Last night I had a hankering for ribs and stopped by Cincinnati’s famous Montgomery Inn “Ribs King” for a takeout order on my way home from a session with my Medtronics Rep and a visit to Hospice to celebrate a family friend’s 95th birthday - the latter very heartwarming - he loved the 8 humorous cards I brought him and the book + gigundo gooey cupcake he likely will have no appetite for (and I wouldn’t be caught dead sharing for obvious reasons).
Walked in and there was a sign offering the 3 for $33: Appetizer + Entree + Dessert. Very expensive, but I would get 2-3 meals out of it. And cheaper than a la carte. Big treat, too.
I wanted the full slab of ribs entree (3 meals) which came with their Saratoga Chips - home made chips oven chips - these would be divided into 4 - very carby. The Wedge salad.
But I did not want dessert. I asked if I could have a second appetizer salad, another salad.
“Not under the 3 for $33.”
“What???” I said, thinking that to the restaurant, a bunch of lettuce actually had to be cheaper than a marble cheese cake or cream puffs they buy from a bakery!!!
We went around a few times to make certain I really understood what they were saying. I said I was a Type 1 Disbetic and there was no way I could eat the chips AND a dessert without getting sick and I thought it was discrimination - that actually T1 Diabetic’s were covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act and I’d like to see a manager.
The manager came . . . heard me out and in a nano-second said “we can do that.” He had to tell them how to ring it: ring up a dessert, but give me a salad. Lol. I went away happy. He told me the kids behind the counter were not authorized to make the decision. Yet, what if I had not been assertive?
Or does this group think I was too heavy handed? At first I was gentle and polite, but when I kept getting “too bad, those are the rules. You are stuck. Not my problem.” I pushed it.
ummm…i dont think it was discrimination. they had a special on; appetizer, entree, dessert. you didnt want the special. now im all for asking for something thats not on the menu, can i change the chips for a salad. most places will do that. but if they dont, i dont play the diabetes card. theyre not discriminiating, theyve got a meal deal on and you dont want it. ask them to change something? sure. use discrimination when they dont want to? ummm…no.
I’m glad you got things sorted out in a way that’s satisfactory to you. I think this is a customer service issue and not a discrimination issue.
I see people throw around the word “discrimination” a lot in diabetes and other health communities without understanding what it really means. Discrimination does NOT mean that someone doesn’t get their way or exact preferences met. Discrimination means that someone doesn’t have equal access to, opportunity in, or acceptance from the world around them.
Having to pay extra to substitute one thing for another is in no way denying you access to the food or treating you differently because of your diabetes.
I feel empowered to ask for substitutes and I have found most restaurants will go out of their way to make the customers happy. Sometimes on a prix fixe menu you will get pushback (which is what you had), but that is understandable as these menus generally offer higher quantity and quality at a better price, you just don’t have the choices. And certainly you would not expect a restaurant that only offered a pix fixe to be ready to make custom meals, they won’t even necessarily have the ingredients.
That being said, I can’t recall ever being denied a substitution. Yes, a few times an upcharge. But I’ve had grilled asparagus replace fries. Overall, I have a really good experience. And I was told I couldn’t sub for the dessert then I would just ask for it to go and give it away.
Pretty much agree with all the comments. I don’t think this constituted discrimination. But you had every right to request a more-than-reasonable substitution. I’ve done that numerous times.
Not discrimination. The coupon was what it was. The same deal was offered to everyone. That said, many managers are willing to make exceptions to the printed coupon in cases like this to keep you coming back. It’s just good business sense.
Good for you for asserting yourself even if it wasn’t discrimination. I often have felt frustrated by those silly menu rules even before D. You’re paying a lot for everything so they should just give you what you want/need. I don’t go to restaurants that won’t let me substitute what I want/need for something else I don’t want. Believe it or not many diners in my area are like that. I hardly ever eat out anymore anyway because the quality of the food in most places is questionable. The last time I ate at a diner was a few months ago, they brought me eggs on an english muffin even though I said no english muffin and that I don’t eat gluten. They brought it back so fast I’m sure they simply removed the muffin even though I told them to do it all over. So I was afraid to eat it.
The last time I ate out I requested all my food at once and a few different choices from the actual menu. They had no problem. I’ve never had a problem when I needed something different due to D/being on insulin.
Ugh! I almost never eat out, and when I do I’m so paranoid about allergies exactly because of that type of thing, because I’ve had it happen, too. “I’m allergic to XYZ. Especially Z, I’m severely allergic to Z. I mean I’m actually allergic, not just a preference. So can you make sure my food doesn’t contain XYZ or come into contact with those foods at all, especially Z?” Between the fact that it usually takes me going back and forth with the kitchen multiple times to find something I can eat, my nervousness that they won’t take my allergies seriously and will do as you describe above, I don’t even mention minor allergens because it would be too long a list and just put up with minor reactions sometimes, and the fact that I usually end up paying something like $17 for a garden salad with chicken, eating out has lost virtually all its appeal. I basically only eat out when it’s a social necessity.
It is pretty scary. I don’t have serious food allergies fortunately. I eat gluten free because I react to it with stomach pain/gas/runs etc. and for hashimotos and bg control. I’m absolutely positive they didn’t make new eggs benedict which is what I had, they just scraped the eggs off and put them on some lettuce. I was also exposed to gluten in the hospital because I ordered some flounder that had bread crumbs on it without realizing it. I kept wondering why it had 8g of carbs- I thought it must be sauce and then I realized after the first bite that stuff on top was breadcrumb sauce of some sort. I just hope I haven’t set my self back too far with this because I now have that stomach ache I get when eating wheat. I’m not sure if it’s that or the original bug I had but it feels like that.
My allergies range from mouth and throat irritation to really bad stomach aches and upset stomach to hives and itching to throat closing and anaphylaxis. It makes eating out or eating any food that I haven’t prepared myself really hard. Sometimes I have reactions even to food I’ve prepared. The other night I got a stomach ache shortly after dinner that was so bad I had to go lie down for the night. No idea what it was, maybe cross contamination of some sort since the package of almond flour did have a may contain warning for wheat. I think that my body is just so reactive that it sometimes reacts to stuff I’m not even allergic to.
Did you get carbohydrate counts when you were in the hospital? When I was in the hospital in December I didn’t get any carbohydrate counts for food. But they had asked about food allergies before the meal was delivered, so they did have my allergies listed on the form and everything I got was safe.
Yes, that part was great, they had carb counts for everything on the menu, it was very easy and stress free. I wish all restaurants had to do that too. when I ordered the food they kept telling me I had to order 60g of carbs per meal though, lol. I never eat that much. Now I’m back to 10-20 per meal due to my crashing bg but the past two days I have nothing but high bg, very frustrating. I was ok for the first day out so I think it had something to do with the iv fluids and not moving around too much.
The first or second meal they just gave me 60g of carbs anyway with two melon portions and a bunch of other stuff, like angel food cake which my father ended up eating,
Finally after I explained to them a few x why I was eating 10-20 g they gave me less but I think it was still more maybe- I can’t remember now.
That’s great they had your allergies taken care of. I should just have told them I need a gluten free diet. The dietician asked me if I wanted that when she came to talk to me the second day.
Wow, that is awful Jen. Do you have celiac or is it a wheat sensitivity/allergy? I still wonder if I have that and the tests were wrong. It could explain some of my other issues maybe.
Geez, you and I seem so similar in some ways. Whenever I go to the hospital they always give me IV fluids and it seems to help my body in general. I can’t remember if it makes my blood sugars any better, but I remember texting a friend in December a day or two after I got home saying that a problem I’d had for months was gone (and has since come back). I’ve wondered if I’m somehow chronically dehydrated, but I drink herbal tea and water all day, so I don’t think that’s possible.
I’m pretty sure the meals I got were almost 100% carbohdyrates, too. The only protein I remember is some bacon for breakfast. The rest was all carbohydrates.
Yes we do seem to have many similarities don’t we?
I think it was the fluids and also not doing too much. That day I was there was the most I have been able to eat in ages and the most stable my bg has been in a long time… I actually felt safe eating again. Then the day I was released it was good for a day and then back to high all the time.
The endo I saw said to increase my basal rates due to the illness but my cde didn’t seem to think it was a good idea. I did it for 2 hours and then I did come back to normal ranges but then later at night I could tell I was heading to crash territory so I stopped the temp rates. I’m doing them on and off now but still once I eat I just stay high for hours and hours. I’m going to have to increase my boluses again and then I will have lows. I just can’t stand the lows anymore, it’s like being tortured for me.
I’m sure it was the fluids for me. I have noticed for a long time when my bg goes high I’m dehydrated and constipated and when low usually the opposite, most of the time anyway. And I wake up at night with very dry eyes. I’m always drinking water too and herbal teas although I added green tea back in one cup per day 2 months ago. I have always been a big water drinker so when I started getting the D symptoms it didn’t seem so unusual to be going all the time until the very end.
My meals were pretty well balanced when I chose them because I chose the selection I wanted and some seemed to be less carby and more veggies. I did spike from some mashed potatoes there but I managed to keep it under control. I have had to greatly reduce boluses due to crashing all the time. Not sure how long I will be able to stick to that. Usually for things like potatoes I need more. On my first set of hosptial visits at diagnoisis they gave me an all carb meal too
Maybe the fluids help your allergic reactions in some way?
I’m glad you said something. It’s not really discrimination per se, but it should be an option to trade dessert for a salad. I once went to one of my (then favorite) restaurants and asked the chef what he thought the carb count was on the bun. It was a huge bun. All he had to do was take it back to the kitchen and weigh it. Instead, he gave me a huge lecture about how he wasn’t required by law to disclose that information, even after I told him it was because I was just trying to figure out how much insulin I had to take. I was polite about it. I’ve worked in kitchens. They have scales. He was just on a power trip…Never going back there again.
