People rally around blind man who got kicked out of restaurant because manager felt he 'didn't look blind'

Some incidents might highlight that accessibility needs to get better at public spaces for disabled people. A similar such incident happened when a restaurant manager in Seattle wouldn't let a blind man and his guide dog enter because he couldn't believe that the man was blind and that his dog was a service dog. The man was pretty shook by the ordeal and took to TikTok to share it with people on the internet. The person, Paul, goes by @matthewandpaul on the platform and shared his story that received a strong response online.

"I am blind and I just got kicked out of a restaurant in Seattle," the man began. "I walked in with my guide dog Mister Maple and immediately somebody rushed up to me and said 'No pets allowed,' 'Only service dogs.'" Paul pointed out that should be okay because Mister Maple is a service dog. "He looked at me, he looked at Maple and he said, 'Emotional support dog?'" The man immediately tried to clarify that he was indeed a guide dog for the blind. "I literally had this harness attached to him. I showed this to him," the man pointed at a harness that clearly stated that the dog was "Guide dog for the blind." The man continued to argue that Paul "didn't look blind."

"And I said, 'A lot of people in the blind community still have some functional vision,'" the man remarked. The person continued to say that Paul was looking right at him. "Yes, but I have a pinhole vision. It's all I can see," he revealed. The other person responded, "Look, this isn't my first rodeo." Paul was quite surprised that the man would say such a thing and think that he was lying. "What is going on out there that would lead this man to believe that I was lying?" The other man asked, "Do you see any other dogs in the restaurant?" Paul replied that he couldn't because he was blind but there could be other people with dogs at the place.

"I said, 'I could come back with his paperwork.'" The person immediately told Paul that if set foot in the restaurant with his dog he would call the police. "I am speecless," the man admitted. Many people took to the comments section of the video to express their thoughts on the same. @funtimeswithkim wrote, "Happened to a friend of mine, he called the police and they fined the restaurant. The manager ended up getting fired too." @pixieloops commented, "You should welcome them to call the police. I’m hoping it’s against the law to refuse entry to a guide dog? It is in the UK. Sorry this happened."

@sinduology remarked, "Don’t they have laws about discrimination there? Like how dumb is that? Disability is different for each person. Normal people need educating." @dagmaracestereo shared, "Give us the restaurant's name! This should make the news. Such bad etiquette from that employee, so sorry to hear that." @angieshank26 expressed, "Seriously! That manager needs an education. I would have told him to call the police but then I guess he would learn. I feel so bad you had to experience that." @kq_fazio pointed out, "As a low vision optometrist, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard such a horrible thing like this. I’m sorry you went through this. Keep educating!"

You can follow Matthew and Paul who go by (@matthewandpaul) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.