So is this an ADA violation?

[rm]

I'm only half joking in the subject line.

Short version:

I went to Cold Stone Creamery and asked them to place my icecream directly in a cup because I have allergies (easier than explaining celiac). They then very condescendinly explained to me that choosing to eat ice cream was a risk and that they did not feel comfortable with me taking it on their premises and I was told I would not be served.

There is only one way to keep myself safe, and that's by asking about food ingredients or making sure my food doesn't touch food that isn't safe for me.

It is one thing for a restaurant to say, "nothing we have here is safe for you to eat." It's another for them to say, "while we have safe food, we don't feel comfortable letting you eat it." It's a slippery slope, that, quite frankly sacares me, as I can dine out safely if I ask for information and give some basic information.

I don't just hate our litigious society. I hate our risk averse society.

I take risks every day. Every time I eat. Every time I leave the house. Hell, I pick up swords all the damn time that can and do hurt people regardless of safety precautions.

That it is possible for us to get hurt is a simple fact of being creatures both mortal and living.

I'm alive.

And, despite the fact I didn't jump over the counter and kill the guy, the bastard at Cold Stone Creamery isn't.

Comments

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

Sadly the ADA does not cover anything related to food or allergies (among other things), although local laws are starting to do so in some cases.

And most places 'have the right to refuse service to anyone', which means they can get away with doing so as long as they've got a wheelchair ramp and a Braille menu somewhere.

If I had had the strength to not cry at the time, I would have made a huge-ass hissy fuss which every other customer would overhear, and demand to see the manager, and generally insist on being treated like any other goddamned human being or better.

I'd complain to the Better Business Bureau and the company Web site, at least. Since there's even allergy information and a gluten query in their FAQ, which even says "While we are always happy to accommodate special requests," and it certainly doesn't say "so since we can't promise no allergens, we'll just refuse to serve anyone who says 'allergy'", I think you've got a right to some sort of apology at the very least.

And they've lost any business they would have gotten from me, at least. They only recently penetrated my neighborhoods, and I could care less since I hate 'things' in my ice cream anyway, but my other half is enchanted with the idea of Things in Ice Cream, and will now have to live without - he'll feel similarly outraged when I tell him why anyways.

But really it would have been much better if you could have threatened to run him through with a saber. Or just gotten your damn order.