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A married couple in Florida say their delicious meal from a local food truck was totally soured when they saw what was written on their receipt.
Israel and Lorinda Garcia, who both use wheelchairs, were having an excellent time at the El Toro Loco Churrascaria food truck.
That is, until they read their receipt.
When the Garcias read the “name” section on the receipt, they were horrified to find that somebody had written just one word: “Chair.”
Lorinda—whose spinal muscular atrophy left her wheelchair-bound at the age of 6—and Israel—who was born with spina bifida and has always used a wheelchair—were disgusted by the heartless generalization.
“This is the type of stuff we deal with all the time. At the same time, it’s upsetting. Why do they define us as just a chair instead of a person?” Lorinda told CBS Miami. “I was just surprised at the ignorance.”
However, when the news station question the food truck’s owner, Aly Legra, about the incident, she said the description was never meant to be hurtful.
Legra told CBS Miami that her entire staff always write a quick description of the person ordering in the name section, just to make sure they serve the right order to the right customer.
“If they took offense, I apologize. It was not meant in that manner. If that’s the case, I make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said.
For the Garcias, they hope this unfortunate experience can help spread a positive message about individuals with disabilities.
“My mom as a kid used to tell me, you need to speak up. You’re here to educate people because you can versus all the other people with disabilities who can’t,” Lorinda said.
“I think the misconception is that people with disability keep taking from society. They have this idea that if you are a person in a wheelchair, you’re dependent on the system and you don’t work and you stay at home and that’s not necessarily true,” her husband added.
