No room at the Tims
Some truths are universal in the Canadian experience.
We crab about the winter but we don’t move to a place where the snow never flies.
We unfailingly support our hockey teams even when they don’t win a cup for decades at a time.
And we love our Tim Hortons and get very upset when someone messes with it.
In Etobicoke, some Catholic high school students are upset about the policy at the Hortons across the road. Management has posted a sign telling students they are allowed “take out only.”
The teens say their money is as good as anyone else’s and they have a right to sit at a table and enjoy their goodies.
Some non-student patrons say the kids flood into the restaurant en masse and take it over, leaving no room for them to sit.
Plenty of stores limit the number of students who can enter at one time but actually banning them from staying? That’s new and some say, very unfair. As I write this it’s unclear if the coverage the policy has attracted from The Toronto Sun and 680News will prompt any changes but it’s doubtful the policy will spread chain-wide.
September 15th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I can understand and fully support limiting the number of patrons entering any establishment for safety reasons. I understand that loud and unruly behaviour is disruptive and deters business. I also understand that not all students warrant being disrespected! Young people need to be taught respect. Set the rules and allow them the chance to follow them. In my opinion, as a parent of three young teenage girls, many people have a preconcieved idea of how teens behave. A suitable compromise might be to have extra stackable chairs the students can pull around tables in a designated section, with signs warning that loud or abnoxious behaviour will result in expulsion.
September 16th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Hi Lisa, I just signed up as a member and thought I would comment on your blog. With these students at Tims I have seen it many times where two people buy a product and twenty of them crowd around and talk (very loud) and just hang out. I do not blame the owners to ban them cause I am sure its the same scene everywhere around 3:30 p.m. in Toronto.
September 20th, 2007 at 6:43 am
I can see both sides, as I’m sure many people can. But what I often think is really stupid is that many companies don’t think very far ahead. Those high school students of today are Timmy’s customers for the next 40 or 50 years. Have they given any thought to the prospect that these kids are going to remember that they were discriminated against when it comes to picking their favourite coffee in the future? Like Wendy says, just make a rule and if it’s not voluntarily followed, then enforce it. Any tableful of people (of any age) who actually haven’t bought anything should be politely asked to leave. Anyone who is being loud or obnoxious should be asked to leave. Anyone who is a customer and is a reasonably polite and considerate patron should be permitted to eat in, where facilities exist.