Howdy GOLOers. I've never considered blogging here, until this past weekend when a "first" happened to me. Let me preface my story with a couple pieces of information. First, I'm an amateur photographer with a professional attitude (that's right - I don't go to the beach to take pictures of random people. Even if I'm in a crowd of people, I make sure faces aren't visible or that only family members are in the frame). Secondly, I've taken photos and videos in fast food places several times before in casual situations - no flash, and nobody in the photos except my family members.
That all came to an abrupt end this past Saturday in a Burger King near Brunswick, Georgia. Headed south on vacation, it's my job to capture every event and action for vacation memories. So after driving about 8 hours, a stop at Burger King fits that category. Getting out of the truck, I put my point-and-shoot Kodak in my pocket, and my Sony camcorder in another pocket. Everything is fine to begin with -- we order and receive our meals nicely and correctly (for a change). So while we are all eating. I whip out my Kodak to take a couple still photos of my family members -- again, without flash and making sure no other people are in the photos. Likewise, I then pull out my camcorder to capture a few seconds on camera for the annual DVD of the trip. Several times, employees would pass by sweeping the floor or cleaning tables, each smiling and asking if everything was ok. They HAD to have noticed my cameras, as one walked by as I was taking one of the pictures.
Continuing the story... After the early lunch (we left very early in the morning), my family members headed to the restrooms while I stepped outside the Burger King to wait. While I'm standing there, a guy (I'm assuming the manager), pops out through the door and asks, "Can I help you with something?" Here, I respond, "No, I'm just waiting for some people." This is when the guy is obviously ticked at something as he jerks his hand toward the door, pointing to this small sticker in the corner that states "No Photography or Videography." Now I don't know about you, but how many times have you ever seen that sign posted on a fast-food restaurant door? How many times do you actually READ what's posted on a fast-food restaurant door? Isn't that why the windows are covered with 3-feet tall greasy cheeseburgers -- so you don't have to read??
Well, I had paid no attention. In fact, I had entered the building through the OTHER door, which did not have the sign posted. So I gave a surprised reaction, then said "ohhhh, ok!" The guy apparently didn't buy that response, so he flashed his Angry-Face, got loud and forcefully said, "NEVER AGAIN! You got that??" Not only was this one of the most embarrassing events of my life (as other customers were walking by to enter the restaurant), but the guy was a real jerk about it. I quickly said, "ok" as he gave me one more stern look before he whipped around and let the door slam behind him.
Now, I know Burger King is a privately owned business or whatnot. Just the way the guy handled the whole situation is enough to turn me off to ever stopping at a Burger King ever again. After a quick Google search, I found another guy who posted on his blog about seeing the sticker for the first time this past week. Therefore, I'm guessing this no photography/videography policy is relatively new.
Couldn't the manager guy have been more polite, or even carried a more civilized conversation than simply yelling at me "NEVER AGAIN"? Also, why didn't any of the employees alert me to the policy? To be honest, since I'm an amateur photographer and consider stops along-the-way as parts of vacation, Burger King CANNOT and WILL NOT be a future vacation stop for my family, or for any other event deemed neceassary for cameras (including birthday parties, social gatherings, etc.)
So I'm curious -- has anyone noticed these stickers, and if so - when did you see them first?
