Bar Manager Allegedly Told Them “Surrey’s That Way”!
After the flood of support, the victim Jas Dhillon wrote to Blueprint, the companythat owns The Charles Bar, but she was not happy with the response. In the emailedreply, it was stated: “Please accept my sincere apologies for the negativeexperience that you and your group of friends had at the Charles Bar.” Dhillon dismissedthe response from Blueprint as a generic reply. It is not known if the womenwill file a human rights complaint against the company!
VANCOUVER – An Indo-Canadianwoman and her friends are alleging anextreme form of racism at a bar inVancouver after they were rudely treatedand the bar manager allegedly made racistcomments.Jas Dhillon alleged that she and herfriends – all Indo-Canadian women -arrived at The Charles Bar in theGastown neighbourhood of VancouverOct 19 evening to celebrate her 26thbirthday but were greeted with nothingbut rude service, the Province newspaper’snews portal Vancouver Desi reportedon Sunday.The bar manager allegedly shouted atthem, “Surrey’s that way!”, which,according to Dhillon, was a reference tothe city in British Columbia that is hometo a large population of Indian descent.She said that the manager of the barshouted at them when they sat at anotherbooth after finding that where theywere sitting did not have enough chairs.The manager allegedly said she would bekicked out if she did not go back to hertable.”To be honest, we don’t think that kindof stuff still happens,” Dhillon toldVancouver Desi.”To have that happen in Vancouver, inour own hometown – we were justshocked,” she added.Dhillon said that the last thing that shewanted to do was leave as it was herbirthday, and she did not “want to ruinthe party”.”It’s six in the evening, we’re just sittingthere having a good time… why is this guybeing so rude to me from the get-go?”she said.Dhillon alleged that the rudeness continued,when Roop Khangura, a friend ofher, on approaching the manager to ask ifthere was a miscommunication, was toldthat she and her friends were “the mostf…ing annoying table” and they might beasked to leave.Khangura said she and her friends thendecided to find somewhere else to go.She alleged when she was walking downthe street, the manager screamed”Surrey’s that way!'”One of Dhillon’s friends posted thereview on Facebook Nov 4 and in lessthan a day it garnered more than 185shares, 56 likes and 31 comments.After the flood of support, Dhillonwrote to Blueprint, the company thatowns The Charles Bar, but she was nothappy with the response.In the e-mailed reply, it was stated:”Please accept my sincere apologies forthe negative experience that you and yourgroup of friends had at the Charles Bar.”It added that the company has begunlooking into the matter and “will be takingaction to ensure that our establishmentscontinue to remain up to our standards”.Dhillon dismissed the response fromBlueprint as a generic reply, reportedVancouver Desi.It is not known if the women will file ahuman rights complaint against the company!
