06/17/2021
Ms. Marguerite Castellanet,
My name is Adam Woo and I am the manager at the Majestic Dragon, in Ipswich, MA. After our conversation on Tuesday (6-15-2021), I am pleased to inform you that you and your husband are no longer welcome in our establishment. It is a shame because I have waited on your husband for years and he has always been a gentleman.
In our long history of being in Ipswich, we have a very short list of people that have been banned, but to my knowledge, you have made it without even stepping foot into our building. That's impressive!
Tuesday afternoon, you had called demanding a refund of a Kung Pao Chicken meal because it was spicy and that you “never eat spicy food”; a meal that your husband had walked in and ordered in person for you. To clear any potential future misunderstandings, I explained to you that this particular dish is indeed spicy by default as it states on our menu and that having it non-spicy would have needed to be specified by the customer. I went on to let you know that I would refund you the money and even offered to make you something else without hesitation as a result of the patronage by your husband throughout the years.
This is when the conversation turned. You yelled at me and said “... Do you even know English? That's not what I ordered” and later, “that's not American English.” Correct, that wasn't what your ordered, but it WAS what your husband ordered for YOU, because you were not there.
Working at an Asian American restaurant, I get prank calls weekly asking “can I order the cat/dog/bat etc... ?”, “is your staff from Wuhan and did they bring the virus over”. I love all animals, especially dogs and cats and would never hurt them, never mind serving them as food.. They are too cute! Normally it's just kids and I tell them to call me back when they have something funnier to say, but your comment hit differently.
I certainly know English. It is my primary language. My Chinese is actually terrible and I cannot even read or write it. I was born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts and I'm not sure if you knew, but Quincy is the home to two Presidents (a stone's throw from my house) and one of the few cities that still celebrates Flag Day. Flag Day is the celebration of the US flag for us Americans. My favorite foods are pizza, wings, and burgers, and the last time I checked, those aren't exactly authentic Chinese cuisines. My accent is the horrible Boston accent that I have been working tirelessly to get rid of and it isn't even anything remotely like a stereotypical accent of a person from China. My grammar and punctuation is a product of a Massachusetts Catholic school for 8 years and I believe the nuns over there did a fine job with me.
Working through the pandemic to keep the family business going, we have been seeing ignorant/racist behavior on a whole different level and to be frank, it has gotten very very old. Maybe it's because people forgot how to act socially because they have been stuck in their houses for so long, or maybe it's their true colors coming to the forefront. Whatever it is, it's heartbreaking to experience this, especially when my family has been in this community for over 30 years. Over those 30 years, this restaurant has employed people of all races and nationalities. We currently have staff that were born in this very area.
Mocking me by using the clever and oh so unique “Do you even know English?” is an appallingly racist comment. I'm sure anyone would have understood and felt my anger in my response to you over the phone, even if I was not fluent in English. Not you Ms. Castellanet. You had to follow that up with “... American English”. Explaining to you where I was born, what language I speak, and where I live shouldn't even matter. With the current climate of the world that we are living in today, you would think that people would be more understanding and not so obtuse. “Obtuse” means, insensitive or slow to understand.
If you would ever like to have a sit down and discuss American/Chinese history and racism I would be more than happy to. You can choose a wholesome “American” restaurant if that would make you more comfortable and we can try to dispel one of the oldest English idioms of “teaching an old dog new tricks”.
- Adam Woo
