An alarming video is making waves on Twitter showing a white woman attacking employees at a Red Lobster in East York, Pennsylvania, on Mother's Day, Heavy reported.
Enraged at having to wait three hours for her food, the video shows a woman named Kathy Hill grabbing and punching a Red Lobster employee.
The video only catches the second half of the altercation, but it appears Hill was being removed from the restaurant after hitting and cursing at employees.
After being promised a refund, Hill decided to punch the employee in the face when she was asked to wait outside.
A Karen Goes Berserk at Red Lobster on Mother's Day (YORK, PA)
Woman upset that she has to wait 3 hours for food from Red Lobster on Mother’s Day when the restaurant has a reduced staff. pic.twitter.com/gEnZI9vPh3
— iGrowCannabis???????? (@ArmoredGoat) May 12, 2020
Police eventually arrived and spoke to Hill as well as the employees of the restaurant who said they had to remove Hill because guidelines didn't allow anyone inside the restaurant. No charges have been filed, but Springettsbury Township Police Lt. Tony Beam told the York Daily Record that police were still investigating.
"That restaurant's closed; you're not allowed in there. My understanding is all food is brought outside of the building," Beam said.
Social media had a lot to say about the video, white privilege and how white people respond to the smallest inconveniences. The violence and responses from those watching brought out a lot of questions on Twitter.
Dozens of people noted that this altercation likely had nothing to do with food and more to do with people who can't handle not getting what they want.
None of this is about food. I hope folks know that.
Nothing Red Lobster serves is worth a 3-hour wait, even on Mother’s Day
This was about white supremacy and the power to exercise it.
PA whites are a case study.
Someone do a diss. on modern PA racism pls https://t.co/u0WhSlbPcP— Bizzy Bone’s Box Braids (@FeministaJones) May 13, 2020
— Tara Gordon (@islandgirl222) May 13, 2020
Another also commented on the peculiarity of Pennsylvanian Caucasians.
This is typical for Pennsyltucky. I lived in this region for 4 years on a work project, part of it was during the election. Karen and Tom’s red necks were on full display.
— Kayleigh Cameron (@KChealed) May 13, 2020
Even some white folks weren't here for their people's antics.
I actually live here in York and I'm white but definitely agree 100% with what you're saying and now I'm concerned now seeing all those standing outside not social distancing or wearing masks, our county is still in shutdown but some people simply don't care about others
— Sandy Tompkins (@sandytompkins4) May 13, 2020
Amongst PA racism issues, York is an extra special case. (Said as a white York native.)
— Melissa Wyatt (@wyattmelissa) May 13, 2020
But dozens of people commented on how difficult it was for restaurant workers at a time like this.
Who raised these Karen's? I am tired of these criminal THUGS! And I do not mean ALL WHite women. There are White women and there are Karen's. People of all races can be a Karen.
All jokes aside blessings to those workers.
— Brandon Clark (@CEOclark) May 12, 2020
People who don’t work in the restaurant business don’t understand what BUSY is. Or that with half the amount of staff you can not get food out that quick and insure quality.
— Branden Hrychuk (@chewker87) May 12, 2020
Now this is a familiar stance….. she REFUSED to leave, and assaulted several employees, but look who's playing victim and calling 911 pic.twitter.com/kzHJCuSmui
— That Poet UGoddess (@UGoddess_CT) May 13, 2020
Dozens of others commented on the privilege of the situation, especially with those who were demanding their food quickly during a pandemic.
This whole situation has just opened my eyes, even more. It’s only a certain group of people (????) showing out like this bc they can’t get what they want, when they want it — EVEN DURING A PANDEMIC, the entitlement remains!
— Petty L'Belle ☾ (@xoJoyBelleox) May 12, 2020
That’s because they also think it’s ok to treat service workers like shit.
— Jai BaddAss (@jai_baddass) May 13, 2020
— People Like Hot French Fries (@BTrusty504ever) May 12, 2020
It was later revealed that this wasn't the only instance of white people going absolutely nuts on employees because of a country-wide mistake within Red Lobster's online ordering system. Due to the Mother's Day rush, the online system took in too many orders that couldn't be handled by the limited staff, Trib Live reported.
The police were called at a Red Lobster in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, after irate customers complained about orders that had not been filled. The parking lot was packed full of angry customers demanding food for Mother's Day.
A similar situation played out at a Red Lobster in Oak Lawn, Illinois, where the police were also called because of large crowds angry that their orders had not been filled.
"Due to COVID-19 and changes to our operations and staffing, we were not able to keep up with the demand at some of our locations…We apologize that some of our guests experienced long wait times, crowds, and in some cases, did not receive their orders at all. We are working to better understand what occurred and how we can prevent it occurring in the future," Red Lobster said in a statement.
The situations across the country were so bad that Red Lobster CEO Kim Lopdrup was forced to release a statement apologizing to people who waited hours as overworked restaurant employees tried to keep up with the deluge of Mother's Day orders.
“I apologize that we disappointed many of you this past weekend as you placed orders for Mother’s Day, one of the most important days of the year. We received significantly more online orders than we have ever gotten in a single day, and despite preparing for a spike in demand on Mother’s Day, some of our restaurants were unable to keep up with the volume,” Lopdrup wrote in a statement.
