There is an old saying to never judge a book by its cover. However, most of us are guilty of doing the same. We look at a person and can’t help but judge them by their appearance. In fact, not only do people judge each other based on appearances but also treat each other differently based on this judgment. One such incident was witnessed in Manhattan.
A waiter saw a homeless person trying to enter a restaurant across the street to have a meal. Even though the man had money to pay for his food, the owner refused to let him inside. When the homeless man approached the waiter, he responded the same way. He took one look at his tattered clothes and asked him to leave. What followed next was a series of events that taught the waiter a lesson of a lifetime.
It was a sunny morning in Manhattan. A collection of waiters was standing outside their respective restaurants ready to start their shift. Their day usually comprised of luring customers, offering them their menu and inviting them inside to have a meal.
Usually, a waiter’s job is just limited to waiting tables but in this part of the town, where the competition is tough, the waiters do more than just serving food. Once they are successful in luring the customers inside, that is when they get to the part of waiting tables.
There are restaurants surrounding restaurants in this part of the town. This means, luring customers comes with the job of serving them food. Everyone makes an effort to stand out and bring in more customers than their competition. So the waiters stand at the entrance and quite literally steal customers for their restaurant.
The waiters were out and about before the first round of customers began to arrive. Left, right and center waiters began their hunt for customers. The first round of customers was usually working professionals. Most of them were in search of a quick breakfast stop, while others were the regulars who stop by every day.
It was around noon when a different kind of customer approached the first restaurant in the lane. It was a man dressed in layers of worn-out clothes. There was a visible hole in his shoe and his face was covered in smears. The waiter of that restaurant noticed him trying to read the menu.
The waiter addressed the man in the shabby clothes and ask him if he could help him with something. The man told him he wants to eat something here. The waiter told him that won't be possible and he should go to some other restaurant in the area.
The man informed the waiter that he does not want food for free. He has money with which he can pay for the food. But the waiter still didn't let him in. The man requested the waiter again but sighed when he realized the waiter won't budge. He decided to move on to the next restaurant and try his luck.
The man tried to enter the next restaurant but unfortunately, faced the same luck. None of the waiters let him enter their respective restaurants. At first, the man couldn't understand what is happening. He had suspicions but he assumed he might be wrong. However, his suspicion was confirmed once he reached the next restaurant on the block.
When the man attempted to enter the restaurant, the waiters refused to let him in. The man told them he has the money to pay so he only wishes to have a meal. The waiters then informed him he can take a seat on the outside of the restaurant and have his meal. The man realized that the concern was not limited seating, the concern was what he was wearing.
The man understood he was refused entry in all these restaurants because of his clothes. He was not dressed according to the "acceptable" dress code of these restaurants. They did not care he could pay for his food, they just didn't want somebody like him, a homeless person, to sit and have a meal in their restaurants.
Defeated, the waiters saw the man leave the area. They went on about their day, without letting the event bother them. But how they treated that man, was sure to haunt him for days. It wasn't his fault he is homeless. Nobody knows what kind of circumstances have resulted in his life going down this lane.
The waiters went back to being busy with their work without giving this event second thought. It came as no surprise to anybody, not even the people around the area when they saw them turn the man away from their restaurants. It is so easy to judge someone on their appearance, for better or for worse. Things took a drastic turn with what followed once the man had left.
It was almost evening time now. All eyes turned to the sound of a fancy sports car pulling up at the block. A man dressed in an elegant leather jacket and expensive boots stepped out of the car. The waiters exchanged a knowing look with each other. This one is going to be a challenge for all.
The man arrived at the first restaurant and was greeted by the waiter with a pleasant smile. He offered the man their menu and requested his permission to escort him to a nice table. To his surprise, the man refused to enter the restaurant without even looking at the menu.
The man proceeded to the next restaurant and as expected, the waiter was already standing with the menu ready in his hands. But the same thing happened again, the man took one look at the waiter and the restaurant and moved on without saying anything. He refused to go inside.
It was obvious that this man was hard to impress. He moved past almost every restaurant in the block. None of the waiters could interest him in reading their menu let alone lure him inside. The waiters saw the man make his way to the last restaurant on the block and interact with the waiter.
The other waiters were confused about what this last waiter did that not only made the man stop and listen to him, but also interact with him. They watched as the waiters smile faltered into a poker face, which confused them even further.
What the other waiters didn't know was how the conversation between the two went. When the waiter approached the man with the menu, the man refused to even take a look at it. But this waiter was a bit persistent, so he tried to charm the man. But the man had a surprise for the waiter.
The man in the leather jacket told the waiter that despite his charming attempt to invite him inside the restaurant, he will not have a meal here. The waiter asked the man if he might have offended him in some way. The man replied, "yes you did, earlier." The waiter looked at him with a frown unable to comprehend what the man meant.
The waiter told the man that he doesn't understand what he means by 'earlier' since as per his recollection, the two of them are meeting for the first time. The man smiled and told him to recall an event from his day earlier when he refused to let a homeless man eat inside his restaurant.
The waiter told him he remembers but doesn't understand how it is connected to this conversation. The waiter thought he might have offended the man by not allowing a homeless man to enter the restaurant. But is that really why he is refusing to enter his restaurant too?
The waiter apologized to the man if his action of not letting in the homeless guy offended him. The man smiled at the waiter and told him he is not offended because he didn't let that man in. He is offended because it was him. He was the homeless man who came to his restaurant earlier today.
The waiter's eyes went wide in surprise as he realized what just happened. The man had just changed his clothes and cleaned his face. It was the same guy whom he allowed to sit outside and eat but refused to let him enter the restaurant. The waiter couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
The man informed the waiter that he is not homeless. Instead, he is a YouTuber who was trying to conduct a social experiment. He pointed towards the camera filming everything that was happening. The man turned to the waiter and said, "you judged me by my clothes. I was rude to you just now, refusing to eat at this restaurant yet you were charming to me."
The man explained how he dressed up in shabby clothes and worn-out shoes on purpose. He put smears and made his face dirty and then tried to enter restaurants. None of the waiters allowed him to step inside. They said things like "You can't eat here.. not dressed like that...come on"
When the man reached the last restaurant, the waiter told him to eat outside. He was fine with him paying for the food but couldn't let him sit inside with other guests. He was repeatedly judged on his appearance despite his polite behavior.
He then went back to a nearby parking lot and changed into expensive clothes. The man changed his appearance and drove back to the block in an expensive sports car. And the treatment he got from people took a 180 degrees turn.
Despite his rude remarks and comments to the waiters, everyone was nice and respectful to him. He said things like, "what's the most expensive dish on your menu...tell me fast.. don't waste my time" And the waiters were still polite to him.
Compared with when the man was dressed as a homeless man, he was not rude to anybody. Yet people treated him badly and didn't even allow him to have a meal at the restaurants. This goes on to tell people how our society is so materialistic. Shiny clothes and fancy cars earn you respect even if you don't deserve it.
The waiter told the man how sorry he is for treating him badly. He didn't mean to be condescending and admitted that the way he treated him was uncalled for. He shouldn't have done it and he is sorry about it. The man looked at him and said, "yes it was condescending and you should be sorry."
The waiter asked the man if there is any way he can change his mind. The man replied, "I am not hungry anymore because frankly, the way you treat people makes me sick." With that, the man turned around and walked back to his car.
The man was about to start his car when he felt somebody run up to him. He turned around to see a waiter approaching his car. The man looked at him in confusion. The waiter smiled at him and said, "I remember you when you came dressed as a homeless man"
The waiter told him he wanted to invite him inside, but his colleagues didn't listen to him. He apologized to the man he couldn't invite him in. The man told him he appreciated his thoughtfulness. Maybe there is a slight hope for this world after all.
The other waiter who witnessed this little conversation was visibly ashamed about his actions. He seemed to be reflecting on his deeds as he watched the man drive away. The waiters from the nearby restaurants seemed to catch on what has happened as they witnessed the cameras around them.
As the man drove away from the block, all the waiters gathered around to talk about what happened. The waiter whom the man spoke to was interrogated by all. As the man explained what happened, the waiters shared the same expression as his. The look of shame.
How a person treats his inferiors speaks volumes about his moral foundation. Being nice to somebody because they stepped out of a Ferrari doesn't speak well about your characteristics. People need to learn to treat each other with kindness and respect.
This social experiment aimed to prove that people are way too materialistic. They judge each other and treat people according to their appearances. The waiters refused to let a homeless man, who was kind and talked to them politely, inside the restaurant even when he said he can pay for his food.
At the same time, an arrogant rich man, who treated them badly and talked to them rudely, was warmly welcomed inside the restaurants. The waiters were charming to him. Only because he drove a fancy car, and wore expensive clothes.
Being homeless is neither a crime nor a choice. What a person has been through and how he is living in those conditions, in harsh weather, in extreme poverty, only he knows and understands the struggle behind it. If we can't do anything to make their lives better, let's not find reasons to make it worse either.