Get ready to have your heart warmed. Well, after your blood is done boiling due to what this rude customer did to a special needs employee. At the Pizza Inn restaurant, owned by Amanda Cartagine, she witnessed one of the customers belittling one of her special needs employees. As the mother of a child with Down Syndrome, Amanda wasn’t going to stand for this.
Amanda says that her decision to hire a large number of disabled people was inspired by her own son with special needs. She was incredibly disgusted by the encounter and took action to calmly and professionally explain why her employee was not able to perform the task that the customer desired.
The employee that was serving the rude customer had autism and was asked by the customer to refill the salad bowl. This was something he was not trained to do and, therefore, could not complete the task. This is when the customer began verbally assaulting the employee, and while it wasn’t determined what he exactly said, we don’t need to know.
What’s important to know is that Amanda and her managers spoke to the customer, explaining that refilling the salad bowl was not the employee’s job and he was not trained to do this. The customer, apparently, did not accept this as a valid answer.
Before leaving the restaurant, the customer shouted out that Pizza Inn should have a “warning sign” on the front of the building to let other people know that the restaurant has a lot of disabled employees. That’s just what Amanda did. The sign read, “We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and hire all of God’s children.”
Amanda said she wanted to, “do something that was not rude but got my point across.” She proudly presents that sign on the front of the building, representing that many disabled people are hired at her restaurant, and she will continue to hire many more. One of the newest employees was her own son, who started working at Pizza Inn just a few months ago (pictured above).
“In today’s time where we get caught up in the day to day life and the business of it all, they make you step back and slow down,” Amanda says of her disabled employees, praising them for keeping the team levelheaded with their charm and a smile.
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the world needs more Amanda’s
i agree 100% of you hiring disabled people. People who are rude to people ,regardless of the disabality, should be asked to leave and if they don’t, call the policce.
Congrats to Amanda for handling this SO well, and being so supportive of special needs employees. We as a society needs more employers like her.
I love this lady . I have a son with special needs and I pray some one will give him the same chance when he is old enough to work.
All I have to say is Karma is a mofo… That individual obviously doesn’t believe in it but they’ll find out.
customer is a idiot and good for the company for having the kid’s back
i think what this lady did is awesome. I dont think i could have been as nice. She did an awesome job of dealing with this.
Urinate on his salad, drop it on the table , throw them hands up and shout ” special needs mother fucker” while tossing out gang signs
People can be such a-holes…. I would not have been as calm as Amanda so kudos to her for being the bigger person & handling it so well.
Seems to me that all the customer wanted was the lettuce bowl to be filled. Since it wasn’t the job of that particular worker to fill the bowl then all the owner or manager needed to do was find someone who could fill it or she could have done it herself. Problem solved.
Exactly. As someone with autism, I wouldn’t want my boss to air my personal health information and say “This is difficult for her because she has autism”. That’s not anyone’s business but the people I choose to tell (and my FB name is fake, btw). Just fill the bowl and get on with life.
I am someone with high-functioning autism. Depending where someone is on the spectrum, such a statement from an employer may be needed. Don’t assume your and that young man’s situation are the same. His autism may be more severe than yours, and such abuse may paralyse him. The employer’s comment would support him. We are not all the same. (my name is false too).
B.S
You’re missing the point David
What a wonderful owner. It is very sad there are so many unkind people!!
I have a speacial needs young adult. Approaching the work force. There kind and caring and love what they do. There a little different BUT deserve the right as any one else.
To the people(customers) who treated this young man with disrespect, learn how to keep your big mouths shut. All this young man is trying to do is work and you come along and act like such a jackass to him. If you have any decency in you, you would openly apologize to this you man for acting like such a jackass and to the owner of this establishment my hats off to you for hiring this young man and for also standing up for your employees. Nay years of success follow you. Thanks for being a great employeer.