Can restaurants refuse to cut food into smaller portions?

looksee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122174663#Comment_122174663

I am simply offended by someone making a mock of real disabilities by pretending a few weeks with a cast on their arm is anything approaching a disability.

And as to my 'first step into equal rights', I was one of the initiators and mod of this forum for several years.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175459#Comment_122175459

Temporary disabilities are disabilities. Time to get over yourself.

https://www.ahead.ie/waminar0221

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175464#Comment_122175464

Pot. Kettle. Black.

A couple of thoughts…

1. I saw this thread earlier, I can't believe it is still open.
2. If I had my wrist in a cast, I probably would not go out pancakes with my friend to begin with. I'd more likely say "Lets stay at home and order pizza".
3. I am sure if the OP was there alone the server would have obliged, however they were with their friend and probably thought it would be more sensitive if the friend did it.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175571#Comment_122175571

What does 'more sensitive' mean? Why do you expect anyone with a person with a disability to be their carer? It could be their boss, or their Tinder date or their drug dealer or their new employee. People with disabilities have independent lives, and shouldn't be relying on family or friends for basic human care.

As for the 'stay at home', we're not in the 1970s now.

I can’t believe this thread is still going, over a cast on a wrist, and that anyone would draw a parallel with someone who is wheelchair bound.
As a society, have we really reached that point of entitlement that we think the restaurant should be required to cut a pancake up?

nachouser

Pin the thread and give it a week or so to see if the op has ever posted again.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175711#Comment_122175711

There was a thread some years ago where a poster asked if they could sue because he/she got a burn from the steam coming from the spout on their kettle, and another one wanted to know where they could complain because their dog got hit by post put through the letterbox of their door by the postman, this makes it a hatrick.

tohaltuwi

speaking as somebody with MS who gets unpredictable episodes of either or both hands not working well, eg very weak, unable to grab cutlery properly, dropping it, tremoring, I either choose what looks like manageable food or would ask, eg for steak to be cut, not a problem in foreign restaurants which are the ones I most often visit. I would expect such accommodation be made at any Irish establishment, it’s no big deal. I would mention it in a review if they refused.

tohaltuwi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122172703#Comment_122172703

Your empathy is overwhelming ;)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175766#Comment_122175766

Again, no more than the wheelchair poster, that is a very different scenario than a soft pancake and a cast on one wrist before ordering.

tohaltuwi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175688#Comment_122175688

precisely why I voted NO in the disability/carer referendum. It’s a basic human decency to make a little effort to assist someone with a disability. For the most part I have found people to be incredibly kind to me & I make sure to show how much I appreciate it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122174663#Comment_122174663

do you expect the 18 year old waiter to be a carer? What point are you actually making? Or just expressing outrage?

Widdensushi

Who comes up with this shite,,,

tohaltuwi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175804#Comment_122175804

Waiting staff are often involved in the final part of food preparation, and the exceptionally simple task of making a few slices of a pancake at the table should have been done without fuss.

The vibe among some people these times is to be as unhelpful as possible. “It’s not my job to be helpful”.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175832#Comment_122175832

Outweighed by the sense of entitlement though, and of course the threat of a bad review. I’d like to think you are extra generous with your tip if the young waiter cuts your food up for you.

mykrodot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175804#Comment_122175804

I agree….. in an ideal world with first class experienced waiting staff this might happen. The reality is kids barely out of school, earning dreadful wages in a scenario where most eating establishments can't even get staff! I was in a pizza place the other evening and the 2 young lads who were waiting spent most of their time checking their phones. Its very hard to get any staff right now never mind staff who will cut up your dinner.

AndrewJRenko

I expect them to do their job, which includes any reasonable accommodation required by customers with disabilities.

ForestFire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175914#Comment_122175914

I agree fully with this, but also that your best option now is to either forget about it alltogether and not dinner there again, or send an email (Ring/Talk) to management to make them aware of what happened, and your dissatisfaction and than not dine there again.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175914#Comment_122175914

like this? Is this the service you expect for anyone with a broken arm?

You could video them and send the video to the food and drink ombudsman when this level of fine dining is not presented when buying crepes

patnor1011

It must be very hard to navigate life with such extreme sense of entitlement.

tohaltuwi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175848#Comment_122175848

I have had many staff in restaurants and elsewhere go the extra mile for me without my requesting it, just out of basic humanity, and yes I do tip generously. I too, in my time, have gone the extra mile for people I have served as customers, and accommodated requests. It’s ordinary decency.

the14thwarrior

never heard such *rap. i thought the poster was having a laugh. Maybe they still are. cannot believe you would order something you can't manage with an arm in a cast. are your fingers not free? and thumb? order something that you can't manage and ask the cafe to cut it up for you. for real?

instead of wondering how the cafe should have responded, did ya ever think how insulting it is?

trust me, i've a real life disability, and had temporary disabilities (which i count as accidents and disabilities) and i would never dream of putting someone out or making an unreasonable request like you have.

unreasonable. glad they said no.

i'm sure they would help someone who genuinely needed it.

Trampas

This must be a troll. What’s next cut up your kids food? Whatever about being on your own but someone with you wouldn’t offer to do it

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175941#Comment_122175941

I'm not the OP

the14thwarrior

yeah a troll with entitlement

they live under the m50

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122175970#Comment_122175970

Pure strawmanning

ForestFire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122176105#Comment_122176105

Sorry I know, The First bit was in agreement with your statement, second bit for OP, should have separated the post better!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122176108#Comment_122176108

You can compost your little straw man😁

You expect a silver service experience from your humble servants.

Me, I don’t have the lofty sense of entitlement others have, of some kid bringing food from kitchen to restaurant table.

bucketybuck

Wanting servers to cut up your pancakes isn't a reasonable request, it is a nonsense request. Only an idiot would suggest otherwise.

patnor1011

OP should ask for plastic bag (or bring his own as they may be plastic bag levy involved), put it over cast and mash crepes to the point he can comfortably use a spoon.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122176394#Comment_122176394

I get the feeling that is above them.

Considering ordering a sandwich and eating it in the other hand is above them.

tohaltuwi

it amazes me the way servers are infantilised and called “kids”, beyond expectations of being an adult. Age 17 I was working in a public facing role and expected to understand customers’ needs. You can have a full pilot’s license age 17/18 and take on any number of complex responsibilities, travel the world solo, pass arduous exams etc etc. At that age is someone thought of me as a “kid” I wouldn’t have been slow to respond.

On the other hand I do wonder if OP is serious here. At same time I don’t know what company OP was in. If if were their new boss from work (and if this were the case OP would surely have mentioned it) then asking server discreetly would have been reasonable.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122177029#Comment_122177029

I am going out for dinner tonight. Have a nice 12oz ribeye steak in mind. Will be asking my waiter to cut it up into nice little pieces for me, ensuring to remove the fat. Wish me well😁

tohaltuwi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122177096#Comment_122177096

make sure to plaster your dominant arm up well, to the fingertips, and to order it very well done 🤣

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122176189#Comment_122176189

Keep on strawmanning there. No one mentioned 'silver service' except you. And I've no idea what cutting up food has to do with silver service anyway.

It's just a simple, functional request that any food establishment should be able to deal with.

bucketybuck

It really is some jumped up nonsense to demand that servers carry out body service, as if they exist only to cater to the whim of everyone who comes through the door.

Perhaps mammy spoonfed these people for a few years too many but that doesn't mean the rest of society needs to entertain their nonsense.

Of course these same people would be the first to raise hell if the server got gravy mixed with the veg while they were mashing the spuds for them. They'd cry like babies if the pancakes weren't cut at the correct angle or were flattened a bit by the cutting.

If they shouldn't have to cut up food for babies in the high chairs, then why the hell should they have to do it for grown adults.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122177486#Comment_122177486

because there is a cohort of people out to find offence at every turn. Ready to snap photos and go pro footage and whinge on the internet about their pancakes not being cut right.

893bet

if both hands in a cast should restaurant have to feed you?

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122177486#Comment_122177486

Just in case you forgot, restaurants will indeed provide high chairs, will heat baby's bottles, will provide special baby bowls of food on request - all good service for customers.

You seem to have missed the OPs story about why he needed a little extra support, or 'reasonable accommodation' as it's called in law - nothing to do with spoonfeeding by mammy, and everything to do with a temporary disability.

If they shouldn't have to cut up food for babies in the high chairs, then why the hell should they have to do it for grown adults.

Because they have a disability.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122178062#Comment_122178062

Really digging down on the strawmanning here - no photos, no go pro footage here.

Perhaps it's your good self doing the whinging on the internet?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122178788#Comment_122178788

This is incorrect. I have seen bars/restaurants refuse to heat baby bottles, presumably for fear the child would get burned if it’s too hot. They will provide a high chair, but if they are all in use and a family haven’t requested one in advance, then that can hardly be discrimination based on age or the child’s ability to sit in a chair.

Refusing to serve food to a customer because of a disability would undoubtedly be discrimination, but refusing to cut it into smaller portions? You are just looking to be outraged.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122178816#Comment_122178816

I didn't say 'every restaurant' will heat baby bottles, so it's absolutely NOT incorrect. Many restaurants will do it, and we certainly were never refused in our day.

No one is looking to be outraged. The OP is looking to enjoy a bit of a snack when out with a friend, while temporarily disabled. The outrage seems to be from those outraged at a restaurant being asked to cut up some food.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122178097#Comment_122178097

The law isn't specific about what constitutes 'reasonable accomodation' and could never cover every possible scenario. It does say that reasonable accommodations are those of 'nominal cost'.

Personally, I'd have thought that feeding steps over the line from reasonable accommodation to personal care service, and steps over the line of nominal cost.

ForestFire

For everyone against the OP, is it because they are only temporarily affected by this disability, and therefore just being a pain?

As I said before, I would not take things much further anyway with this place, but instead vote with my feet (if they're not in a cast that is).....and not return.

But,

Seriously, they were preparing the food anyway, and were asked 1 small additional requests while doing this, it's equivalent to asking for extra cheese on your salad or burger, and takes what, 30 seconds?

If a wheelchair user came in, would you expect the staff help clear chairs from table, make extra space if needed?

And if they had any mobility issues, and they asked the for the same request as the OP, to cut food, do you think it would be acceptable to refuse then?

No one asked for any staff to sit with any customer and feed they their lunch...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122178794#Comment_122178794

Sorry, mixed up the thread I was on. It's the other thread your posting on that has the pictures and gopro pics on. My bad

Homer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122178794#Comment_122178794

that’s ironic coming from the serial poster who spends his day ruining threads across the platform. I’ve now put you on ignore and advise the rest of the people on this thread to do the same.

XsApollo

this is unreal stuff,

Xr

Surprised this got so heated. 😂

Anyway, just a quick update, had to go back in for surgery today in Vincent's U, got a new cast and a titanium plate in my arm. With the sedative and nerve blocker I'm even weaker than before, my fingers still work at least. xD

And yes, just to put it out there, the porter did butter my toast for me, jam and all. :P

I'm not not at all a confrontational person, I work in catering myself, I know people have off days, or have policies and such they are required to follow whether they agree with them or not. The incident in the OP just surprised I took it for granted that was something that a cafe or restaurant would/coud help with if a customer needed it, but I get that's not universal, or that there may be a valid reason why they can't do certain things.

One thing I would like to say though is to the people saying they could have managed with just one hand, look, everyone is different, not everyone is affected by injury the same way, or from medications etc. As it is, even though nothing was broken in my left side I was and am experiencing weakness in that hand, esp. when trying to grip things and apply force. Believe me, you take for granted how difficult it is to do things like getting dressed, opening doors, eating etc. with only one hand, and a dodgy one at that, maybe I should have clarified that at the start, but all the same don't assume someone is capable even after they've said they aren't.

Anyway, no hard feelings, hope you all stay safe this summer and keep an eye out for the vulnerable people in your life and that you meet in the world. ♥️

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122179103#Comment_122179103

Yah, terrible all that 'ruining of threads' by having different opinions on stuff.

StormForce13

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122179103#Comment_122179103

Done.