A customer of Falls Restaurant & Cafe in West Auckland, New Zealand was stunned when her server handed her a racist receipt on which she was questionably labeled. According to New Zealand’s Stuff, the woman and her friends were referred to as “asians” on their customer receipt in the spot where a table or tab number should go.
“When I saw it, I said out loud ‘what’s up with this?’ and I know the waiters heard me but no one acknowledged the situation or apologised,” the customer, who wished to remain anonymous, told Stuff on February 11th. “They were totally avoiding us.”
“This has never happened to me, and I’ve been a regular at that restaurant for more than seven years,” the customer continued. “[My friends and I] laughed about it because we thought it was ridiculous. It’s very disappointing to see that things like this still happen in New Zealand.”
The woman added that she and her friends were “truly shocked at the restaurant for their incredibly racist service.”
Fall Restaurant manager Arvind Kumar admitted to Stuff that the restaurant made a terrible mistake. He said that a new employee had tagged the table as “asians” to help her remember the table during the restaurant’s busy service period.
Woman slams 'racist service' after group referred to as 'Asians' on Auckland cafe receipt https://t.co/jhBb5YjbJg pic.twitter.com/eSblVClt1t
— Stuff (@NZStuff) February 10, 2019
“It was a mistake by the waiter, she’s new and she should not have done that,” Kumar told Stuff. “We never do this and we will never do that again.”
Normally, if the restaurant is busy, the waitstaff is told to put a customer’s name down on the receipt to keep organized. “Our restaurant was busy [and] the waiter didn’t want to disturb the group so she put that down,” Kumar continued. “I agree it was wrong that she did that and after pointing it out, she was really apologetic.”
Yes yes for sure it's a mistake, he should have been more specific hope he knows how big is Asia
— Weezy (@WeezyKiwi) February 10, 2019
“We received no apology from them when we were there. They didn’t even acknowledge it. This is a huge issue,” the customer said. “I definitely will never go there again.”
Of course, this story has spurred an enormous online discussion. Many side with the customer in question. Although we can’t be sure, the waiter most likely didn’t label other customer receipts based on race or ethnicity.
Kumar or the waitstaff could have simply assigned numbers to each table, thus avoiding the situation entirely. This just seems like common sense.
All they had to was say table 7 or whatever they were on .
— nick sawicki (@nicksawicki1) February 10, 2019
Restaurant tables are numbered for a reason. For this reason, actually.
You should be upset, tables are numbered for a reason
— K (@khelm) February 11, 2019
However, there are others who can’t seem to get on board with the customer’s outrage. “Asians” is not a racial slur or an outwardly offensive term — it’s just an unnecessary generalization.
So... they weren't Asian?
— Max Power (@Max_PowerCZ) February 10, 2019
A former waiter came to the new employee’s defense. Using race or ethnicity to describe someone was the easiest way to remember orders and relay messages among staff.
Was it TRULY meant to be racist? Seems to me that it was used as an identifier in a busy restaurant during a busy lunch hour. I DK, when I was a waitress “those white ladies, those Spanish guys, etc.“ was often used. Nobody took offense to it because it was a way to identify ppl
— francine (@LoveFrances_) February 11, 2019
And fellow people who identify as “Asian” said they wouldn’t take offense by the use of the term, either. “That is her issue,” one Twitter user wrote, “not that of the restaurant staff or management.”
“I’m Pakeha, and if I were to be profiled as either Chinese or Maori, I would have a chuckle,” another Twitter user wrote. “There’s no hidden agenda, as you seem to have hoped.”
“Must be upset because it wasn’t capitalized,” another wrote. This user added they wouldn’t be upset if they were identified by their race.
Must be upset because it wasn’t capitalized. We’re so soft. PS No I wouldn’t be upset if someone put African Americans, blacks or brothas on the receipt.
— BigCed Bethely (@BigcedBethely) February 11, 2019
For all we know, the waiter was using several different terms to identify other tables. This Twitter user suggested the word “seniors” may have been used — is that offensive as well?
The manager said it was an unnumbered table and the employee just wrote down a description of them. Perhaps if it were a group of old people she'd say "seniors".
— Goebi-won-kin-obie (@Goebiwonkinobie) February 11, 2019
And others think that perhaps there are bigger fish to fry with this receipt. $6.50 for an iced coffee? Yeesh.
I’d be more pissed off at the price to be honest 🤭
— Megan (@sportygirlnz) February 10, 2019
Although there are two distinct sides to this issue, we think we can all agree that this entire thing could have been avoided. Just use table numbers.
Waiters and waitresses of the world: you’ve been warned. Refrain from using ethnicity as identifiers for your customers. It doesn’t end well for good reason.
