Can anything be done about incidences such as VegHeadZealia's?
I was touched and moved by VegHeadZealia's story of her compassion and regard for the mistreated hens in California. I believe we both would appreciate any suggestions for her rescue efforts and/or prevention of further animal abuse in the future. Moreover, I believe that situations regarding carelessness, apathy, and possibly pranksters should be dealt with before further incidents may happen which actually hurt or traumatise someone such as in Zealia's story. (As written of in her "Traumatised" post/thread.)
I myself have had similar incidences with a sometimes poor excuse of a natural foods store here in Davenport, Iowa. For starters, they sell French bread - sometimes w/ the ingredients listed - but not once, to my knowledge, have they put on the listing that they use eggs to coat the bread with(!) In another incident, a disabled friend of mine was served a drink w/ a fingernail in it, then weeks later was served a drink w/ an apple sticker in it - (although the drink required no apples). My friend complained to the manager of the deli, (the same person who made the drink), but received apathy. He then walked over to talk to the store owner and was rudely asked if he was "poisoned' by it(!) My friend then told him of the indent w/ the fingernail and he then did show a little concern (but very little!). So, maybe 6-7 weeks later, the owner said to my friend that he can no longer order, or be served juice drinks at his establishment. Instead of punishing his employees, he chose instead to punish my disabled friend - a friend who literally has spent more than 10,000 U.S. dollars at this effing ingrate's store!
Comments? Suggestions? (And/or) would anyone else like to share similar incidences they may have had themselves?
I would definitely not go there anymore and support that establishment....yeah it's a loss for them and for your friend because she likes going to that place, but she should find a place to go that gives her a feel-good experience... there's TONS of places she can go to get a juice or whatever ;) where she'll get treated nicely
what about the better bussiness burough or the health department? having finger nails and stuff in drinks is a health concern. i'm sure some gov'ment agency would be interested. if your friend can find others with simular issues, that would be good too. craigs list?
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Thanks baypuppy! (But what is "craigs list"?)
I think it's indicative of the way people are today. I went into a store which advertises vegetarian and vegan products. I'm not vegan but my grandchildren are and they are coming for Christmas. I asked the lady what candy was vegan and her response? "I don't know. You just have to know my products before you come in." I said, "You ADVERTISE vegan products and you don't know what they are?". Then she told me that a certain candy was new and it was vegan. I bought 2 pieces. When I bit into them, I instantly knew they had gelatin in it. I was so pissed. I'll never go into the store again and I'll badmouth it to anyone who asks me about it. It's almost as if they are doing you a favor by being there. It seems like nobody in the public service sector cares anymore. I would boycott it and call the health department. Even if they don't find anything, it'll be a big pain for the guy to deal with them.
Home of some of the most fascinating discussions you will ever witness, too.
I think baypuppy is right... the local health department or better business bureau would be where I'd turn. One incident (even one report containing several) might not inspire scrutiny, but if you find other people who have had such experiences and encourage them to get pro-active about it and report it also, eventually they will get examined.
I've had several experiences with delivery food containing unasked-for meat/etc. The first time it happened, I really wanted them to take the food and pass it along to someone who could eat it, but that turns out to be naive... for safety reasons. I hate wasting food, particularly if something perished to make it, so I am really sympathetic to Zealia's plight today. On one occasion I just sighed and ate it, picking out what I could-- but I didn't feel great about that either. I haven't taken action because I know the establishments, know what kind of pressure the servers/cooks were under, and understand how it happened... but it sounds like what you have encountered is just plain crazy negligence and an offensive customer service attitude.
Maybe see if the local newspaper would want to run a story about it? ??? That way if you mention that you complained to the health department or better business bureau other people would read about it and had similar experiences would call them too.
just a quick correction, the site is
craigslist dot ORG
(I'm addicted! ;D)
craigslist.com connects automatically to craigslist.org :)
I would definitely not go there anymore and support that establishment....yeah it's a loss for them and for your friend because she likes going to that place, but she should find a place to go that gives her a feel-good experience... there's TONS of places she can go to get a juice or whatever ;) where she'll get treated nicely
Thanks for your response, pearmuffin. I can understand a person saying that there are "tons" of places my friend can go to for a freshly made juice - but this is a somewhat backward community, (and also in the midwest(!)). Therefore, as I've noticed when looking through veg restaurant listings, there really is not much to choose from for miles here.
What is perhaps more sad is that my friend often struggles with complications that have lingered from a parent induced hate-crime. His so-called parents nearly murdered him with poison while falsly assuming he was a homosexual - and also partly for his vegetarian based views on animals and presumed religious beliefs and practices - among other totally harmless things. (Long hair, "raggy" clothes - etc.) More or less, js' a teen boy being a teen boy. No crime (unless one may call skipping school a crime), no drugs and nearly a straight "A" student and respected athlete as a child. Yet two insecure, thoughtless and hateful so-called "parents" tried vigorously to get rid of him in an attempt to protect their image as "parents".
To save myself from going into a soliloquy, I should js' say that the young man who is my friend has lost more than just a right to fresh juice, - he has lost a right to one of his healing and wellness therapies.
("Disclaimer")...
Sometimes people have a tendency to perceive a person's "long-windedness" as an attack on them - especially if pointing out a disagreement. Please don't take my harangue as an attack on you, pearmuffin. Bless your heart for caring about both VegHeadZealia's and my friend's situations! Also, bless your heart for writing what you did - so I could vent some more! ;)
Also, to baypuppy, thanks again for your input! I'd be truly interested to read some of the details of similar stories you may have heard in your local news - if you'd care to share! (I would guess you could say that my story has become a little more newsworthy than before, huh?)
Also, thanks to all you other readers and responders! Peace!!!
I hate to go into legal-land, but if your friend is disabled and was banned from a store - I'd raise hell about it and I'd claim discrimination. And...........I'd call the health department.
thanks for the thread, friend...it is a concerning situation. Its kinda tricky, figuring out how to maneuver in situations like that. I was lucky enough to come across very apologetic managers who refunded my money immediately. If that had not been the case Id probally try to raise hell!
As for improving life for animals, I think th best thing we can do is get involved in activeism. Raise awareness, volunteer, fund programs, get directly involved. For chickens, specifically, the best thing going is called "the united poultry concerns" http://www.upc-online.org/ Of course there are lots of other groups that focus on animals rights in general...I just focus on chickens because the abuse to awareness ratio is so disproportioned... It makes me sick!