Civil rights activist has new cause in protesting cold pancakes

Doris Boyd, 78, was celebrating her birthday Feb. 28 at Landmark Diner in Charlotte when she was left feeling “humiliated and really disrespected,” she says, after an ordeal that began with her request to reheat cold pancakes.

Civil rights activists typically dedicate their time to securing equal opportunities for minority groups, but a woman in North Carolina is currently fighting against another injustice: Cold pancakes.

Doris Boyd, 78, celebrated her birthday at Landmark Diner on Charlotte’s north side with two other people on Feb. 28. According to The Charlotte Observer, the civil rights crusader — who has participated in about 100 marches and protests since the 1960s — ordered a pancake roll, which she reportedly received in “ice cold” condition.

Boyd requested that the wait staff reheat her dinner, but they refused. Staffers then declined her request for a replacement item and informed her they could not return her pancakes because they had been thrown out.

Boyd and Shamaiye Haynes, who was dining with her, sought to speak with the manager, who declined. Boyd and Haynes requested a manager’s presence again before settling the bill, prompting the restaurant to phone the police.

“It’s very difficult to understand how something like this could happen,” Haynes said, according to The Observer. Why not “just reheat her pancakes and apologize? Why didn’t the manager just simply come out and address the concern rather than call the police?”

Three Charlotte Metro Police Department officers responded to the restaurant. The manager told them Boyd allowed the pancakes to sit at the table too long, so they were cold. However, Boyd and Haynes countered that the food was left at the serving window too long.

The women ultimately only paid for their consumed meals, and due to the treatment they received, the cops suggested they refrain from eating at the establishment in the future.

Boyd contended the elderly are society’s most disenfranchised group, and, counting herself among them, said she is not taking the confrontation lightly.

Since then, she and Haynes have dedicated their Tuesday mornings to leading other community activists in protest outside the diner. They don’t intend to stop until management apologizes for their treatment of Boyd.

“Take responsibility for your actions, you mistreated a person,” she said, according to The Observer. “There were ways that they could have fixed it right then and there, but they chose not to respond.” 

In a video captured by Haynes, the two women are conversing with Landmark team members when Haynes suggests the restaurant void the entire meal due to the lengthy wait, cold pancakes and their treatment by management.

According to The Observer, a man identifying himself as “John” in a phone call and claiming to be a Landmark Diner manager stated he wasn’t present when the event occurred, but Boyd and Haynes’ refusal to pay the bill was the reason for calling the police. He declined to comment on whether the restaurant intended to apologize and said that when customers refuse to pay their bill, it is standard to call the police.

After the incident, The Observer noted, no police report was filed.

CMPD records show the department received at least 40 calls to the restaurant in the previous year, including some regarding customer complaints.

“What I hope to see change,” Haynes said, The Observer reported, “is that they see their customers for people who do build their establishment, and that you know, black, white, red, purple, rainbow, you treat your customers with decency and respect.”

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