I’ve experienced this before:
Rose Rock, the mother of comedian Chris Rock, claims she was racially discriminated against when she was seated but ignored for a half hour at a Cracker Barrel restaurant along the South Carolina coast.
Of course, I considered it bad service, not discrimination. I find it better to leave than linger. Or to sue.
Rock said Tuesday she planned to sue the Lebanon, Tenn.-based company. A Cracker Barrel spokeswoman said the restaurant chain was investigating and taking the complaint “very seriously.”
If the company did discriminate against her because she’s black, that’s despicable. She should publicize it, given that she has the press access of being Chris Rock’s mother. But sue? Why? Cracker Barrel is a private business, and should be free to refuse service, even if it plays the game of seating a customer.
From Richard Bach’s The Bridge Across Forever, describing his reaction to diner displaying a “We reserve the right to refuse service” sign:
You reserve the right to do absolutely anything you want to do, I thought. Why put up signs to say so? Makes you look frightened. Why are you frightened?
Ms. Rock reserves the right to sue. And I reserve the right to laugh when she fails. If she fails. If not, I reserve the right to sigh at our legal system.