*Transcribed*
I made a bit of a scene at Delifrance this morning. I’m normally very nice to store employees, but there are certain things I won’t stand for. I was waiting in line to buy a muffin and a vanilla milkshake. There was a Tamil guy in front of me who looked like he had just come in from the Vanni (the area the LTTE is fighting for). Quite frankly, he looked a little out of place as the prices at Delifrance are pretty high even for me! He was trying to order a coffee and some bread and was only able to speak Tamil. The employees made no effort whatsoever to try and accommodate him. His wife was already seated and he went to sit down. They called him back to pay his bill. Let me put this into context: In the Vanni areas 5 people can eat well for Rs.300. This man probably wasn’t expecting his bill to be more than Rs.150 for both of them. When he went to pay they said it was Rs.680. He looked completely stunned. I felt terrible when he sheepishly took out Rs.200. I guess it was all he had. Clearly embarrassed, he apologized, went to get his wife and they both left. As they left, the employees behind the counter began laughing. This was the last straw for me. I spotted the manager and the conversation was as follows:
- Yes sir?
- Can you tell me what’s funny? Why is everyone laughing?
- The couple over there who left couldn’t speak Sinhala [He had a slight smirk]
- And that’s funny? I don’t speak Sinhala. Are you laughing? [The manager quickly realized where I was going with this.]
- They only spoke Tamil.
- So it’s funny if you only speak Tamil?
- … uh, no sir …
- OK, tell what is funny then.
- … [He just stood there looking at me. There was no response for almost 10 seconds]
- You can speak English right? You LAUGH if something is FUNNY. I want YOU to tell ME what is funny! [My voice was raised at this point so people were turning to see what was going on]
- … [He was almost shaking and not saying a word] You should ask them what’s funny
- Ask who? The couple? They weren’t laughing. Your employees are. Trust me you don’t want me to start talking to your employees.
- … they shouldn’t laugh.
- Exactly.
- I will tell them at the meeting at the end of the shift.
- No. You better tell to stop laughing right now and you can remind them at the end of the shift. The foreigners in here don’t realize that you’re laughing at those people because they were Tamil. They just see you laughing at customers. Employees should NEVER laugh at customers. It looks bad for you. Explain that to them.
- …
- Do you want me to tell you what I think is funny? … This place is called “DéliFrance – Boulangerie et Café Français“ [Pronounced in perfect French] Can ONE of you in here speak French?
- Uh, no sir.
- Right. THAT is funny. But as you can see, I’m not laughing. Go talk to your employees right now.
There have been at least 3 or 4 times where I’ve come to the defense of an employee who was being harassed by a client, but NEVER have I seen employees humiliating clients. They had no right to do what they did to this poor man and his wife. The couple had already left the café, but had I been able to find them I would have called them back and made those jerks apologize…IN TAMIL! Actually, I don’t even know the word for “Sorry” in Tamil, so I guess that wouldn’t have worked too well! 
Moral of the story: Everything in the world is in balance. If someone is making fun of, embarrassing or humiliating someone who cannot defend themselves it is your responsibility to restore balance by embarrassing that individual to the best of your abilities.