Wednesday, January 06, 2016

I Hate Loathe People ... And Holly Jones Is Just One Reason Why

Whenever my sister and I would have a conversation and the subject would turn to people behaving badly, I always told her the same thing:
“And that’s why I don’t like people.”
And we’d always laugh about that. But this story is exactly what I’m talking about, and why I loathe … some … people.

After dining at Kilroy’s restaurant on New Year ’s Eve, a woman identified as Holly Jones sent a message to the bar to complain about her terrible experience … and she has a right to do that, you know, but that’s not why I loathe her.

Holly Jones was upset because Kilroy’s manager and staff were too busy with another patron to pay attention to an issue she and her party were having with their bill and so she posted this to their Facebook page:
"I will never go back to this location for New Year's Eve!!! After the way we were treated when we spent $700+ and having our meal ruined by watching a dead person being wheeled out from an overdose my night has been ruined!!! Every year we have come to Kilroys to enjoy New Years Eve and tonight we were screamed at and had the manager walk away from us while were trying to figure out our bill being messed up. The manager also told us someone dying was more important then us being there making us feel like our business didn't matter, but I guess allowing a Junkie in the building to overdose on your property is more important then paying customers who are spending a lot of money!! Our waitress when we were trying to ask about our bill being messed up also said "what do you want me to do f****** pay your bill for you?" What a great way to talk to a paying customer!!! I get that working on New Years Eve a stressful but being a complete b**** to us all night knowing you get an automatic gratuity is not right!!!"
First off, get thee to an English class and learn about punctuation and grammar ... but I digress.

Holly Jones heard that someone in the restaurant was dying and she is upset because she got charged for two Diet Cokes when she only had one … or something as inconsequential? I wonder how she might have felt if she, or another member of her party, was overdosing, or whatever, and the manager said, “Look, gimme a sec. There’s a lady who was charged for a salad she didn’t order and I need to fix that before calling 911.”

Anyway,  Chris Burton, managing partner of the location, responded to Jones’ concerns:
"Thanks for reaching out!
We love feedback, whether it be positive or negative. I especially like feedback like this so others can see the disgusting people that we have to deal with sometimes.
First of all, the "overdosing junkie" that you speak of was a 70+ year old woman who had a heart attack. Thankfully she was finally revived at the hospital and survived. It sounds like you were very concerned about  her so I thought you should know. This poor lady, who was celebrating New Years Eve with her husband and son, had to be placed on the floor of a completely packed bar and have her shirt removed in front of everyone so the paramedics could work on her.
But I can completely understand why you think being intoxicated ***holes that didn't understand your bill should take priority over human life. I especially appreciate you making your server (who doesn't curse) cry as well. I'm sure she really enjoyed working on New Year's Eve just to deal with people such as yourself. I personally had to leave a show to take a phone call from an emotional manager telling me someone died at Kilroy's and that other employees were not doing so well dealing with this. (At the time they didn't know that she was going to make it.) So I understand how inconvenient this was to your night.
But honestly, I'm glad to hear you won't be coming back to Kilroy's because we wouldn't want anyone as cold hearted and nasty as you returning. I appreciate anyone who chooses to spend their money at Kilroy's until they act like you. You can take your money anywhere else after that, and I won't lose a second of sleep over it.
Happy New Year!" 
Oh.Snap. I think I love Chris Burton [left], who says he's surprised that the story's gone viral:
"I've been getting a lot of messages from people especially in the service industry saying that I'm their hero and calling me a crusader and things like that, so it's a little silly but the heroes are obviously the first responders that came and helped her out and saved her life."
Now, Holly Jones, or somebody pretending to be her, later posted that somebody else had hacked or hijacked her account and wrote that nasty review and that she was very upset it was posted; then she deleted her account.

On Monday, Kilroy's asked people not to send messages to people with the same name as the woman on Facebook:
“Please don't send any hateful messages to the other Holly's as they are just innocent locals who happen to share the same name.”
As for the real the Holly Jones, the one who posted that bit of hate on Facebook, she works for Serenity Salon … though perhaps not for long … and now even the Salon has been forced to  issue a statement of their own:
“Serenity Salon is aware of the most recent negative publicity surrounding one of our Booth Rent Stylist. The posting to Kilroy’s Facebook page, allegedly by one of our Booth Rent Stylist, in no way represents the views of Serenity Salon or any of our staff. We are saddened by the events that took place that evening and will continue to pray for the women who suffered a heart attack at this establishment on New Year’s Eve. This was not a company event and no other persons from Serenity Salon were present. This was the actions of one person and again do not reflect our views at Serenity Salon. We take our reputation seriously and this does not align with our code of conduct or the expectations we have for our Staff, Booth renters or any members of our team."
Now, hoping for something good to come out of the situation, Kilroy’s and Chris Burton posted this to Facebook:
How about we make this go viral? The lady survived but has a long way to go. Let's help them out! Also the family has requested not to use her name anywhere so please respect that if you know her.
Thank you all for your support!
And they included a link to a GoFundMe page [HERE] that has, as of this morning, raised $12,000 to cover this unidentified woman’s medical bills; their goal was $5,000, so there are an awful lot of good people out there, and perhaps just a few asshats like Holly Jones.

But what is the takeaway from all of this?

Well, when you are a witness to an emergency, like an elderly woman having a heart attack, maybe try and get the whole story before dubbing her a junkie on Facebook.

Stay off social media when you’re drunk, or when you’re stupid, or when you’re both.

And understand that there are sometimes things more important in the world that your dinner check being “messed up.”

And that, my friends, is why I loathe people.*

*I used to say ‘hate’ but my grandmother taught me to [try and] never say ‘hate;’ I switched, for a time to ‘dislike intensely,’ until settling on ‘loathe.’

I loathe Holly Jones … and people like her.

11 comments:

  1. Another instance of truth being stranger than fiction!

    ReplyDelete
  2. And of people thinking the internet is private.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loathe people, too. What a horrible human being that woman is. Even if it HAD been a junkie overdosing, it was still another human being dying and how can anyone be so heartless?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I began reading this and thought it couldn't possibly be true. Just another urban myth. Holy crap. Sometimes I DO want to say I loathe people. But for every Holly Jones, there's more than one Chris Burton. So, there are still people who deserve love (just not Holly Jones).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have a framed panel over my desk; it reads: "When you are dead, you do not know that you are dead. It is difficult only for the others.

    It's the same when you are stupid"

    à propos?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I LOVE Chris Burton's response. Good for him!

    ReplyDelete
  7. if holly jones is having a medical emergency, I hope NO ONE comes to her aid! karma's a bitch, baby!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Those of us who work in customer service are very aware of the fact that the customer isn't always right. Mr. Burton handled it brilliantly!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm glad that the Woman Survived. I pray for Holly's stupidity...May The God's give her some sort of compassion...Sheesh the nerve of people

    ReplyDelete
  10. You'd never find a cat acting that way.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Working in retail, I've dealt with people like Holly and sadly, in spite of all this negativity coming her way, she's not going to change because she thinks she's special and everybody else is not.

    ReplyDelete

Say anything, but keep it civil .......