- Ananya, an Indian scientist in Germany, reported poor treatment at a restauran
- She and her friend were scolded by staff for entering before being seated.
- The staff member raised his voice and made sarcastic remarks about their hunger.
An Indian scientist and content creator has alleged that she and her friend were treated with disrespect at a restaurant in Germany after a staff member reportedly scolded them over a misunderstanding. Ananya, who has been living in Germany for work for the past few months, shared her experience in an Instagram video posted on August 13. The incident reportedly took place at a Peter Pane Burger Grill outlet at Warnemünde Beach in Rostock.
"Yesterday, I think I might have experienced racism for the first time in Germany. I mean, I don't know if I should call it racism exactly, but I and my friend were treated extremely poorly," Ananya said in her video.
According to Ananya, she and her friend entered the restaurant and initially waited at the host station, as is common at many restaurants in Germany. However, they could not find anyone there to assist them. At the same time, another German family entered the restaurant and walked inside without waiting at the entrance. Unsure about what they were supposed to do, Ananya and her friend waited for several minutes before entering the restaurant themselves.
She said they did not take a table but remained standing while looking for a staff member who could guide them. "No one shows up for 5 minutes, so we enter the restaurant. And even then, we don't seat ourselves at any random table; we're just standing and looking around to see if we can find some staff to figure out what system they have," she said.
After around five minutes, a staff member approached them. Ananya said she realised he was the host and asked whether they could get a table for two. According to her account, the staff member immediately scolded them for entering the restaurant instead of waiting at the entrance
"You know you're not supposed to come in here, right? You're actually supposed to stand there and wait," the host told them. "You literally waited just 10 seconds!"
Ananya explained that they had been waiting for several minutes but had become confused because nobody was available to assist them. "He's like, ‘No, no! You waited 10 seconds! You waited 10 seconds!' At this point, he's raising his voice even more, and I still didn't say anything," Ananya alleged.
She further alleged that the staff member made a sarcastic remark about them being hungry before taking them to a table. According to Ananya, he then placed the menus down forcefully and continued behaving aggressively.
"He taunted us for a third time, and he said, 'You guys must be really hungry,' with this face,” she alleged.
Watch the videos here:
Ananya said she remained calm throughout the interaction and tried to explain the misunderstanding. However, she became upset after noticing the staff member allegedly pointing towards her and her friend while speaking to other German customers.
Feeling uncomfortable with the treatment, Ananya and her friend decided not to stay for their meal and left the restaurant. As I walked past him, I smiled and said, "Thank you.” "Your welcome, bye," in the most arrogant and dismissive way," she said.
The incident prompted the restaurant to respond to Ananya's video. The restaurant said it had begun investigating the matter to understand what had happened and determine the circumstances surrounding the interaction.
"We just saw your video about your experience at Peter Pane. First of all, we sincerely apologise that you had such a negative experience with us. We are truly sorry that you did not feel welcome and respected. We take your experience very seriously and are already in contact with the restaurant to understand what happened. At Peter Pane, everyone should feel welcome and respected. This is an important part of our company culture, with people from over 100 nationalities working together across our company. We sincerely hope we can find a good solution together and regain your trust in Peter Pane," the restaurant said.
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