Some people are really petty and they only think of themselves without understanding anything about what other people struggle through. But we’re also surrounded by everyday heroes who dare to stand up against these narrow-minded people. Mike Jennings owns Grenache Restaurant outside of Manchester, England. When guests recently mocked and disrespected an autistic waiter who works at his restaurant, Jennings stood up for him. And in addition, Mike also wrote a post that’s gone viral on Facebook, where he urges people not to reserve a table at his restaurant if they can’t respect the staff.
Autistic waiter Andy Foster had only been working at his new job at Grenache for three weeks when some disrespectful guests harrased him, reports the Manchester Evening News.
“The customers seemed to have a problem with him, even though his service was good. I explained that he suffered from autism and their response was that they didn’t want to be served by him. They asked me why I would give him a job in a restaurant like ours. I couldn’t believe it.” owner Mike Jennings told the newspaper.
Mike got so upset by their reckless behavior that he turned to Facebook.
The post has almost 30,000 likes and has been shared by thousands of people. It’s amazing that people have shown so much support, but the situation was still difficult for Andy, who was diagnosed with autism seven years ago.
Mike told the Manchester Evening News how the while thing affected Andy. “The incident really knocked his confidence and we had to take him to one side and let him know that we certainly didn’t feel that way. All we care about is someone having enthusiasm and passion. The rest we can teach.”
Andy told the newspaper that this wasn’t the first time he’s been discriminated against. “I always feel that it’s automatically my fault and I go into defense mode. I always think I have to apologize. When I apologized to the customer, she made such a fuss. The other table I was serving left a big tip so I knew it wasn’t me. I try not to take it personally because it has happened so many times in the past I have just got used to it,” said Andy Manchester.
Fortunately, Andy has strong support from his boss and the others at the restaurant.
See Mike’s passionate defense of Andy (and hear from Andy, too) in the video below.
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