Teresa Lee happened upon a pregnant homeless woman. Instead of pretending that she didn’t see her and walking by, she engaged in an act of humanity and invited the woman in to Tim Hortons at King and Victoria Streets and bought her a meal. Ms Lee bought the woman some food, sat her down at a table so that she could enjoy her food and left for work.

This act of kindness so enraged a Tim Hortons’ employee that he followed Ms Lee out of the restaurant and told her that she shouldn’t have done what she did and that this particular Tim Hortons does not allow homeless people to eat inside – EVEN IF THEY ARE PAYING CUSTOMERS – because homeless people make a mess. He continued ranting and raving about the mess that she was going to make and who was going to clean it up. He was very insistent that even though her meal was duly paid for that she had no right to eat inside.

Tim Hortons spokesperson Rachel Douglas has stated that the homeless woman did not cause any problems on this particular occasion, but that she has been disruptive to customers and staff in the past. She went on to say that Tim Hortons does not have a policy on the treatment of the homeless. It is left to the discretion of the individual franchises. Clearly this franchisee is not capable of making these types of decisions. Maybe it’s time that Tim Hortons did have a policy on the treatment of the homeless.

Tim Hortons has since apologized to Ms Lee, but not to the homeless woman. Ms Lee does not find this satisfactory nor do I. This was not a minor indiscretion or a small mistake in judgment. This is a very ugly example of man’s inhumanity to man. If Tim Hortons fancies themselves a fine example of a Canadian company, then I suggest that they look in the mirror a little more closely. If they insist on banning customers that are occasionally disruptive to other customers and staff then I suggest that Tim Hortons bans all babies, children, and teenagers. Better yet, let’s show Tim Hortons what we think about how they treat people and take our business elsewhere.