Richard6218
Regular Member
imported post
A couple weeks ago we started a thread announcing a get-together in Bellingham for Whatcom County OC'ers. A couple places were considered, primarily the Denny's in Bellingham on Meridian near I-5. We agreed that we would attempt to clear OC'ing with management beforehand to avoid an unpleasant surprise the morning of the meeting. On Friday Oct 3 I went to that location, and the report I posted to the thread on the get-together is pasted below in italics.
I was in Bellingham this morning for several errands and while there I stopped in at Denny's. I had breakfast, OC'ing. No one said a word, mostly because I don't think anyone noticed, but the cashier gave a startled look as I was paying my tab. I asked to speak to the manager and got the asst. mgr. I asked her if I need to make a reservation for (?) 6-8 people who, just incidentally will be OC'ing. She told a story about an incident with an OC'er and a family sitting across from him. Police were called and the cops escorted the guy out of the place. (I didn't get any more details, and I have no idea if the guy was from OpenCarry.org.) This was a real hot potato, and she quickly passed the buck to the manager, a guy named Lynn, who happened not to be there at the moment. She gave me his phone # and said he'd be in in about an hour.
I just got off the phone with Lynn, who also passed the buck to his Area Manager. He will be calling me back after consulting with the boss. This is quickly getting to a significant level and I think will ultimately decide the status of allDenny's in the Northwest vis-a-vis our DNP list. If his answer is No, we'll have to try Shari's for our get-together. Either way, I'll post a report on the DNP thread.
The manager, Lynn, called me back Saturday morning and said his answer was NO but offered an alternative as I posted:
Well, it's back to Square One. I just got the call from the Meridian Denny's manager and his answer was No, BUT here was his "wonderful" offer: the Mount Vernon store has a banquet room, and he offered me the phone # of that manager. I said "Do you mean that you want to sequester us in a back room where no one can see us?" Answer: Yes. I told him this would defeat our entire purpose. I said I would make this post for all to see and watch the reaction, which I told him would NOT be favorable. I said No Thanks to the phone number, but IF we agreed I would call him back for it.
The decision-maker in this case was the un-named area manager, whose responsibility appears to cover all of Whatcom County and south to Arlington and Mount Vernon. Because Denny's is a franchise operation with differing policies on OC they can't be painted with the same brush nationally or even across Washington. There have been a number of favorable reports about Denny's stores in Redmond and elsewhere in Western WA. But it appears that the Whatcom County stores managed by this area manager are no-gun. This would cover Ferndale, Bellingham, Mount Vernon and Arlington. In view of this development I am suggesting that these four Denny's be put on the DNP list.
A couple weeks ago we started a thread announcing a get-together in Bellingham for Whatcom County OC'ers. A couple places were considered, primarily the Denny's in Bellingham on Meridian near I-5. We agreed that we would attempt to clear OC'ing with management beforehand to avoid an unpleasant surprise the morning of the meeting. On Friday Oct 3 I went to that location, and the report I posted to the thread on the get-together is pasted below in italics.
I was in Bellingham this morning for several errands and while there I stopped in at Denny's. I had breakfast, OC'ing. No one said a word, mostly because I don't think anyone noticed, but the cashier gave a startled look as I was paying my tab. I asked to speak to the manager and got the asst. mgr. I asked her if I need to make a reservation for (?) 6-8 people who, just incidentally will be OC'ing. She told a story about an incident with an OC'er and a family sitting across from him. Police were called and the cops escorted the guy out of the place. (I didn't get any more details, and I have no idea if the guy was from OpenCarry.org.) This was a real hot potato, and she quickly passed the buck to the manager, a guy named Lynn, who happened not to be there at the moment. She gave me his phone # and said he'd be in in about an hour.
I just got off the phone with Lynn, who also passed the buck to his Area Manager. He will be calling me back after consulting with the boss. This is quickly getting to a significant level and I think will ultimately decide the status of allDenny's in the Northwest vis-a-vis our DNP list. If his answer is No, we'll have to try Shari's for our get-together. Either way, I'll post a report on the DNP thread.
The manager, Lynn, called me back Saturday morning and said his answer was NO but offered an alternative as I posted:
Well, it's back to Square One. I just got the call from the Meridian Denny's manager and his answer was No, BUT here was his "wonderful" offer: the Mount Vernon store has a banquet room, and he offered me the phone # of that manager. I said "Do you mean that you want to sequester us in a back room where no one can see us?" Answer: Yes. I told him this would defeat our entire purpose. I said I would make this post for all to see and watch the reaction, which I told him would NOT be favorable. I said No Thanks to the phone number, but IF we agreed I would call him back for it.
The decision-maker in this case was the un-named area manager, whose responsibility appears to cover all of Whatcom County and south to Arlington and Mount Vernon. Because Denny's is a franchise operation with differing policies on OC they can't be painted with the same brush nationally or even across Washington. There have been a number of favorable reports about Denny's stores in Redmond and elsewhere in Western WA. But it appears that the Whatcom County stores managed by this area manager are no-gun. This would cover Ferndale, Bellingham, Mount Vernon and Arlington. In view of this development I am suggesting that these four Denny's be put on the DNP list.