Legally Blind Man Faces Discrimination at Seattle Restaurant
Heartbreaking Discrimination at Seattle Restaurant
Young blind man shares how restaurant worker mocked his guide dog.
@matthewandpaul/TikTok
Paul Castle, a legally blind TikToker with over 2.1 million followers on his account @matthewandpaul, shared a distressing experience on TikTok. He recounted how he and his guide dog, Mr. Maple, were kicked out of a Seattle restaurant when a staff member refused to believe he was blind.
“I walked in with my guide dog, Mr. Maple, and immediately somebody rushed up to me and said, ‘No pets allowed, only service dogs,’” Paul explained. He responded, "'It's OK, he's a service dog.’ The staff member looked at me and said, ‘Emotional support dog?’ I clarified, ‘No, like a guide dog for the blind.’”
The Staff Threatened To Call The Police
Young blind man shares how restaurant worker threatened him.
@matthewandpaul/TikTok
Despite showing the staff member Mr. Maple’s harness labeled “Guide Dogs for the Blind,” Paul was met with skepticism. “He said, ‘You don't look blind,’ and I said, ‘A lot of people in the blind community still have some functional vision.’”
"You don't look blind."
Paul has Retinitis pigmentosa, a condition causing vision loss due to the gradual breakdown of cells in the retina. He explained his limited vision, describing it as a small tunnel surrounded by moving lights and random colors. The staff member remained unconvinced. “He said, ‘You're looking right at me.’ I said, ‘Yes, but it's like I have a pinhole of vision — that's all I can see.’ He replied, ‘This isn't my first rodeo,’" implying he believed Paul was lying.
The confrontation escalated when Paul offered to bring his dog’s paperwork. The staff member responded, “If you step foot back in this restaurant with that dog, I will call the police.”
Watch The Full Video Now:
He's Using This Experience To Spread Awareness
Young blind man plays with service dog, Mr. Maple.
@matthewandpaul/Instagram
Despite the negative experience, Paul is turning this situation into an opportunity to educate and inspire others. Through his popular TikTok account, he is raising awareness about the realities of living with a disability and the importance of understanding and empathy. And it's working.
"My manager sent this to our work chat to make sure we don’t do the same," one comment read.
Paul's video has since garnered 16 million views, with many commenters expressing outrage and support. "Don’t be shy, tell us what the restaurant was called," one hilarious comment read. Another added, “Pretty sure if you name the restaurant all the Seattle baddies with service dogs will congregate.”
Even though comments were asking Paul to name the restaurant, he decided not to as he doesn't want the restaurant to face backlash; however, he did meet up with the manager of the restaurant who sincerely apologized to him and told him employees would be better trained on this topic.
Paul’s story serves as a powerful reminder that advocacy and education can lead to a more inclusive and compassionate society. By sharing his journey, Paul hopes to inspire others to stand up for their rights and foster a world where everyone, regardless of their abilities, is treated with dignity and kindness.
What Your Workspace Design Says About You
In my last article, I talked about the importance of designing a workspace that works for you above all. Once an office or space is setup for yourself, however, it's rare that you're in a position where others won't be seeing it as well. Whether these people are a boss, clients, co-workers or guests, you want your workspace to communicate a positive message to visitors about you or your business. For this, it needs to be professional, accessible and comfortable.
What Your Workspace Design Says About You
Professionalism
Arguably, everything on this list is about professionalism, and about optimizing the design and presentation of a workspace to help promote a business. For this first point, I'm speaking about professionalism in an esthetic sense. Regardless of your own taste or idea about how a space should look, it must be remembered that others will see it as well.
Eccentricities should either be maximized or removed entirely, depending on the context. If you research the offices of your idols, you’ll see fairly quickly that there is no standard design or appearance. There’s the eclectic art of Anna Wintour and the industrial simplicity of Elon Musk; the bright and colorful homage to American Idol for Ryan Seacrest, and the quiet simplicity of Joan Didion’s wooden desk and wall-to-wall bookshelves.
Professionalism and appearance are a matter of character. Understanding the character of your own office or workspace will help you remain consistent, andconsistency is an active enabler of trust.
Accessibility
If you have a meeting scheduled with someone central to your success, it can go completely awry if they have trouble getting to your office, or if you are drastically unprepared for their company.
Accessibility is a matter of thoughtfulness and courtesy, and it shows that you care. Some major considerations include “Is my workspace wheelchair accessible?” and “Is it hard to find my office?”. There are smaller things to consider as well, which can also have a large impact. Here are three examples:
Comfort
Once people have made it to your space, what message is it communicating to them? Do they feel welcome and at ease, or anxious and unsettled? There are obvious questions to consider here, like “How comfortable is the chair for your guests?”. There are also more nuanced considerations that could change someone’s physical or emotional comfort.
For example, when I was in university I had a professor that organized the books on her shelf by color. She did this because she assumed a student visiting her office might be nervous, and felt it gave them something to look at. There’s something very thoughtful and kind in little human touches like these. Use comfort as a display of empathy.
Final thoughts
My professor was absolutely right about using the books, but she also reinforced a point about defining the character of her office. One of the reasons I made an appointment with her was to see the books. They helped give that office its character, and became a longstanding, silent marker of my respect for her.
I have to admit that it was a nuisance to find her office though, which could have been helped by a name on the door. All of which is to say that when considering your workspace design, professionalism, accessibility and comfort are all inter-related. When you consider one, you should never fail to consider the other two.