Restaurant treatment offers food for thought

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/03/2019 (2752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: You recently requested readers let you know of situations Indigenous people face in restaurants in Winnipeg. I had a recent situation at a West End restaurant serving international food.

I was meeting a former colleague of mine for lunch at this restaurant. She’s Indigenous (I’m not). When she arrived at the place, one of the staff would not let her in. There were only two people working there at the time — people of colour, but a different nationality. The server kept waving her hands in a shooing motion, and saying to my friend, “Out, out!”

My friend had no way of contacting me, so she insisted the woman let her in, explaining she was meeting someone for lunch. She was travelling by bus and it was a cold day; she didn’t want to wait outside. She was finally allowed in.

Now, we’re assuming this happened because she is Indigenous. My friend had never been there before and we are both professional senior women, so there really is no other explanation. I asked the woman if she was the owner and she pointed to a man standing nearby. He had not intervened. My friend said this has happened to her before, so she was not surprised.

I suggested she file a human rights complaint and she said she might. Over the years I have been witness to other racist comments and situations.

— Professional Woman, Winnipeg

Dear Professional: It is maddening to be with an Indigenous friend — or friend of any colour — who’s treated like a second-class citizen. But how you react to it is complicated. You don’t want to give in and leave before eating, because you don’t want the racist people to win and get away with it. Yet, staying in that unwelcome atmosphere takes away from the pleasant experience of lunch out — not to mention paying for the “pleasure.” Personally, after paying, I would have had a word with staff about how your friend was treated. 

I went to the restaurant’s website (which you named in your full letter) and saw you complained about your experience in the comments section. That’s a good idea.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I have never written you before, but felt compelled to after your response to the letter about Winnipeg drivers, and to the man who called himself “Totally Frustrated.” 

Your reply was condescending and ageist. You assumed he was driving too slowly and cautiously, when in fact, he might have been obeying the law carefully in new surroundings, when the average Winnipegger is not doing so. It’s likely “Frustrated” did not need a driving lesson; it’s likely a lot of the other locals might!

My partner and I are in our 40s and have lived and driven all over North America. We agree that Winnipeg drivers weave right and left out of traffic without signalling, don’t stop or slow down for an amber light and aren’t patient with cautious drivers who actually obey the speed limit. We figure the only reason that people can afford to drive unsafely in this way, particularly in winter, is that there are no hills and few trees here, and MPI is the only insurance carrier.

— Our Views, Winnipeg

Dear Views: The gentleman who wrote described himself as the “old” fellow and said people kept honking at him and one hollered at him to get a move on. I suggested a city driving lesson, which I still think is a good idea. While this man counted 10 failures to signal, he was also annoying many people in traffic by his dawdling. That can be a hazard, too.

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

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