They say, "Don't mess with Texas," but what if a Texas bar serves a Muslim customer a burger with "Happy 9/11" written on a take-out box, complete with a drawing of a plane heading to the Twin Towers on the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks? That's what happened to customer Tarek G., who recounted the experience on the Petrol Station's Yelp review. Tarek says that he's had great food there, but...:
I arrived to have a few beers with a friend of mine, and we were happy to see a nice mix of beers on tap. After the second, we called it quits and I decided to order a burger to go and take home to finish watching the Cowboys game. When the burger came out, "Happy September 11th" was written on the box, with the "11" being the WTC and a plane flying towards it.
Today is September 11th - and personally I don't think it's a nice way to honor the nearly 3,000 people who died that day 10 years ago. I said as much to the bartender, and asked him to please take the burger away and give me a refund. He sort of scoffed and proceeded to speak with his manager, and within earshot, called my friend and I "assholes" for complaining about what he clearly thought was funny. To be fair, the manager came over and provided me with a refund, but no apology or explanation. A bit stunned, we finished our beers and left it at that. Before leaving, I asked to get in touch with the owner so that I could voice my concerns - the manager asked me to leave my information, at the same time confessing that the "joke was f&$cked up". I did - and explained to him that I wasn't trying to cause a scene, but that as a person who worked near WTC that day I found it incredibly offensive. Still no apology or interest in finding out who was behind it. I left, frustrated that something so simple could not be resolved or even discussed with the very people who should want to understand why it was offensive.
As I walked out, I heard from behind the bar "Allahu Akbar..." repeated several times. Now maybe it's bad luck for them that I happened to be working near WTC and that I also happen to be a muslim (admittedly not the best muslim) - but as an American first and foremost, I find that kind of cavalier attitude offensive at best, and when coupled with the fact that it was coming from a service provider, prejudiced and anti-American at worst.
Petrol Station owner Ben Fullelove told Eater Houston that the employee was fired, "So obviously now, we're trying to distance ourselves from the employee involved in it, and that's not how we do business. I talked to the guy [the customer] and that meant more to me than anything else. I understand the damage that gets done to your business, but I have to know for myself that we're ok with that guy. I got a chance to shake his hand and apologize to him and that means a lot more to me than the damage to my business," adding, "You can't control every aspect of your business. An employee made a stupid mistake...well, not even a mistake, he did something really, really retarded and he got fired. You can only spin it so many ways after that."
Tarek updated his Yelp review to say he had forgiven the restaurant, "I was able to speak to the owner and have a good conversation about my experience at Petrol. He assured me the person(s) responsible will be terminated and the underlying issues will be addressed in short order. He sounded sincere and I appreciated his swift response once he was notified of the issues by the local community. For my part, I am looking forward to putting this to rest - I suppose only time will tell if the changes stick. I'm hopeful they will."
