I wonder if the owners of the restaurant would turn away a female customer with a shaved head and tell her to come back when her hair grows or wear a wig? Oh, really, why?Because we are shallow and intolerant and only want a certain look to our staff and customers. Someone in the SunTimes paper yesterday (Saturday June 7) claimed that Nathaniels is one of the two best restaurants in the area. I wonder where his proof of that statement is. Personally I hope they go bankrupt. I will not be dining there again and, in my opinion, the food ain't that great. I understand having certain standards, but properly cut short hair on a female (or male) is not a violation of any local social 'norms' from what I can tell. Their approach to the situation was a bad move in a small community like Owen Sound. They don't even have the courage to face the community without their lawyer! There are lots of other good (and better, in my opinion) restaurants in the area...boycott Nathaniels!
kltpzyxm

who is Nathaniel anyway?

I can't help but wonder..why restaurants and pubs over the area haven't hopped on the reverse bandwagon to garner more publicity. I would have expected to see entire bar staff and restaurant owners as well doing the summer cut for attention..and maybe some fundraising.
Ahem..attention Greenhorns..I for one would like to see Frank with a shaved head...and ..umm not to mention Shayla...
;)

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"How does one "Throw a camel toe?Either you did or you didn't! "
-ZenLisa

When I was in the biz of working with kids everyday I used to be in the know as they would ask Mr T for his advice, Foolish chillin...
I can count on both hands, but just barely, being asked by a charge if a nose ring or a a tatoo on my neck or my eyelid pierced would look cool.
Every time I would start off by singing the first lines of the songs "Signs"
When I saw the look of "HUH" come over thier face I would say
LOng haired freaky people need not apply" and then I would try and explain and tell the kids they have to make a choice
When the kids are in a competition with someone else for a job at McD's or the Movie theatre or picking garbage and it comes down to two candidates with equal abilities, the one who is NOT going through the Goth phase of thier search for an identity will get the job. Personal expression being as cool as it is, cuz I havee been there and did it too, doesn't win points out in the real world.
Re; the Nathanials adventure, I think there must have been something else on the go because any business man who is smart enough to start and maintain a successful business will not commit economic suicide by messing with the Cops for Cancer drive or any other charitable event which could go so public so fast. My old Journalism days coupled with being a farm boy taught me to dig deeper, cuz that is where the good s... is.
If all things are considered equal, the food the atmosphere the good wine and Guiness, and in one spot the server is the clean cut girl/boy next door with the big smile and perky. And the next restaraunt the server walks up and they have "Spouse of Satan" tattoed across the forehead and would never make it through a airport security metal check there is a certain segment of the population which would chose "A" and others who would chose "B" because they would think it is cool to have such an open and free thinking staff..The boomers rule so I think the "A" restaraunt would win
In a personal note 7-8 years ago I did the Cops for Cancer thing at the school and had my own kid do the buzzin which was cool for him to do.
We immediatly went to England for a Family reunion after this and it took a while to figure this out but everytime I went into a store or pub or train station by myself the clerk would act leary and people would appear uncomfortable with me. I asked a cousin and they had been having real problems in Exeter with skin heads and the shaved heads were thier "colours" and the look they felt they owned as a badge of distinction.
So I understand to some degree how shaving the mop, in the right circumstances can have a negative effect.
In a Pub I was enjoying an IPA at the time because I was full of Strongbow and a bunch of Skinheads were monopolizing the pool table, being loud and boisturus they saw me and assumed because of the look they was some sort of kindred clan thing going on. My responce to thier "hey buddy, pal" thing didnt go over well. But that is another story. I did have a lot of back up by the time things got rolling though.....:)

hi wayne. i agree that a business owner should be able to require a certain decorum/dress code for employees, especially in a restaurant. there may have been other reasons for the layoff to which i (we) are not privileged. if that is the case, the owners should 'come clean'. if not, then this incident really does smack of intolerance at the least. would a male employee with a crew cut be asked to wear a wig or take the summer off to grow their hair longer? i get your point about the trip to the uk, but here in grey-bruce county, a woman with short hair is socially acceptable...especially during the 'cops for cancer' campaign. it's too bad, but the owners' reluctance to eat some 'humble pie' may just spell doom for their beloved restaurant. the court of public opinion will decide.

When I first heard this story, the first thought to pop into my head was, "what if this employee actually had cancer, returned to work after chemo, and didn't have hair". . .Would they tell her to get a wig? That she couldn't work until her hair grew out? I highly doubt that the pay there would allow for a wig shopping spree. When my Aunt was going through cancer, she spent quite a pretty penny on wigs. She was lucky to be able to afford it.

Regardless of how long a persons hair is, or why their hair is a certain length, should not matter. This incident is beyond disgusting.

We all know Restaurantica, its the restaurant review site.Well they have donated 5000 dollars to Stacey's Cops for Cancer, and driven the total over 11,000. Awesome.Now THATS not only good spirit..good thinking, good marketing..but darn well good over all..

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"How does one "Throw a camel toe?Either you did or you didn't! "
-ZenLisa