Northern California diner halts veteran group’s use of room
Joe Sigala talks to NBC Bay Area about being barred from using the Black Bear Diner for veteran meetings. (NBC Bay Area)
NBC Bay area reports that a group of veterans, who have met bi-weekly at the Black Bear Diner for a while, were told by a manager that they could not meet there. This group apparently reserved a room for their biweekly meetings. The diner claimed that the veterans were not respectful and did not show up in the numbers and frequencies for the days they made their reservations.
From NBC Bay Area:
“My therapy is with my brothers. That’s why we get together because we understand,” said veteran Joe Sigala.
They informally call themselves “veterans helping veterans.” And for the last 10 years, they’ve been meeting inside the restaurant in a room away from the main dining area.
They need privacy, they say, because of the personal topics they discuss while eating breakfast.
“We hug and cry together and that was our therapy,” said veteran Tim Mermod.
The veterans say the new manager at the diner told them they couldn’t have that room anymore.
On Wednesday, Parth Mehta, vice president of the Black Bear Diner franchise, said there were complaints that the veterans were rude to staff, and their meetings and attendance numbers were inconsistent.
And that he needs a headcount to make sure the diner has sufficient staffing.
“I felt like I felt when I came back from Vietnam. That nobody wanted us, welcomed us home. That’s terrible,” said Sigala.
“Now to still have things like this pop up and make fictitious statements and derogatory things against us, it’s not fair and it’s not right,” said veteran Hayward Cook.
“I’m not sure what happened but there’s always two sides to every story,” said Mehta.
The vice president of the diner’s parent company said he will speak with the local manager and was surprised to hear that the veterans say they gave the restaurant this schedule, assuring there were always at least 20 members who show up to every gathering.
“This is the first time I hear about the schedule,” said Mehta.
And the vice president also said he wanted to make one other thing clear — the veterans are welcome back in the room.
NBC Bay Area has additional details, and the video, here.
Category: Veterans in the news, Veterans Issues
New manager. I am thinking the VP of the franchise is about to have a come to Jesus meeting with the manager and or may be looking for an even newer manager. The publicity can’t be doing them any good. I do wonder if the VP is also a Vet and might be taking the publicity a bit personally.
San Franfreakshow area for ya…
I used to live here.
Ironically, this is actually in the town of Milpitas, about 45 miles south of San Francisco. It started as as an old Spanish settlement, then a blue collar Ford parts plant town in the 50’s/60’s, now a high tech bedroom community with a majority Asian population and city government.
The problem is these guys are just ancient history. 😪
Aren’t all of us with at least 20 years in?
AKA San Fransicko.
I’ll bet the brown dog’s name is Tablescrap.
That’s why I no longer go to The Olive Garden. We used to have meetings of our Military Order of the Purple Heart in a back room of the restaurant until we were told that someone got ‘offended’ of our showing the American Flag. Haven’t stepped foot in one since.
WTF? Where was this if you don’t mind me asking?
Not where I live, I know that. Chuck E. Cheese here wouldn’t mind. (Military town in Red State-land.)
I’ll not go olive gardening ever again! Last time (yrs ago) our salads were warm and the entrees were, too. Disrespecting American service people seems to be en vogue with morons who I believe to also be mf cowards.Turn the bus around Joe.
From the article:
“I’m not sure what happened but there’s always two sides to every story,” said Mehta.”
Yep.
The comments are interesting:
https://twitter.com/newsdamian/status/1628879343878565888
“There are also several American Legions in the area that exist for this exact reason. They are there for Vets to feel comfortable among fellow Vets where they are welcomed and honored. There is one in East San Jose off White Road and two in Santa Clara.”
“Stop your fucking crying! I’m a retired 20 year vet. Get over it. Find another place. As Military veterans you were Trained to deal with adversaries. It’s a private business,they don’t owe you nothing.”
As usual, we are a bit skeptical about this.
Time will tell.
🤔
USMC? If he is legit… I apologize.
Most Marines have more intestinal fortitude than this clown.
The manager threw out that many paying customers??
That diner must be huge if it has a separate room large enough to hold all those guys.
I have my doubts.
Keep in mind that vets are by nature usually conservative and patriotic and such, things that liberals don’t cotton to at all. We have seen stories like this a number of times, and I cannot recall it ever being in Free America. San Francisco area, not hard to believe at all. Nothing trumps subverting the opposition to their hivemind.
The last thing I want to talk about is shit I prefer not to remember. I certainly cant talk about all the fun and good times I had in Iraq; because there weren’t any fucking good times. It was long ass reaming from start to finish, every time. Who wants to talk about that? Not me
Of course there is a Service Puppy. I will send a box of Depends for their next meeting.
They need the Emotional Support Honey Badger.
Gotta be at least 10 years since I saw that on Action Figure Therapy and I still laugh my balls off.
Where do I get one? I want!
Yo, Better than electric eel.
These are cheaper than a doggie, in moderation
All of this dudes should dump in the toilets and urinals and not flush.
Of course they were rude. It sounded like this: “you &$#@ chair force! I’m surprised I even let you fly CAS for me: you couldn’t hit the ground with a gravity bomb. $#@ turd!” “Well, doggy, maybe if you could fight your way out of a wet paper bag, I wouldn’t have to fly CAS for you: &*#!’ing army. You sucked then and still suck now.” “Well, at least we aren’t them.” **Points at navy guy**. High fives. “See ya next week. Love ya, my brother.” Waiter (or is it a waitress??) with purple hair and seven rings (none on a finger) scowls and stomps away while talking and staring wild-eyed into phone to “create content.”
So, what you’re really saying, is they sound much like us, and every veteran of every military member since the profession of arms was created? The horror!
“An army without profanity cannot fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag.” –Patton
This non-story is served with no one gives a fuck sauce and a big helping of man up the fuck up all of you fucking babies on the side.
I bet those vets were rude, which to many these days is not licking their asshole when they bring you a fork that’s not covered in caked on broccoli.
And I’d bet that the restaurant was getting hit in the wallet by these assholes occupying the room without meeting the requested conditions. I’m sure the new manager handled it well… /s. If that was the case none of these idiots would have to complain about each other by way of “””news””” story.
Fucking children.
Sounds like there was plenty of whine to go with the cheese, so there is that.
“I was the baddest mother fucker in the central highlands back in nighteensixdyblifteeate but these sorry sacks of civilian shit won’t validate my parking”
“Sir? You handed me a Powerball ticket from 2017”
Haven’t heard this much bitching since Senator Jim Lane told Captain Terrell to take 5 men and bring in Josey Wales. Fletcher grins.
If this is the case, then how come the Vets weren’t kicked out 10 years ago. Sounds like the most likely liberal new manager is anti Mil.
Exactly. Crude vets that use languge making folk blush– gosh, really? Why did folk object now?
Veterans crying “It’s not fair and it’s not right” sounds like the “woke” war cry to me.
Succinct and accurate.
Bravo.
Any stolen valor cases in that group?
Sadly, the frequency of fakers and embellishers on the news has made me very suspicious of veteran groups. Show me the DD214, then say your piece.
Even those can and are (badly) faked.
Yawn, the phuks to which I do not give. Probably sit around and talk about all the shitters they burned back in the day.
Hey, Dave, somebody had to burn the shit on those firebases. Luckily, in the Central Highlands, we had ‘Yards to do that for us. Of course, they and the hooch maids were likely infiltrated by the VC. Thus the enemy had detailed maps of our base camps and firebases.
At Bagram, the Afghan cleaning crews smoked hash, WikiMapia identified the fuel farm with mousable Lat/Long and the Taliban still couldn’t hit high-payoff sh*t except by accident. Go figure.
The Iraqis couldn’t put a mortar round into the Balad fuel farm and it was the size of Delaware.
but they always came close to hitting the DFAC. Several.of the cooks thought we were spotting for them.
That should have told them something.
I got the patch.
The only shit burner story I have worth telling…
is the face burner story,
a unit idiot who poured a cup of gasoline (mogas)
into the burning shit,
and immediately singed his ‘stache, eyebrows, and man bangs.
HELP WANTED: Restaurant Manager, …
Myn/Wymyn, please let me know if I’m out of line.
I am always skeptical when a group of vets gather. I automatically think there are 5-10% of SV cases within the group and 90-95% of exaggerators/liars.
Thoughts?
I just know that less than 2% of Americans serve in the military, but every guy at the bar was “Special Ops” 🙄
Yep.
Everybody was a combat something or another.
So does the business have so many other customers that it needs the space? Did the new manager set a minimum occupancy for the room to be private?
I have a suspicion those guys sat around for hours drinking coffee, free refills of course, left a big mess, and didn’t tip for shit (after all, all they had was a breakfast special and coffee). And separate checks, of course.
This is why you go to a restaurant and see on the menu “Automatic 18% gratuity for parties of six or more” ; large groups like that can be a pain in the ass and a money loser.