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No mean customers allowed

Silver Star Cafe

The high cost of living in the Park City area coupled with fewer people to staff all the jobs in a resort town hasn’t made it easy for local businesses. After recent incidents in which employees quit over how customers were treating them, there’s a push for kindness toward those who have worked hard to keep businesses open.

The co-owner of the Silver Star Cafe, Lisa Cilva Ward, says like most restaurants, they’ve been dealing with rude people all season long. They just lost one more staff member, a high school student, who was working as a host in the restaurant...

“She sent us an email one morning and said, I just can't take it anymore,” Ward explained “She said people are so awful and mean, and I just can't I can't allow myself to be treated this way anymore. And we just decided, okay, we've had it too. We've had enough.”

With three weeks left to the winter season Ward says she posted a notice on their front door saying they stand with their staff and require patrons to treat staff members with kindness, respect, and appreciation, or to come back another day, when they can do so.

Ward also posted the notice on the restaurant’s Facebook page, and those responding agree with her.

“The responses I'm reading are somebody finally had to say it - thanks for finally putting it out there,” Ward said. “Because I don't think it's unique to restaurants. I think it's probably in every industry in one way or another. But you know, I think people are under such a tremendous amount of stress. Everybody is we all are. And for some reason, some people feel a sense of entitlement. And they feel that they have a right to treat others poorly. I don't know what they get from that. But we just decided that we were going to draw the line.”

The problem isn’t unique to restaurants. Recently, High Valley Transit Board member Kim Carson also publicly asked those using the transit system to be kind and thank their drivers.

“They have been working hard,” Carson said. “And I know a little kindness goes a long way. Over the course of the winter, we have lost drivers, due to them just being fed up with the rudeness of a lot of their passengers decided that it wasn't for them.”

Ward adds that many restaurants in town are being stretched thin.

“So, those that are coming to work are having to do double duty,” Ward said. “In many cases, they might be making their own drinks, bussing their own tables, and serving the table. Hosts are also running food. They're also bussing tables. You know, so everybody's doing double duty. I think it's just a combination of events. People are just under a great deal of stress, and they are crossing the line when they shouldn't.

She says there are plenty of stories this season of hosts, servers and managers being yelled at by patrons, and while that happens every year, she says this year it seems they’ve had a lot more of it.