Offduty McDonald Manager punches a customer

[Racket_Man]

after a confrontation over a certified service Dog

Article #1

Article #2

Article #3

[Ginger Tea]

the first article's 2nd page also says

Air Force veteran Kim Mucha has been told she will be arrested for trespassing if she returns to the Big Y Supermarket in North Haven, CT, after her service dog, Ivy, defecated in the store’s aisle. Mucha noted that she cleaned up after her dog immediately and has “seen old people and kids make messes on the floor and nobody ever threatened to have them arrested.”

After reading alot of poop in the aisle and smeared in the stall's threads on CS.com, I do find it backwards that a customer cleaning up after an accident is seen more offencive than a woman letting her child just go where he stands and tells him "they will clean it up"

[HYHYBT]

I wish people would read articles before commenting on them. WAY too many people in the first one (I'm not reading comments for the others) saying "she should be fired" when it says right on the first page that she has been.

And then some complain about autism not being a legitimate cause to have a service dog... the thing is, it doubly doesn't matter: first, because it's the law whether you like it or not, and second because even if someone just brings a pet in you don't punch them for it, especially when they've already left!

[telecom_goddess]

Holy shit....yeah thank god that person was fired that is unacceptable.

[Greenday]

first, because it's the law whether you like it or not

God I can't wait to use this phrase in other threads here.

If the dogs help the kids, then the dog is no different from medicine. You wouldn't deny a kid medicine so why deny a kid a dog that will help them without drugging the kid more? Sounds like a much healthier way to help someone to me.

[Rageaholic]

It looks like the manager was on a power trip.

[Hyena Dandy]

Usually in situations like this I try to find the explanation. Try to find a reason why this person would behave like that. I can't find any excuse for her behavior, or any reasonable reason to assault the woman.

[Ginger Tea]

from what I can recall from the first article, she got splashed by a soda when one of the woman's children dissapeared, thanfully just out of sight and not into a van, but she paniced none the less and dropped her drink causing the splashing.

Recently I was at an open air festival and someone whilst I was talking to someone else, poured their can of lager into my boot, this was malicious and un warrented, yet I with held kicking him in the face (he was lying down at the time) even though the thought was tempting.

Yeah, her reaction if that was the case, was well over the top and out of line.
If she thew the drink in her face, then thats a different matter, but it read otherwise.

[Akasa]

With my best friend being blind I've seen first hand:
"That dog can't come in here!"
"Yes, yes it can. Its the law."

Too many times to count. Harassment, denial of service, nasty comments and behavior from the public, etc. Its disgusting what those with service animals have to go through. And not all service animals have "certifications." If you trained it yourself, which by law you can, it won't. Only if you got it through a company will it have "certifications."

[tropicsgoddess]

That was absolutely unacceptable to punch somebody over a service animal. Doesn't matter what the service animal is for, but by law they are permitted to places of business.

[Andara Bledin]

A quick synopsis for those who have not read any of the articles:

Mom with 2 autistic kids and their service dog entered a McDonalds. An off-duty manager started harassing her about having the dog in the store. The mother explained what the dog did and that it was allowed. The manager followed her around the store, including into the bathroom, to continue harassing her. During this, the mother lost sight of one of the children, and in her panic tossed her drink to the floor to go find them. The manager took the gesture as "she threw her drink at me" and then chased the woman out of the store so that she could attack her in the parking lot. Other employees attempted to restrain the manager, who is no longer employed by McDonalds. She has a warrant for her arrest issued for three charges, including battery, but was not reported to be in custody.

The off-duty manager had a stick up her ass at something, and seeing the dog pretty much killed her ability to be rational and it all went downhill from there. It baffles and saddens me that so many people in positions of power are so ignorant about what their legal obligations are.

^-.-^

[Sleepwalker]

Meh, she cleaned it up. I wouldn't even care if it were just a pet as long as people cleaned up after their damn selves.

[Boozy]

During this, the mother lost sight of one of the children, and in her panic tossed her drink to the floor to go find them.

This does not ring true to me.

I don't know how the woman's drink ended up on the floor, but she didn't toss it aside in a blind panic just because she momentarily lost sight of one of her kids. This is something that happens to all parents once in a while, and they don't completely lose their shit every time.

I'm not excusing the manager, but I am questioning the truthfulness of that particular account.

[PepperElf]

that's what i was wondering too... it just seemed kinda fishy that she dropped the drink in a panic over not seeing the child... and that perhaps splashing the manager was some icing on the cake.

granted not worth punching over

[IDrinkaRum]

As the mother of an autistic child who has temporarily "misplaced" her child, it is a completely terrifying experience.

You must understand. You're dealing with a child that may or may not have the proclivity to do something just because it jumps into their minds. The child could have gone back into the bathroom. The child could have gone to the play room (I believe the first article mentioned a playroom at this particular MacDonald's). The child could have gone out one of the doors at the restaurant, completely bypassing the family's car, and wander out into the street. I'm not sure how crowded the MacDonald's was, but the child could have gone off with another restaurant patron for whatever reason.

From my experience the walking out of the restaurant and/or willingly going with an unknown patron would be what happens to Child Rum.

2 months ago: I was at the local movie theater with her and Mr. Rum. We had paused at a display table for the local Autism group of Northern Virginia. Child Rum was standing next to me. I looked at the woman at the table to ask about something, the next thing I knew, Child Rum was no where to be seen. I called her name (knowing it was fruitless as she *might* respond to her name (or more likely my tone of voice) about 1-2 times out of 10). The woman saw the panic in my eyes as I ran to the lobby and found her at one of the 2 "arcades" in the front). I almost peed my pants from the terror I felt. If I had had a drink in my hand, it would have slipped from my nerveless fingers as I whirled in blind panic to find her.

The drink probably was not forcibly tossed onto the floor. It more than likely fell to the floor in her panic as she thought: "OMG! Child with Autism! Lost! Must find!"