Brighton TRAs bullying female small business owner

[SapphosRock]

Urgh. This is happening in my home town and it’s shit.

Happy Maki is a small, vegan cafe and takeaway. It’s a very ethical business. All about sustainability and green energy. They plant a tree and feed a child for each wrap made. It’s a gift economy and the food is free with a suggested donation. All very hippy. You get the idea.

A FTM trans person approached the female owner of Happy Maki and asked for support in fundraising for their top surgery. I believe they wanted a poster in the window asking for money. The owner refused. When pressed the owner said it was against her religious beliefs - she is a follower of the Divine Truth which admittedly sounds a bit ‘out there’ but not entirely unexpected given the nature of her business.

Anyway the TRAs have really gone to town and are posting in every Brighton based Facebook group, Instagram and Twitter accusing the owner of Transphobia and calling for her to apologise:

twitter.com/makiunhappy/status/1314261939833446400?s=21

They seem to be getting a lot of support and gaining a lot of traction too with many saying they are now going to boycott the business.

I’m upset about this for a lot of reasons. Obviously the female owner being bullied and harassed in this way and them encouraging people to email her. The lovely takeaway losing business. It’s also pretty tone deaf to attack the hospitality sector in the midst of a global pandemic for not supporting one individual’s elective, life changing surgery.

Anyway, the reason I’m posting here is in solidarity with the owner Anna. And if any of you lovely lot are nearby then consider getting a Happy Maki takeaway. The food is delicious and I’m sure they could do with some support right now.

www.happymaki.co.uk

Weetabix already make drinks! (Never tried one, sounds lumpy and vile.)

It sounds like it would be quite... fibrous maybe?

If she was expecting staff to work shifts whilst they were furloughed then as I understand it it's not staff who were potentially acting fraudulently.

@jj1968

If she was expecting staff to work shifts whilst they were furloughed then as I understand it it's not staff who were potentially acting fraudulently.

Still going jj? Still finding things to criticise an individual woman about?

@SapphosRock

Hahaha well it is 2020 Floral. The year of surprises.

I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm officially radicalised.

Oh my goodness 😳

I am really sick of hearing people use the word 'accountability' when what they really mean is 'bullying into submission.'

@jj1968

If she was expecting staff to work shifts whilst they were furloughed then as I understand it it's not staff who were potentially acting fraudulently.

Where did she say she was going to keep them on furlough and make them work? Asking someone to work, would suggest that she wanted them to come off furlough, but they threw a temper tantrum because the lazy shites wanted to stay on furlough.

I’m sure you know bloody rightly, that’s what she meant.

@SapphosRock

Hahaha well it is 2020 Floral. The year of surprises.

I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm officially radicalised.

I went for a run and the world has changed in the meantime? To be honest SapphosRock, once you see it you can’t avoid seeing it. So the more the merrier.

I have no idea what she meant @DeliciouslyFemale but I'm not prepared to automatically believe the word of a boss over their workers.

@jj1968

I have no idea what she meant *@DeliciouslyFemale* but I'm not prepared to automatically believe the word of a boss over their workers.

So why are you accusing her of trying to break the law? Is this you admitting that you’re just making things up?

Let’s face it, you don’t disbelieve her because she’s a boss, you’re accusing her of wrong think, because she’s a woman. No amount of twisting what she has said, will persuade me otherwise. We’ve all seen how you automatically jump on threads to denigrate any women that doesn’t capitulate to the TRA thought police.

Certain SJWs get a real hard on for destroying women.

We’ve all seen how you automatically jump on threads to denigrate any women that doesn’t capitulate to the TRA thought police.

Yes, I've noticed that. Gets a bit tiresome.

@Fizbosshoes

Interesting they chose a small independent cafe to ask. I imagine they'd have got a big fat no for the request to put a poster in the window at Costas, Starbucks, Holland and barrett, Germany other places and possibly not even questioned it.

Like pp say it would be transphobic if she didnt let them in the cafe, or provided an inferior service based on gender, but she simply didnt want a poster in the window.
And why are all the staff alleged grievances being aired off the back of this - that's an entirely separate issue and has nothing to with the matter originally raised?

I know this post is coming very early on and the discussion may have moved on. But I cannot agree with this more:

Interesting they chose a small independent cafe to ask. I imagine they'd have got a big fat no for the request to put a poster in the window at Costas, Starbucks, Holland and barrett, Germany other places and possibly not even questioned it.

I can understand why they may have assumed she would share their views. (But I'd be interested if they'd been tipped off she didn't...) However, the fact that she was a small independent with no legal back up (unless she wanted to get a mortgage on her house) would have emboldened them.

Jesus, who'd be a small business owner today?

I did wonder if it was mere coincidence that the shop owner targeted in this way happened to be a woman.

Do we know how successful the poster-person was? Did every other business targeted put the poster up unhesitatingly? Were any other businesses targeted?

I think more information/context is needed.

@IwishNothingButTheBestForYou2 Agreed.

Still going jj? Still finding things to criticise an individual woman about?

It has nothing to do with her sex. 10 (or 7 depending who you believe) people are now without jobs and possibly unable to claim benefits leaving people at risk of homelessness and goodness knows what else. Presumably some of them are women, who have been dismissed on here as liars, bullies, frauds and even terrorists whilst elsewhere people are openly gloating about how difficult it will be for them to find a job now. Not the right kind of women I guess.

I don't for one second believe that letter is the only reason this dispute occurred. That's not what the workers say, they are very clear that biphobia and other issues played a major part in this. From the boss' statement she seems unrepentent about airing her offensive views on bisexual people in the workplace and clearly has no understanding of how to manage workplace grievances to ACAS standards. Yet like most bosses, her comfortable life will likely continue as before whilst her former workers suffer hardship and unemployment.

people are now without jobs and possibly unable to claim benefits leaving people at risk of homelessness and goodness knows what else.

Bollocks. No one at risk or poverty of homelessness is going to leave a job because they don’t like the boss, unless they’re actually at physical or sexual threat. As for not getting benefits. Tough shit. As you are so found if trying to prove, actions have consequences.

I do find it interesting when jj chooses to chastise women on ignoring something jj feels is important (even when, as evidenced here, it was in fact jj doing the ignoring of those women's responses to what jj felt was important).

There's a very useful list upthread of all the topics jj hasn't got a word to say about. And I agree that suggesting that the women of FWR have not suffered any workplace discrimination was very illuminating. Let alone the disbelief that there might be working class and even left-wing women here.

I also sometimes find it useful to note which threads get chosen to endlessly tell us how awful we are and which get totally ignored.

Ah well, at least we know what the punishment for wrong-think might be in the new world.

@jj1968

I have no idea what she meant *@DeliciouslyFemale* but I'm not prepared to automatically believe the word of a boss over their workers.

Are you prepared to automatically believe the word of employees over their boss?

If so, why? If you don't have any evidence other than one person's word against another, why would you be more likely to believe one than the other?

(But I'd be interested if they'd been tipped off she didn't...)

Good point.

Read all about it: wrongthink by woman in Brighton of all places

@jj1968

I have no idea what she meant *@DeliciouslyFemale* but I'm not prepared to automatically believe the word of a boss over their workers.

That’s great, so is that you admitting that any woman that loses her job because the boss believes her to be transphobic, is unfairly dismissed?

A bit belatedly...but Go Sappho.

Even before Damocles, you argued your viewpoint with good humour and honesty. Listening, observing, thinking, honesty are so important. Anna may sound a bit woo, but again I suspect her heart is in the right place and her views are honest. She is allowed to say no.

People left the country and still wanted to be paid furlough!. It's common for employees to assume PAYE rules can be flexible to suit them but they really aren't.

Zero hours contracts aren't default bad. Hospitality has many student workers who are seasonal and want their hours to fit around their schedules, both study and social. I've managed such businesses. I note that the timing of the leavers coincides with the return to university for the Autumn.

@jj1968

If she was expecting staff to work shifts whilst they were furloughed then as I understand it it's not staff who were potentially acting fraudulently.

You have been able to furlough staff part time for ages.

That's not what the workers say, they are very clear that biphobia and other issues played a major part in this

I'm not prepared to take their word for it. Let's have the quote about biphobia jj. Or I am forced to conclude that you don't know what she said. How can we determine whether it's biphobia or baseless slander if we don't have the actual words?