What did the owner of the pho restaurant say?

Recently, VML, the owner of a Facebook account with nearly 150,000 followers, shared a story about being "kicked out of a restaurant for using a wheelchair," causing a stir on social media. After 3 days, the post received 48,000 interactions, over 26,000 comments, and thousands of shares.

Besides comments expressing sympathy and understanding, many people also flooded Mr. L.'s Facebook and Zalo accounts with unpleasant remarks.

What did the owner of the pho restaurant say?

According to the account, on the afternoon of January 11th, Mr. L. went to a pho restaurant in Hanoi with his girlfriend in a wheelchair. Because the wheelchair was heavy and the restaurant only had steps, his girlfriend went inside and asked a staff member to help him up the steps. Mr. L. recounted that the staff member came out and said, "Our restaurant doesn't have staff to carry someone like you," so he and his girlfriend went to another restaurant.

The second pho restaurant where Mr. L. claims the owner was very harsh when serving customers in wheelchairs.

"We went to a familiar chicken pho restaurant, and we ate as usual. The seating was small, so L. squeezed into the spot where the owner was sitting selling food. She immediately stood up and scolded the staff, 'Who lets this kind of person eat here?' The staff replied, 'He eats here often, he usually sits like this.' She became even more emboldened, 'If I can't sell anything, then I'll stand...' he wrote on his personal page."

A reporter from Thanh Niên newspaper visited the second pho restaurant mentioned by Mr. L. in the article on the afternoon of January 15th. After waiting for nearly an hour due to the large number of customers, the owner confirmed that Mr. L. and his girlfriend had visited the restaurant on January 11th.

Ms. TTT (73 years old, owner of the pho restaurant) said that this is the restaurant inherited from her parents, and currently, she and her four sisters are running it together. At noon on January 11th, Ms. T. was preparing to change shifts when a young woman pushed Mr. L., who was in a wheelchair, to the restaurant and ordered two bowls of pho.

The owner pointed out Mr. L.'s seat when he arrived at the restaurant.

"I told him that since he has a wheelchair, he should sit over there for more space and just have one glass of water. He didn't say anything, but my staff said he could come in. I asked where he should sit, and they pointed to this spot. But at that time, I had the scale here to weigh goods, so I said, 'It's too cramped to sit here. Please understand now that it's quiet, but in the morning when it's busy, I can't sell anything sitting here; I'd have to take it to the nearby coffee shop to eat,'" Mrs. T. recounted.

According to Ms. T., she then instructed the staff to move the table back so that Mr. L. and his girlfriend could sit and eat. "I didn't mean to kick them out. They often have dinner at my daughter-in-law's restaurant, and I'm always happy to see them. When they left, I even told them to clear the table so they could leave. I'm old now; if I didn't treat customers well, there wouldn't be so many customers. I work constantly. The bill for the two of them was 110,000 dong," the restaurant owner said.

The reporter asked, "So did you say, 'Whoever uses this language is allowed to eat here'?" The pho restaurant owner insisted she didn't use "this language," but only said, "Next time, please sit over there for more space."

Why didn't the poster include the name of the restaurant?

Mr. L. said that this was a regular spot for him and his girlfriend. Usually, when he came, the young woman was very welcoming and would let them both sit at the front of the shop for easy access, but on the day the incident occurred, the person behind the counter was an older woman.

Mr. L. stated that he is willing to check the camera footage to verify and confirm that what he shared is true.

Mr. L explained that the owner suggested they go to the coffee shop next door to eat, but he and his girlfriend refused because they already had a coffee date later and didn't want to drink anything else; they just wanted to eat pho.

The poster also shared that he hopes this matter will be verified soon. From the beginning, he posted the article with the intention of not exposing anyone, so he didn't record a video as evidence. "Now, if I don't mention the restaurant's name, I'm accused of creating offensive content, but if I publicly name the restaurant without evidence, I'm accused of defamation. I guarantee that everything I shared on social media is true and I will bear all legal responsibility for the information I provided," he affirmed.

Responding to a reporter's question about the pho restaurant owner's assertion that she didn't use "that language," Mr. L. said he was willing to compare and check the security camera footage if the restaurant provided it. "The owner's attitude that day was really aggressive," he stated.

Speaking to Thanh Nien newspaper on the afternoon of January 15th, an official from the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications stated that the unit had become aware of the information circulating on social media in recent days and was investigating to clarify the matter. Once they have information, they will provide it to the press.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/xon-xao-chuyen-bi-duoi-khoi-quan-vi-ngoi-xe-lan-ba-chu-quan-pho-noi-gi-185240115131642947.htm