Why are handicapped patrons walked through the entire restaurant?

1. 90

   bankscottageposted 11 years ago

   Why are handicapped patrons walked through the entire restaurant?
   
   If handicapped parking is close to the door of a restaurant, why are these patrons often walked thru the entire restaurant and seated in the middle or back?  If they can't walk to the door, why does the hostess think they can walk all over the restaurant?
   I went out to eat today with an elderly aunt who uses a walker.  I dropped her and my wife off at the door and went and parked the car.  I would have thought it was obvious to the hostess that she could not walk far.  I had to stop the hostess when we were being escorted to the far back of an almost empty restaurant.  Should there be handicap

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2. 62

   Lisa HWposted 11 years ago

   I understand your point; and as someone who has been working on getting a severely injured leg back to normal for a couple of years now (although it's not particularly obvious to anyone who sees me show up in a restaurant entrance way), I know what it's like to prefer not to have to walk farther than necessary.
   
   The other side to that, though, is that people with "physical issues" sometimes don't want to be treated differently.  Sometimes a person may prefer the option to choose "table by the windows" or "booth over in the corner".  In those times when walking through a whole restaurant might have been a bigger challenge for me than it now is, I wouldn't have wanted to always be sitting near a crowded entrance-way or drafty doors just because it was a little harder to walk farther.  In fairness, maybe people like hostesses are told, or else believe on their own, that unless someone requests otherwise, they should ignore disabilities and treat everyone the same.   I'm not saying your point is at all wrong - just suggesting there could be an equally valid other side to it.   

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3. 69

   Bretsukiposted 11 years ago

   Hello bankscottage, I have not generally found your claim to be true.
   
   I began to go blind ten years ago and have been using a white cane for almost three years now.
   
   I have generally found hosts and hostesses at restaurants helpful allowing me to ask for particular areas.  Waiting staff are also generally very helpful, only on a couple of occcassions have I found someone unwilling to be helpful with an enquiry, they paid for that in the end with a lower tip than they expected, they claimed that my change had been considered their tip, all $15 of it. But that was a very extreme case.
   
   It may be that the hostess in your case thought that a table further back would be more comfortable and possibly in closer proximaty to the restrooms? It could be she had to assign seating in a fixed procedure, some restaurants do this to make sure waiting staff in one particular area are not overworked or favored for tips. There are so many variables.
   
   If you take the time to explain the situation I am sure that the restaurant staff will do their best to help. It is in their interest to do so, a happy customer is a repeat customer and possibly a good tipper too.

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