This letter arrived in my email today. I have removed the name of the restaurant. The restaurant owner knows who he or she is. In a community that was not so small, competition would allow “restaurant reviews” where this type of information would be aired easily. A restaurant where something like this happened, would know that it threatened business. Here, this can happen because competition is not intense.
Someone reading this will know where this happened. Hopefully, the owner of this restaurant will get the point. Perhaps he or she will look for this woman and apologize. We can only hope. .
LETTER SENT TO PAGE COUNTY WATCH:
Recently my family and I dined at a restaurant in PAGE COUNTY. I must say, I don’t think in all of my 23 years I have ever endured a worse meal. It wasn’t just the food that wasn’t up to par, actually the food was the least of my worries. For anyone who is not aware of my situation, I will shed some light. My son was diagnosed with autism in March of 2008, which at the time seemed to be the end of the world to me. Since being diagnosed he has made great strides to recovery. Apparently to ignorant, uneducated people he is still just a bad kid with horrible parents.
At the age of three my son can not use a spoon or a fork. To most parents of an autistic child, this would not be top priority, but to the staff of THIS RESTAURANT it was the end of the world when there was food on the floor. As soon as we walked in the door, we were greeted rudely. We then asked to be seated in a separate area because Colton was crying very much. Other than us, there was only one table of people and we still decided it would be best to sit as far away from them as possible. Our waitress was the poorest excuse for help, and at one point refused to bring us ice cream to possibly calm him down. After several eye rolls and smart remarks she gave in and brought us a bowl. We had to ask three or four times for two high chairs, because I also have a two year old. We then received only one chair, and again had to ask for another. After five minutes of waiting we got our second high chair. Our waitress then proceeded to walk to the family at the other table, and point at my son. I’m assuming she took it upon herself to have a conversation about my autistic child’s “unruly behavior”. I even decided it would be best to cut the meal short, so we asked for boxes. Our waitress brought the boxes to the table, threw them down, and said “here’s your boxes.” As we were loading the kids into the car, our waitress walked outside..handed us our tip back and said “here you can keep this, its not enough to make up for the mess back there.” I honestly have never felt more insulted. I simply bit my tongue on the ride home, and as soon as I walked through the door I picked up the phone. I explained to the owner that my family was very hurt by the events that had happen and we would not be dining there again. The only thing he could offer was an “I’m sorry you felt offended” and then hung up the phone on me. Everyone in our community knows us and adores Colton. I’m begging with everyone…BOYCOTT THIS RESTAURANT!! Who wants to dine with stuck up people who have nothing better to do than pass judgement on a mentally disabled child? Certainly not me. I have emailed this letter to everyone! I’m hoping word gets out to Alice Richmond and she can do something to help our fight!
Britni Byrd, Mother of Colton Dinges Stanley, Virginia
I am offended by behavior like this. I know Page County is offended, too. It’s best to blow the lid off it. That’s what stops it. Restaurant owner, if you have trouble finding Britni to apologize, just let me know.
Alice
June 25, 2009 at 8:16 pm
well mr. reston, as stated before we specifically asked to be seated in separate area where there were no other customers. As for taking him outside..my son is not an ape. He was having a bad day..which his severity is a hundred times that of a normal three year old. We are not the only people who have bad things to say about this restaurant, we’re just the first speaking out. as also stated before, this WILL NOT end without a fight. But dont worry, your glorious rice wont be interrupted again by my child. if there is anything else to say, my home number is posted above. I’m also gonna take it upon myself to assume that you are the table that was pointing at my son, who can not defend himself. Next time maybe you should think about the fact that not all kids are bad, in fact my son is a great child. He deserved to be rewarded for the progress he’s made. I will NEVER make him stay home, or refuse to take him in a public area because some idiot cant handle a crying child. if there are any other words to be exchanged please contact his father at 540 578 2983
June 25, 2009 at 9:03 pm
And that’s a wrap on this subject.
Alice
June 25, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Well, now both sides are posted. I won’t take any more comments on this post. However, I will be happy to post information about autism, about parenting, and about customer service in small businesses.
Lou, as far as my bid for District 1 Supervisor goes . . . I’ll take my chances on how the voters of Page County weigh the rights of diners to relax against the rights of disabled children to be accepted in the society.
If I’m wrong on that . . . so be it.
June 25, 2009 at 7:36 pm
I am sure I know exactly when and where this event occured, as I was a diner there with my family at the same time. That being said, let me tell you about this from another diner’s perspective. First off, there were more than one other table that evening. Also, there were a few tables in the main dining room who chose to leave due to the constant crying of this child. I, as well as others, understand the challenges of caring for a child with disabilities, as there are some in my own family, but as a diner who was there for relaxation, I felt the parents should have taken responsibility for the child, and taken turns walking him outside. My party found the dinner very stressful and conversation at our table was not possible. As to any mess left around the table, that should be the parents responsibilty also, to clean their child’s mess the best that they can before they leave.
It is unfortunate that you felt offended, but look at it from the waitresses viewpoint,for some people, a crying child is stressful.The owner lost money due to those who left.
Ms. Richmond, I advise you, before you choose to pass judgement, you get both sides of the story. If this is indeed,the restaurant I think it is, it has been a plus for our area for alot of years, and it would be sad for something like this to affect that and your bid for District 1 supervisor.
June 25, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I am Chris Dinges and Colton is my son and I have tried not to talk about this subject because it makes me very angry and I tend to maybe sometimes let my anger get the best of me. That being said I have known Alice for about 2 years and she knows I am a very capable of arguing and throwing jabs (verbal) with the best of them. My phone number is 778-3097 if you would like to know exactly where this place is located. Also Alice I take full responsibility for this letter and I truly appreciate you for having a forum for matters like this.
June 24, 2009 at 11:06 am
thank you everyone for the support!! I also wrote the same letter to the paper and because of liability they could not print. I am considering rewriting and editing as alice has done. if anyone would like to personally contact me my email is xbabixxbluexxeyesx@yahoo.com. I WILL freely name the restaurant. Believe me..this wont end without a fight.
June 24, 2009 at 7:11 am
There IS a place where you can review local restaurants online. It’s Dine.com. Several local restaurants are already on there. Just search “Luray, VA” for example and you’ll see the existing reviews. You have to register to create reviews of your own but you can rate by stars and also by comments.
June 24, 2009 at 7:26 am
Great! I guess we’ll all look for this review posted under the correct restaurant there soon.
June 24, 2009 at 11:47 am
i am more than disappointed at the treatment of Ms. Byrd, and her son, at this or any restaurant.
this is in no way to detract from, or excuse, the horrific treatment of Ms. Byrd and her son, but i for one, would not want to see THIS site become a forum for those desiring to express what possibly could be, highly subjective opinions regarding the quality of the products and services delivered by the private sector.
i held the same opinion, years ago, when the Page News i thought, was completely out of line, by printing a letter to the editor, written by a disgruntled customer of a local restaurant, and named the restaurant.
Certainly, i respect the rights of folks to post such information, but THIS site, managed by someone running for public office, and the PNC letters to the editor, aren’t the place for it. If there is interest in such a site, go for it.
obviously, just my 1.5 cents.
thank you.
PK.
June 24, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I agree that we don’t need to use this site as a forum for reviewing the products and services of local businesses. It won’t become that.
I just thought this letter sounded like a moving exception to that rule. Future restaurant reviews will be referred to Dine.com
Unless, of course, the restaurant owner would like to say something about this. I would post his apology.
June 27, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I have a forum site at http://www.jkstechforums.com that can be used… right now their is some spam post that needs to be removed, which I do once a week. What Alice has done with this site is pretty informative. I bet Alice will feel good if a mojor political scandal would break because of this site.
June 23, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Because I am so politically correct (well, not for long) I deleted my suggestion in my first post and it is this: there should be a forum in which information is freely exchanged, not in a slanderous manner but one in which all parties to grievances are invited to air views…a true
clearinghouse of information. But giving, or rather inviting, the other party to make it right, or not…also where thanks is given to jobs well done, that invites the rest of us to participate. So…to support wonderful experiences we have here in Page County, Virginia…and to discuss, openly, those we don’t have wonderful experiences with…with an opportunity to make things right..or not. And then The People can decide from there.
One woman’s thoughts.
June 23, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I don’t think it’s as much about competition or its lack, as it is about an ability to share information in a public manner. You provide this capability with this blog. Keep it up!!
June 23, 2009 at 8:50 pm
No! You can’t do this to me. I want to know the name of the restaurant! I want to make sure that I, and my friends, never go there. From the information provided, I can’t figure out which one it is but I would really like to know. If the name can’t be posted here, would someone please email me at rhbuxton@gmail.com Some people in this world are given the task to raise kids who need extra help. They need help from us who don’t have that burden. And for sure don’t need a hard time and a condensending attitude.
June 23, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Rick, in an environment where the community understood that there is no “hush hush”, no “ruling class”, no “elite THEY who must be obeyed”, this would be no more than a restaurant review on a standard website. The name would be posted. The owners would know there is no bullying class who will protect them.
It won’t take long for you to get the information.