliberately?) went to a predominantly White resturant and that was simply a quick and easy way for staff to describe them? (like saying the tall couple, or fat couple, etc.)
Or, (and this is my pick) does he feel that playing the race card is good for a free dinner and a cash settlement? Alleging racism has become a huge, money-making industry.
I think the restaurant was rude to describe customers in such a way that they would read it. Do they/would they also put "the fat couple" on another bill/check? I don't see this as a PC issue and I don't think it's fair to call Britain the home of PC when it was "invented" in the US:
They went upstairs!
Is there a separate staff group downstairs & upstairs? Maybe the downstairs bartender didn't know there was only one couple upstairs. Perhaps they had non-descript clothes or other distinguishing feature.
They way to fix this is make them pay the bar bill before they go upstairs. I'm with Al on this one! They are looking for a freebie from a fake grievance.
Anon 4:47 noted "... They are looking for a freebie from a fake grievance...".
And they got it! £41.20 compensation, in comparison to a £34.95 bill. And an article in a national newspaper.
In my opinion the manager made a mistake in apologising, and has made the situation 10 times worse. How else could they describe these customers clearly in 19 characters? (If you check the bill they actually had to truncate black to blk to fit it in). "Upstairs troublemakers" might be correct but wouldn't fit!
How else could they describe these customers clearly in 19 characters?
How about "table 18" which is on the bill with "Wmn Red Scrf?"
What the restaurant did doesn't appear to be racist. Using the person's race, gender, religion, or something like that can be perceived as wrong or at the very least "insensitive."
What if the receipt had said "cpl big butts" or "woman w/nice rack" or "ugly dog / baby?"
It really is a lack of professionalism. Lots of restaurants have customers that order at bars and then more to a seated dining area who don't use the type of description used by this restaurant.
Racist? Nope.
Dumb? Yep.
"stupid couple upstairs"
~darko
Anon 9:12. The original article states that " ... they ordered at the bar, without a table number, before going upstairs to find a seat ...". The table number was obviously added later by the person who delivered the food. I really do not see that describing them as a black couple is in any way offensive - it is succinct, simple, and factually accurate. "Insensitive" - rubbish! They were looking for trouble - how else do you explain the incident getting into a national newspaper?
They were looking for trouble - how else do you explain the incident getting into a national newspaper?
I don't know how it got into the papers and I suspect that you don't either. It could have been anything from the customer, the company, other customers, a reporter in the establishment at the time, etc.
"Insensitive" - rubbish!
I suspect that you haven't been put into a box or classified all your life because of your race. I agree with the restaurant that it was "insensitive." To what degree is open for discussion. I am certainly not saying that it was terribly insensitive. I am not saying that someone should be fired, reprimanded or anything over this.
What the restaurant did was one of those "ooops!" type "insensitive" things that happen all the time.
That being said, the couple's reaction is totally over the top. They got a free meal, an offer of a bottle of champagne and an apology from the company.
They want more.
They should now just go away.
okay, next time they could just say the couple with an afro
Is it now offensive to call black people black? If it is, FCUK 'EM!
The couple no doubt "milked" the situation, but the bar/restaurant should never have given them the opportunity with such a crass notation on a piece of paper the couple were going to see. As has been said here - it's so unprofessional (probably it was some backwater, downmarket establishment, so no surprise).
Has it occurred to you bozos that they know how to play the game? I didn't think so. You cannot get past your racism.
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