Dishonour

I’m not sure which is the more enraging right now.

That a hotel seems to have a company policy to refuse accommodation for any service member in the UK.

Or that the (parent?) company has the gall to call itself “American Amusements” with such a policy in place.

What

The

Fuck?

Such a policy sure as hell isn’t “American” (unless you count certain unmentionable crazies who qualify as “American” solely on the fact it’s their citizenship, not their philosophy).

From “American Amusement”‘s website:

American Amusements Ltd is one of the UK’s fastest growing and most successful Leisure Company’s.

Ignoring the fact that they can’t spell “Companies” correctly, I sincerely hope that, as of today, they become the UK’s fastest shrinking and failing company.

Combining a winning blend of family entertainment facilities and exciting late-bar activities, American Amusement Centres seek to offer a variety of unrivalled indoor entertainment for all.

Except, it seems, service personnel.

The hotel duty manager didn’t even have the courage to face the soldier themselves – they were “unavailable”.

Use their web site to find their business locations – and boycott them.

These ingrates need to pay a price for their policy. It’s not nearly the price the people whose patronage they deem “unworthy” risk paying, and I’m sure they’ll whine about how unfair it is – but it’s about time people who dishonour service personnel this egregiously started having some of the benefits they enjoy withdrawn.

The only way companies like this will ever understand the error of their ways is by hitting them in the only place that truly matters – their bottom lines.

You have to wonder if the UK will ever evolve, or will Rudyard Kipling be quoted for ever:

I went into a public-’ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-’alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.

Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit

Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.

We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind,
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.

You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!

Rudyard Kipling’s poem: Tommy

Update: The BBC has a followup article.

According to a statement made by American Amusements:

A spokesman said: “The hotel management has always had an open door policy to all its visitors and guests, including members of the military and armed forces, and will continue to do so.”

He added: “On this particular occasion there was a mistake made by a duty receptionist and the hotel management sincerely apologises for that mistake.”

So we’re supposed to believe that a receptionist decided on her own to exclude military personnel, and that she stated on her own initiative that it was company policy?

So why was the duty manager “unavailable”?  I’m sure he or she could have set things straight – were the receptionist truly in error as they claim.

Was the receptionists “mistake” really to admit to a company policy excluding service personnel, rather than come up with a more palatable lame excuse like “we’re full”?

Of course, we’re talking about the UK here, and the statement will be accepted at face value, no matter how illogical it seems, by The Powers That Be – because they refuse to accept there is a problem over there to begin with!

Derek Twigg, a Defence Minister (read, politician) says:

“I am delighted that the armed forces generally enjoy immense respect and gratitude on the part of the nation and that contrary sentiments are rare, though evidently they exist.”

I guess he’s been sleeping when service personnel were advised not to wear their uniforms in public, or when wounded veterans were told to get out of a swimming pool they were undergoing rehab in because they were scaring the children, and hadn’t paid to use the pool.

Maybe he didn’t hear about the furore local residents made over the family accomodation house for Headley Court, or how spraining your thumb from RSI as a civilian employee entitles you to twice as much compensation as a Marine who loses both legs and an arm?

Let this one slide with illogical excuses from American Entertainment, and it’ll simply encourage more of the ingrates infesting the UK to do the same.

Shortlink for this post: http://wp.me/p2cbiZ-4s