Calgary man out of a job after racist tirade caught on video.

[peter12]

You guys should read this article, which basically outlines in a more detailed format, exactly what I said: hate crime laws are difficult to enforce, and often don't do much good in deterring violent crime against minorities.

http://www.thenation.com/article/hat...t-lgbt-people/

[peter12]

Originally Posted by rubecube

That's a fair criticism, but I don't think a law is illegitimate simply because the sitting government wields it inappropriately.

The problem is that hate crime laws are guided by sentiment, rather than reason. They can be used to mean almost anything, thus they are meaningless.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by peter12

You guys should read this article, which basically outlines in a more detailed format, exactly what I said: hate crime laws are difficult to enforce, and often don't do much good in deterring violent crime against minorities.

http://www.thenation.com/article/hat...t-lgbt-people/

Well, see, that's a much more reasonable argument against the laws than the nonsense you were spewing before. You should stick with this stuff in future.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by peter12

You guys should read this article, which basically outlines in a more detailed format, exactly what I said: hate crime laws are difficult to enforce, and often don't do much good in deterring violent crime against minorities.

http://www.thenation.com/article/hat...t-lgbt-people/

Originally Posted by peter12

The problem is that hate crime laws are guided by sentiment, rather than reason. They can be used to mean almost anything, thus they are meaningless.

Yeah, I have no problem with the criticisms surrounding the effectiveness of hate-crime legislation, as well as their potential downsides. There's quite a bit of academic literature on the subject. I do however believe that they, in theory, perform a useful normative function.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Well, see, that's a much more reasonable argument against the laws than the nonsense you were spewing before. You should stick with this stuff in future.

I just asked for no condescending posts a few minutes ago. Please stop stuff like this.

[cracher]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Same people who think it's okay to lay into 16 year-old baristas for screwing up their latte orders. People are dinks.

hahaha, sorry for taking this out of context of the thread. Last week, I did exactly this; I lit up the young barista and manager at Starbucks over a latte. The wife ended up in the hospital for 2 days due to a heart issue that was triggered by caffeine (had to be cardioverted). And we routinely confirm and reconfirm that it's a decaf both at the till and the pick-up desk. If the provided service is truly substandard, I have no issue with holding a 16 year old responsible.

Edit: PS. That's not a condescending hahaha. I actually laughed my arse off due to the coincidence.

[chid]

Berating and causing a scene at a Starbucks is different than expecting that what you order is what you get and communicating that to the barista. I have had to "complain" to restaurants/quick service places before, and treating people like human beings is important.

However, I've also been on the other end of this working in the service industry as a young teenager and even when someone reasonably complained or brought up an issue I was dramatic and viewed it as "berating" and took it personal. Some people just can't take any criticism or adversity without getting totally butt hurt.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by cracher

hahaha, sorry for taking this out of context of the thread. Last week, I did exactly this; I lit up the young barista and manager at Starbucks over a latte. The wife ended up in the hospital for 2 days due to a heart issue that was triggered by caffeine (had to be cardioverted). And we routinely confirm and reconfirm that it's a decaf both at the till and the pick-up desk. If the provided service is truly substandard, I have no issue with holding a 16 year old responsible.

Edit: PS. That's not a condescending hahaha. I actually laughed my arse off due to the coincidence.

If it is that serious, why do you even risk it? If caffeine had that effect on me the last thing I'd be doing is trusting some kid or hipster to get it rightnwith my health. Mix ups and screw ups happen.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Not to sound skeptical but this doesn't sound like something that would happen commonly enough for it to happen more than once to the same person.

Half the fares out there are women, I can't honestly see cabbies berating people who aren't part of their culture for not following their cultural norms. That's just seems completely bizarre and something you'd hear as a crazy one off, not a "It's happened several times from different drivers to my wife" multiple incident.

Odd. What happened in those cases, did you go anywhere with it?

I asked my wife about it, I was mistaken, it only happened once. The other time was a cabby giving her such a hard time about not paying cash that she started to feel scared and called me to come outside.

The other cabbie was saying things like how he didn't like Canada because of all the freedoms women have. That they shouldn't be out without men and should cover up. She felt very uncomfortable by the end of the ride.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by cracher

hahaha, sorry for taking this out of context of the thread. Last week, I did exactly this; I lit up the young barista and manager at Starbucks over a latte. The wife ended up in the hospital for 2 days due to a heart issue that was triggered by caffeine (had to be cardioverted). And we routinely confirm and reconfirm that it's a decaf both at the till and the pick-up desk. If the provided service is truly substandard, I have no issue with holding a 16 year old responsible.

Edit: PS. That's not a condescending hahaha. I actually laughed my arse off due to the coincidence.

If the condition that your wife has is truly that high risk - I wouldn't have even risked going to a coffee shop in the first place.

I'm deathly allergic to walnuts and pecans, and in order to prevent unnecessary risk, I've spent my entire life not eating desserts that aren't home baked.

I certainly wouldn't put myself at risk, nor would I make a 16 year old responsible for something as important as my, or someone else's life.

[Voodooman]

Yet another one. Glad to see the police actively investigating and charging for these incidents

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/...against-cabbie

A real classy gal that you'd love to take home to Mom. Of course, buddy in the front seat with the Mohawk and the 2nd run Ed Hardy shirt looks like a real gem as well.

I'd like to say I hope she loses her job as well, but I don't think rub n' tug parlours care much about this kind of thing.

[cracher]

I wholehearted agree that it's stupid. But she has compulsively had one every saturday morning for years and years. I suspect that changes now.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by cracher

hahaha, sorry for taking this out of context of the thread. Last week, I did exactly this; I lit up the young barista and manager at Starbucks over a latte. The wife ended up in the hospital for 2 days due to a heart issue that was triggered by caffeine (had to be cardioverted). And we routinely confirm and reconfirm that it's a decaf both at the till and the pick-up desk. If the provided service is truly substandard, I have no issue with holding a 16 year old responsible.

In agreement with those that posted above me, I don't think it's appropriate to take out your frustrations with your wife's health on a teenager.

They just made your coffee wrong. The higher stakes placed on it are a risk that you and your wife hold the responsibility for. It's sad that you felt right in "lighting them up".

My mom is deathly allergic to shellfish. She doesn't order dishes made with shellfish and ask them to hold them shellfish. She orders something else. (Sorry, all off topic as to cab drivers but on topic in terms of treating people in the service industry with human decency).

[Raekwon]

Lesson learned, if someone has an accent they aren't from my her country.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Voodooman

http://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/...against-cabbie

What an ignorant twit.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I'll probably get flamed for this - and I'm in no way excusing the behaviour of the people who were charged in this case - but I do wonder why people who have tremendously strong feelings against alcohol, sex outside marriage, and women behaving independently choose to drive a cab for a living.

Wait, is there an actual problem with cabbies flaming their customers about how they act and dress? This seems like a made up problem and the first I've heard about it is in this thread.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Wait, is there an actual problem with cabbies flaming their customers about how they act and dress? This seems like a made up problem and the first I've heard about it is in this thread.

Yeah, I don't think it's really a thing. Peter12 said the same thing had happened to his wife multiple times after Fuzz's initial story but then Peter said one was at a store and she wasn't really berated. Then below Fuzz asked his wife to try to remember the incidents and it's since gone from his wife being berated by multiple cabbies for not travelling with a man to one, and even his wording suggests that she was made to feel uncomfortable by the end of the ride because of his views rather than him berating her.

Obviously none of us were there so we don't know, but at this point it's pretty anecdotal and I'm willing to bet that cabbies berating customers for not following their cultural norms isn't actually a thing, and if it is it's likely very very rare.

It was odd why it was brought up in the first place, anyways, as it seemed like a "Well that lady laid out a racist tirade against a cab driver but they're not perfect either!!!" which makes no sense in the context of this thread.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I asked my wife about it, I was mistaken, it only happened once. The other time was a cabby giving her such a hard time about not paying cash that she started to feel scared and called me to come outside.

The other cabbie was saying things like how he didn't like Canada because of all the freedoms women have. That they shouldn't be out without men and should cover up. She felt very uncomfortable by the end of the ride.

[cracher]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

In agreement with those that posted above me, I don't think it's appropriate to take out your frustrations with your wife's health on a teenager.

They just made your coffee wrong. The higher stakes placed on it are a risk that you and your wife hold the responsibility for. It's sad that you felt right in "lighting them up".

My mom is deathly allergic to shellfish. She doesn't order dishes made with shellfish and ask them to hold them shellfish. She orders something else. (Sorry, all off topic as to cab drivers but on topic in terms of treating people in the service industry with human decency).

I really don't want to derail this thread any more either (seems excessively self-indulgent, even for me)... but I don't agree. If Starbucks offers a full line-up of decaf drinks, then I don't accept any true contributory negligence on my part. Is it stupid to go? Probably. But if there is a money for product/service transaction, then I would expect what I paid for. I don't accept the "I was asking for it by being there" argument.

Furthermore, the suggestion that being a teenager somehow elevates you above consequences is strange. We all have deal with consequences for our actions (I'm sure some of us can be sued right through limited liability corps if we screwed up bad enough). I guess I really could have handled it differently by speaking softly to someone higher up in the chain of command. Is that decent-er? The actual consequence may have been even heavier than a red-faced customer telling the teen to wake up.

[polak]

Unless you have never made a simple mistake like that (forgetting to make it decaf) and slip ups are a foreign concept to you, I don't know why you would even risk going to a place where the possibility of that happening is so real. The kids make hundreds of coffee a day and are usually multitasking so forgetting that you mentioned decaf could happen very easily. Sure, you're correct, you should get what you pay for but expecting perfection and putting your wifes health on the line with that expectation seems a bit... odd.

[PepsiFree]

I don't mean you shouldn't be held accountable for screwing up.

I mean you should've held the barista responsible for mixing up a coffee order and reacted accordingly, not for sending your wife to hospital. That's not on them.

I think the difference is something like 150mg caffeine in a regular grande latte vs 50mg in a decaf latte (a regular cup of coffee is 300+mg for reference). If the line between safe and extreme danger is 1/3 of a cup of coffee, don't drink coffee (reg, decaf, whatever). And if you do, don't blame someone else when it backfires on you.

Hope your wife is ok though. That honestly must've been really scary.