It's possible that there is a perfectly innocent explanation for how bacon wound up in Nicole Queen's straw during a recent visit to a TGI Fridays in Garland. Perhaps the line cook mistook her iced tea for one of the restaurant's many bacon-laden menu options. Or maybe her server, operating under the assumption that everybody likes bacon, added it as a special bonus.
The more likely scenario, however, is that the waiter took note of Queen's hijab and, sufficiently cultured to be aware of the Islamic prohibition on consuming pork but not so much as to respect another person's sincerely held religious beliefs, decided to be a dick.
On Friday, TGI Fridays issued a statement to WFAA, which originally reported the story, apologizing for its employees' treatment of Queen -- sort of.
See also: A Muslim Woman Says a Garland TGI Fridays Snuck Bacon in Her Tea
It reads:
Since last week when Ms. Nicole Queen dined in our restaurant we have had the opportunity to speak with her several time. She has graciously given her time to discuss with us what occurred at our restaurant and the response she received when she brought it to our attention. We are very sorry for her experience and certainly recognize that she was not treated with the respect that her concerns warranted.Although we cannot go back and undo her experience, we can and will use this as an opportunity to reinforce the Values that guide everyone who works at Fridays. Among those Values are Integrity, which stresses that we "treat people with dignity, respect and honesty." In the coming days we will be taking every team member in this location through a session in which we will review this particular incident, have an open and honest discussion about the importance of our Values and how respecting the specific needs of every guest are vital to delivering the Fridays experience.
It's not entirely clear from the wording whether the chain is sorry that it tricked Queen into consuming bacon or that the manager didn't give her the time of day when she complained about it. Also unclear is when values and integrity became proper nouns.
