This morning, I had a meeting with three of the executives from Steak ‘n Shake. Joining me at the meeting were Beth Donofrio, a board member from Illinois Hands & Voices and Howard Rosenblum, an attorney from Equip for Equality with me. Beth assisted me in taking notes at the meeting.
Steak ‘n Shake started off with an apology and said, “We believe in admitting when we make mistakes and learning from them.”
I had the opportunity to explain what transpired at the drive thru window and they shared that the manager completely failed to follow their five-step procedure for delivering customer service. The incident was recorded on their camera system. The executives have viewed the tape, but there is no sound.
We discussed different ways that Steak ‘n Shake could improve their service to people with disabilities. The executives listened with an open mind and it appears that they are willing to implement some changes to ensure that this type of service breakdown does not occur again in the future.
I am cautiously optimistic that we are taking steps in the right direction. It remains to be seen what progresses from this in the coming weeks. Steak ‘n Shake will be getting back to me on this.
My dear aunt is physically handicapped and has a tendency to take things personally. For example, even when family members give her corrective feedback, she easily gets hurt. When she doesn’t receive the special treatment she expects, she assumes she’s being mistreated for her disability.
I’ve been to the Bolingbrook Steak n Shake. As a customer, I know this manager and he is a nice person. I’m sorry you were hurt Karen but I think you were both having a bad day and you were both being rude to each other and you both owe each other an apology. He denied you service because he FELT he was being abused, not because you are deaf. And perhaps, maybe you are taking the situation too personally, as my aunt would.
Again I’m sorry you were hurt by the situation but it’s not the end of the world, right? You and your loved ones are healthy and alive and that’s all that matters. You shouldn’t let your world revolve around this one incident. Forget about what happened and do something fun today.
Dear Anonymous Commentor,
When I drove up to the Steak ‘n Shake drive thru, I wasn’t asking for “special treatment” as your aunt perhaps does. I was asking for “equal” access to a service, one that I have used at that very same drive thru several times before. With a simple modification, Mr. Manager could have taken my order as other Steak ‘n Shake employees in the past have done, and I would be just another satisfied customer happily drinking a shake along with my son.
Unfortunately, Mr. Manager decided that he could not accommodate me that day. I’m a pretty patient gal, and I’ve done this countless times with other drive thru employees. Even after explaining it once, twice and explaining the Americans with Disabilties Act and showing him my hearing aids, Mr. Manager still could not make the decision to serve me, the customer.
Of course, after all of that explaining, I was frustrated and not to mention upset that I was being denied milkshakes on the basis of not being able to physically use the speaker. If Mr. Manager has translated that into rude behavior, well that’s his view and it should not have prevented him from filling a milkshake order. From my training as an employee of a retail store years back, customer service is a high priority.
And for the record, I was having a wonderful day until I pulled up to the Steak ‘n Shake. I decided to treat my son to one of my favorite shakes and he was all excited about that. All Mr. Manager had to do was make a simple modification to take the order at the window, especially when it was explained to him several times WHY the accommodation was needed. He failed to deliver on that, stated he could call the cops and asked me to leave. He must have been having a heck of a bad day.
In your comment you stated, “You both owe each other an apology.” That is not going to happen on my end. I was blantanly discriminated against by Mr. Manager. I will not apologize for raising my voice when my rights were violated.
You say that I shouldn’t let my world revolve around this incident. I have heard from others who have had similar struggles at the drive thrus. In the large majority of the time, it comes down to the attitudes of the people doing the serving.
There comes a point where one must stand up and say “we need to change this so it doesn’t happen again.”
A big thank YOU, hand wave and shout out to Michelle who took the time to type out the transcript and send it to me:
Announcer: For a lot of folks, the best thing about the Super Bowl are the commercials. This year one of the most creative ones comes from the folks at Pepsi that’s because the entire spot is silent. It’s designed to being awareness to the Deaf community, it’s closed captioned, as well, for us so don’t adjust your volume on your set, just watch.
(Commercial plays)
Announcer: Tell you what, it definitely gets your attention, and one of the big stars of the commercial, that’s what I’ll call you, the man in the passenger’s seat, Darren Tourot (sp?), who is also, you’re not an actor, but you’re an employee of Pepsi and welcome to the show, we appreciate you coming by.
Darren: Thank you.
Announcer: How did this all come to be for you? Did somebody approach you at work and say do you want to star in this commercial?
Darren: Yeah, exactly. That happened over a year ago. Clay Wesser(?) from Plano, Tx. He came up and recognized that I was Deaf and working in Chicago, and so he came up to me and asked if I wanted to participate in the Super Bowl, and I’m like ‘Really? Are you serious!?’ (Announcer laughing) and I said, OK, I’ll give it a try, and I had more time to think about it over the year.
Announcer: I’m sure there are a lot of people at home thinking you are Deaf, since birth, correct?
Darren: Yes.
Announcer: But you have particularly an implant that you can…(Darren agrees). It really raises awareness, this commercial, for the Deaf community, my understanding is that’s a running joke in the Deaf community, is that correct(referring to the commercial)?
Darren: Right, right.
Announcer: So what is the overall goal for this commercial?
Darren: Yeah, you know, my passion is to be able to increase the awareness in the Deaf culture as well as with people with disabilities. Because, you know, it’s been awhile, and I thought that PepsiCo has treated me so well and I have learned so much about the diversity and the inclusion, and I had to do something to give back. And this is my way of doing it.
Announcer: So you work in the IT department, is that correct?
Darren: Yes.
Announcer You’ve been working there for a year, and now you’re the big star, the face of this. You know, and speaking of this, raising awareness for the Deaf community, as we were chatting right here you’ve got the implant so now you can hear with 90% of sounds?
Darren: Yes
Announcer: So, but it’s been like, you compared it to a rusty faucet, turning it on after 30 years (Darren laughs) explain that to me.
Darren: Yeah, it’s almost like when you turn on the implant for the first time, I, uh, it’s almost like you haven’t used the water you know in the faucet for over 20 years and then you turn it on, and then all of a sudden it’s yellow and rusty, you know, and it’s not clear, and you can’t drink the water yet or you can’t make use of it. So, and then after it gets cleaned out, you start to hear.
Announcer: Yeah, so how long were you, did you go without, ‘cause you read lips.
Darren: Yes.
Announcer: And obviously sign. How long did you go before you got that implant, how old were you?
Darren: I started it about five years ago.
Announcer: Oh really!?
Darren: So, I was only 40 years old when I had my first implant.
Announcer: I can’t imagine what that must have been like. With all these sounds that you had never heard before.
Darren: Right.
Announcer: Yeah.
Darren: Like the birds, and all the other sounds that I normally could never hear. It just amazes me.
Announcer: Yeah, well, we appreciate you coming by, (to camera) Darren Tourot, works for Pepsi, now is a big-time star, so I will be his agent, I will take, um, (to Darren) I’ll only take 4%, is that OK? (Darren laughs) So you can see him on the commercial Super Bowl Sunday and certainly go to our website if you want to find out some more information about that, it’s great to meet you (shakes Darren’s hand) and good luck with everything.
Dear Anonymous Commenter who left a nasty comment at 11:10 p.m. on Friday night:
Unfortunately, you had too many f-bombs and b-words in your comment for me to allow it on this site. One previous f-bomb comment was enough for me to let through already.
You accused me of planing (I think you meant planning) this whole thing for money. I think you’re missing something here. I drove up to the window and explained that I couldn’t use the speaker and ordered two small milkshakes, one vanilla and one chocolate.
If Mr. Steak ‘n Shake Manager had simply taken my order and given me the milkshakes, I would have been merrily on my way with a happy son by my side, with both of us enjoying our treat. Even if Mr. Manager argued and then completed the order and we had gotten our shakes, it would have been just another bad day at the drive thru and I don’t think the TV stations nor WLS Radio would have picked this up. Unfortunately, Mr. Manager’s actions and denial of service turned this into a different result.
As for what’s going to happen after this, I do not know. We have a meeting with Steak ‘n Shake’s representatives and I would like to see improved access at their restaurants.
Last night, shortly after calling the corporate headquarters via relay, an employee from their Human Resources division called me. She sent me an email apologizing for the incident. She called again this morning to see if we could set up a meeting with the manager in question and discuss the issue. They agreed to provide an interpreter for this meeting.
This week’s Disability Blog Carnival focuses on the theme, “What Professionals Should Know About Disability” and is hosted over at Ryn Tale’s Book of Days.
If I had a dime for every time a professional predicted an outcome for a child with a disability based on what they “learned from many years in the field,” I’d be a millionaire.
Make that a zillionaire.
I’ve heard the same stories over and over from families: “My (insert professional) said that if I did (whatever it is they’re recommending) then my child would (fail, succeed, you name it) so I better follow their advice or (earthquakes will happen, the world will end.)
No kidding, I would be rich, indeed.
So here’s what I wish professionals knew:
Park Your Bias at the Door
You may feel strongly about a certain course of action, but pushing it isn’t going to help either one of us. It is one thing to share your personal belief system and your knowledge in a way that helps me to expand my own, but it’s another when you steamroll it over me or have an agenda of your own.
Expand Your Skills
You may be trained in one direction, but take a look at your profession and see if it can be expanded in other ways. Make sure you have the skills in all areas. I once had a pediatric audiologist tell me, “I don’t have much experience around deaf and hard of hearing adults.” If you’re in the business of working with children, make sure you’re familiar with the adult world they’ll be growing into.
This is My Journey, Not Yours
I do value the input that professionals have given me over the years. What annoys me is when they don’t like the direction my choices are going in and they express their opinion. Keep in mind, this is my life and my journey. Even if your professional opinion differs from mine, have the graciousness to expand your views to respect mine.
Finally, I’d like to share some tips over at Hands & Voices for those who work in early intervention with deaf and hard of hearing babies:
After picking my youngest son up from school, we decided to grab some shakes at the local Steak and Shake before heading over to the middle school to pick up Lauren.
I went through the empty drive through and drove past the speaker. After waiting a few minutes at the window, I finally honked the horn and waited some more. After a second honk a few minutes later, a young man appeared.
“Hi! I didn’t order back there as I can’t hear,” I said, pointing to my ear. “I’d like two small shakes, one vanilla and one chocolate.”
“You’ll have to drive around again so I can take your order through the speaker,” the guy said.
“I can’t hear back there, so I’ll need you to take my order here,” I explained.
“No, it’s our policy. You’ll have to just drive around and tell me your order and then I can take your order.”
“I can’t use the speaker, which is why I’m at the window giving you my order here!” I started raising my voice a little, as I was getting frustrated at the hoops he was putting me through.
So I told him about the Americans with Disabilities Act and I explained that taking orders through the window is an accommodation that I need because I can’t use the speaker to place an order.
He kept insisting that orders need to be taken at the speaker. “If you had just let me know at the speaker that you needed accommodations then I could take your order through the window.”
“But I’m DEAF! I can’t hear on the speaker! When I drove up, the first thing that I told you was that I couldn’t order back there because I can’t hear through the speaker.”
“No, you didn’t tell me that,” he said. “If you had told me about your disability then I could have accommodated you.”
I sat there flabbergasted. I was getting more upset by the minute. All I wanted was the dang shakes! Then another car pulled up behind us.
“Look, if you’re not going to take my order, I’m going to file a complaint and let the corporate office know about this.”
“Well, I can call the cops on you for disrupting the business and holding up the drive thru.”
“You’re going to call the cops on me? I’m just trying to get service here!”
“I’m done with you.” He abruptly shut the window, threw up his hands and walked away.
Good gosh, did that guy have any idea what he just did? Denying me and my son service simply because we couldn’t use the speaker for an order?
I wasn’t finished with him. Oh no. I beckoned him to open the window again. He looked at me with an air of superiority and opened it.
“I’ll need to take down your name and your supervisor’s name.” I was surprised that he willingly gave that information. He took his name tag off and held it up for me to see. Then I realized something–he wasn’t taking me seriously. He figured I was just playing with him.
So I lifted up my hair and showed him my hearing aids. The look on his faced changed a bit. I guess it started to sink in that even though I speak well, I wasn’t kidding about being deaf. You would think at that point, he would graciously return to “serve the customer” mode and take my order.
He still didn’t. I explained to him that I was going to call the corporate office and let them know that I was being refused service. “Go ahead, call them,” he said. “You will need to leave, you are holding up the line.”
My oldest son’s Stanford Achievement Test results came in the mail last week. I glanced through them and was surprised to see results equal to 6th and 7th grade results. There were two results that said “PHS.”
What does “PHS” stand for, I asked the school counselor. That means the student scored “Post High School,” or college level, she replied.
Oh cool, my son at least had two results in the PHS range.
When I showed David the results of his test, he said, “But Mom, that test was so easy. How could I score so low in some areas?”
I shrugged. Maybe it was a bad day–everyone has an off day, you know?
I was at my friend Beth’s house over the weekend and she asked me about David’s scores. She was showing me her daughter’s scores and going through the papers, explaining that one of the forms was just a sample.
Uh oh.
I went home and looked more carefully at the test results. I was indeed looking at the sample results and interpreting them as David’s results. The paper that I thought was simply a deaf norm comparision was actually the test results for David. He scored a “Post High School” in every catagory.
David was happy to learn that his brain cells were working fine.
Mom, however, is still trying to figure out where hers went.
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