While working at a famous local restaurant which is known for boasting about its lack of renovations over the course of the many decades it’s been in operation, hostess Meghan Levy casually upheld the eatery’s long-standing segregationist policy: She regretfully informed Ron Jackson, a wheelchair user, that he is not going to be able to dine at the establishment.
“Unfortunately, we don’t accommodate wheelchairs,” Levy said in her calmest customer service voice. “Yeah, there’s no ramp at the entrance and the doorway is too narrow to fit a wheelchair. We do apologize for the inconvenience.”
When Jackson pointed out that the restaurant’s building codes should be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Levy got a bit befuddled and said she believes the restaurant is protected as a historical landmark and cannot be subject to normal regulation.
“Yeah, it’s bullshit,” said Jackson. “Whenever one of the selling points of a restaurant is that it looks the same as it did in the 1940s, I know I probably can’t eat there. Now they get to sound all sweet to me and act like me not being allowed to enter a restaurant is some kind of law of nature!”
“Look man, I’m just the messenger here,” an exasperated Levy told reporters. “This place is an institution, and every couple of weeks we get some patron in a wheelchair calling to check if they can come here, and I have to break their heart every single time! Do you think I want to turn nice, disabled people away? I didn’t build the building!”
Jackson, in a last-ditch effort, asked Levy if there were any alternative entrances to the main one. Levy replied with an enthusiastic “Yes!” before quickly clarifying that the other entrance had three small steps.