Arby's Restaurant in Chattanooga Refuses Service to Begging Man, Pregnant Woman
Man Begs for Chance to Earn Food for Himself and Pregnant Companion Only to Be Turned Away by Arby's Management
The needy gentleman in question was not alone but also had a young pregnant woman with him. The pregnant woman was not wearing maternity clothes and her ill fitting shirt did not come close to covering the extent of her belly. It was obvious that these two had hit hard times and could use an act of kindness.
The man told the Arby's store manager that he did not have any money and they were hungry. He also communicated to the Arby's manager that he wanted to exchange work at the restaurant or possibly clean the Arby's parking lot for food. My family and I heard him tell the Arby's Assistant Manager that he would pick up cigarette butts if there were nothing else to be done. He was not asking for a handout but requesting a chance or opportunity to earn their meal.
I was so surprised to hear the Arby's manager, referred to as "Sonny", turn down the gentleman. We overheard him tell the man, "We don't do that", in an unsympathetic and demeaning tone. The man and pregnant woman left quickly. However, on their way out the door the man remarked that he would have to steal something for them to eat and probably have to go to jail for it.
After a few moments, I walked to the door and looked around the lot. The man and the pregnant woman were gone and all chance of helping them disappeared.
Once inside, I thought about how hard it must have been to beg for that kind of assistance. I can only imagine the humiliation of begging to earn food only to be turned down. I was left to wonder about the absolute embarrassment that they must have felt.
What made this more unsettling and ironic was that an Arby's employee simply threw away food when correcting my order. I found the fact that Arby's could throw away food without question but could not help someone hungry and in need shameful.
In all fairness, I did call and speak with the General Manager from the Shallowford Road Arby's in Chattanooga. She declined to give me her name but did say that the Assistant Manager on duty was following protocol. She stated that it was against the official policies of Arby's to allow someone to work for food because of insurance reasons. However, unofficially she said in circumstances such as these that they do normally offer a free meal. Additionally, she added that her Assistant Manager was new and did not know how to properly handle the situation.
In spite of my conversation with the Chattanooga Arbys General Manager, I cannot patronize a business after seeing first hand how a member of the Arby's staff treated someone who was so financially disadvantaged. I wonder what billionaire Nelson Pelz, owner of Arby's and non-executive Chairman for Triarc Inc., feels on issues such as these. I find it nothing short of reprehensible.
Published by Layla Lair
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85 Comments
Post a Commenttry looking at this situation from the manager's perspective. had he allowed the man to work for food, where would his wife have remained and what would that look like if a supervisor walked in? irregardless of the hard times the man fell upon, no stranger can walk off the street and offer to do labor off the clock, there would be numerous legal ramifacations that go along with that, especially since his wife was pregnant. professionalism is sometimes not easy, but the manager did the right thing.
I dunno why, but reading this article made me cry.
I fell stupid fer cryin', cos I'm a big, s'pposedly tough guy.
I just have a theory, which transcends any religious or powitical views, and independent of how much you may have - but, if someone is aksing, no....begging, fer fud, you HAVE to give them some. I'm not trying to be moral, or preach, or proffer my insignificant 'pinion, but how could you NOT give a begging, hungry person - who's dignity is LONG gone - something to EAT????
I can't stop crying. I'm sorry if I made anyone feel bad. Imagine what it's like to have to AKS someone fer fud, wearing dirty clothes, wif an outstretched hand....and getting REJECTED???? Man, if I was that person, I wouldn't want to exist in that werld.
By da way, da person who W'OTE dis article should've AUTOMATIC'LLY pervided sumfin' to dose persons, to eat. Well, I guess since she DINT give dose people something to eat (she WAITED a few moments, then "walked to da door, and wooked 'roun
OMG Just give these human beings some food .There is so much waste of food in America.And Obesity.Learn to SHARE1
For the guest comment below...I did try to help this poor couple. By the time I come from the back of the restaurant to follow, as I stated in my article, they were gone. Maybe you missed that. Also remember this conversation was quick and they left quick as well. Maybe they thought Arbys might call the law. Who knows...but I would appreciate it if you read the full article. Thanks for the comment!
i understand why arbys could not do that. BUT why did you just sit there and watch as they walked out? Customers are allowed to help. Theres nothing protocol and complicated about that.
As a Restaurant Manager if you start giving away free food to people in need it will never stop ...I took over a location that the former manager would give free food to the homeless and those homeless people would never stop coming, They would beat on the doors after closing trying to get free food .We as GM are required to make food cost and a profit or we lose our jobs,If you were the owner of this location and I was incharge of running the store for you and I give away all your profit you could bet you would hire someone that would make you money ...Besides my employees dont make alot of money and I would rather give free food to the staff first .WE as Managers cant let someone just walk in off the street and work for food they can rob you ,steal ,or get hurt and sue arbys maybe you as a customer should of ran then down and bought them some food .Maybe the reason you couldnt find them is because thier lexus is very fast .They couldnt of been walking or you would have caught them .W
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Look, Arby's is a *business*. They try to make money. If you were so concerned with the them not giving charity to a homeless couple, why didn't you do it yourself?
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Some town have no soup kitchen like ours My family is in much of the same situation. I am [pregnant with our third child and do to this economy we have no jobs. I have had interviews but my [pregnant belly is rather hard to hide. I have begged and begged for jobs no one will hire me. So if i can find a job in the next week then me and my kids have to travel to another town to go to a shelter there. If they dont have a place for us then we will be on the streets. So i feel for the cou[ple thast were turned away for i myself will so face that sistuation
I stumbled across this article and wanted to add my two cents.
I don't see what the huge deal is... I'm not trying to sound like an inconsiderate jerk, but I likely would have done the exact same thing if I were the manager. Of course I would have been incredibly nice about it, and if I had an extra few bucks I probably would have bought them a meal, but I'd rather keep my job that risk getting fired because of certain legal ramifications this might cause. It would be one thing if I was the owner of a small business--then I'd happily let someone do a little work for food. But as the manager of a restaurant that's part of a MASSIVE company there are laws against that.
And again, not trying to sound rude but aren't there soup kitchens that give FREE meals, no questions asked? Seems like going there would be a lot easier and save a lot of pride as opposed to begging in fast food restaurants.