Former Waffle House worker says she was 'blacklisted' after viral brawl

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But in over 20 years at the company, Gantt tells Rolling Stone that what started as an easy job with reasonable hours slowly turned into a dangerous and untenable situation. Various videos circulated all day showing a fight that broke out at a Georgia Waffle House location. The entire incident ended with two people being arrested, per the Morgan County Citizen. Apparently, that’s what some customers did at a local Waffle House on Christmas Day and the footage had social media buzzing on Tuesday.

Monday afternoon to feature summer-like sun, near-record warmth

By late Wednesday morning, it had received more than 2 million views. It’s a sentiment echoed by fellow Waffle House employee Marshawna Parker. Parker, who’s worked at multiple Waffle Houses since 2001, thinks that Waffle House’s reputation as a cheap place to eat means that worker mistreatment has become an expected part of the establishment. She describes dozens of shifts where her location was shot at, even once where gunfire made the staff hit the floor so hard she dislocated her shoulder.

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According to a caption accompanying the video, the footage was filmed at a branch of Waffle House on Buford Highway in Georgia. All Waffle House employees have a gold “I wish a MF’r would” badge on 2K. “Yeah under no circumstances should you ever fight the white Waffle House employee,” said Brian Floyd.

Sports world reacts to Christmas Day Waffle House fight

The angry customers and folks behind the counter resembled WWE wrestlers at times, according to some. A man has been arrested and charged in connection to the shooting at Waffle House on Sunday. According to Lynchburg Police, the suspect whose name is Omarian Fitch was arrested and is facing multiple charges ranging from malicious wounding to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A second person, Shantia Turpin, was also arrested and was charged with eluding police and obstruction of justice. "They were being rude, belligerent. I finished what I started. That’s really it." At the end of her video, Halie said she has not eaten Waffle House in about eight months, and that was about to change.

A second woman then joined the squabble, telling him to “just be easy,” the footage shows. Put simply, solving the problem of Waffle House violence would require dramatic restructuring of society and eradication of inequality. And so no one should expect the chairs to stop flying anytime soon. As someone who has worked in similar customer service jobs, Booth has experienced this kind of treatment first-hand for years. If that was the case, surely the same thing would be happening at other all-night diners. That moment — that swift ninja-like movement — seemed to confirm everything people thought they knew about Waffle House workers.

People Theorize Waffle House Employees Are Trained Fighters After Female Server Expertly Handles Chair Thrown At ... - YourTango

People Theorize Waffle House Employees Are Trained Fighters After Female Server Expertly Handles Chair Thrown At ....

Posted: Fri, 30 Dec 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]

It comes down to a toxic combination of 24/7 opening hours and alcohol. And you don’t mess around with the night waitress at the Waffle House,” wrote one tweeter in response to the clip. Simone Carter is a Newsweek reporter based in Texas. Simone joined Newsweek in September 2022 after serving as a staff writer at the Dallas Observer, where she concentrated on Texas politics and education. She received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of North Texas.

Waffle House worker, customer trade blows during fight outside Atlanta: video - New York Post

Waffle House worker, customer trade blows during fight outside Atlanta: video.

Posted: Mon, 06 Sep 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"It’s not safe at night, so we have to do what we can." Like when Kid Rock got arrested for fighting in an Atlanta location. Or when a drunk woman mistakenly tried to wear a cheeseburger as her sandal. “As a former Waffle House grill op myself, I just want to say girl you are my hero! People think they can act however they want without consequences and you showed them they were wrong.” Another supporter launched a GoFundMe whose proceeds will go directly to Booth, to be spent at her own discretion.

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But all of these qualities that keep Waffle Houses full of loyal customers have also accidentally made the chain synonymous with viral balls-to-the-wall fights. Brawls at Waffle Houses across the country have over 5.9 million views on TikTok, feature in dozens of year-end compilations on YouTube, and were even the punchline of a recent SNL skit featuring Jenna Ortega. One famed Waffle House worker even became an action hero meme nicknamed “Waffle House Wendy,” after a camera caught her easily deflecting a metal chair thrown at her head. But while Waffle House’s online reputation is one of famed internet lore, the reality has meant hell for workers. The video shows a man throwing a chair toward an unidentified female employee, who effortlessly blocks and catches the chair with one arm. On a night shift in September 2021, Halie found herself in an unfortunately familiar situation as she passed the halfway mark of her time on the clock.

The video appears to show a person hurling a metal chair toward a female Waffle House worker dressed in the restaurant's uniform and a black apron. The employee catches the chair, which had been launched over the bar and in the direction of her face, before throwing it down on the ground. Waffle House, a southern chain, is widely known for fast and easy breakfasts paired with 24-hour service, seven days a week. With over 1,900 Waffle House locations in 25 states, there are so many Waffle Houses in the South that they’ve even become an informal index for government agencies to determine the severity of a hurricane. It’s a place for teens to congregate without supervision, a stop for cross-country drivers in need of a break, and a safe haven for drunk guests desperate to slam a few hashbrowns at 3 a.m. She was in her early twenties and needed work — both problems she thought could be fixed by a gig at the famous diner chain.

Most of these restaurants are located across the Southeastern United States. Waffle House is known for attracting people late in the evening after a night on the town or perhaps just getting off work. So it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that they will get the occasionally rowdy customer who is a little too upset that their eggs are sunny side up instead of scrambled. In the video, which is over 20 minutes long, Halie said six people walked in on a busy night and sat in a section of the restaurant that was closed off. After being told that the section was closed off, the customers continued to sit there and started demanding service, she explained. Even without official New Year’s resolutions, it’s fair to say that most of us enter January with the urge to improve and take control of our lives.

When I was a teen going to punk shows that ended late, Waffle House was a safe haven for my friends and me. No drink is too strong for the powers of a pecan waffle. And if you haven’t puked in a Waffle House bathroom we just haven’t had the same types of life experiences. “If I ever need personal security, I’m hiring WH Wendy, the Cajun Enforcer, the Featherweight Phenom, the Take No S— Chick,” one said in a tweet. “Waffle House and any restaurant has the right to refuse service for any reason as long as it is not a discriminatory reason,” the former worker continues. It’s after last call, bars are closed so you can go home [or] you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here type thing,” she says.

Maybe that’s why, on the eve of 2023, we were so enamored of a Waffle House cook who stood tall in a melee with raging customers, as seen in video that revealed how harrowing a roadside diner’s overnight shift can be. Following their walkout, workers tell Rolling Stone they received a small victory in a letter from Waffle House corporate acknowledging their concerns. What the letter didn’t do, however, is acknowledge any of the employees’ demands. So now, Parker, Harris, and Gantt, alongside other Waffle House employees, are working to help organize employees from other locations.

I tried working for another sometime earlier this year, and they found out I was blacklisted,” she says in the video. “So when my manager comes over, I told him, I said, ‘Well, I’m not gonna cook your food,” Halie continues in the clip. Waffle House’s website lists four locations on Buford Highway in metro Atlanta, including in Doraville, Norcross and Cumming.

In the crazy clip, which was posted Dec. 22, Halie was seen facing off against a group of rowdy customers at the Waffle House joint in Austin, Texas. I tried working for another sometime earlier this year and they found out I was blacklisted,” Halie says in an expletive-filled rant between puffs of vape. The woman — identified as Halie “B” — has posted a lengthy YouTube video called WHW StoryTime, where she minces no words as she recounts the incident from 2021, Fox News reported. “That guy who got whooped by the Waffle House employee got his a— scattered, smothered and covered,” another tweet read. One woman put her hand in front of the male customer’s face as they argued at the counter.

Travel across the pond to Paris, where waiters are paid a living wage, and the relationship is much more balanced. French waiters do not expect to have to fight every time they don their bowties, as Booth does when she puts on a Waffle House hat. He said that beyond the obvious reasons why an all-night diner would face trouble, its reputation may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The research on this kind of violence is thin, to say the least — but there are some clues. Halie Booth knows more than most about the perils of working there.