"Stephanie Wilkinson, co-owner of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, reacted in a commentary published by the Washington Post to a Chicago cocktail bar employee spitting on Eric Trump, the second son of the president.
"Wilkinson claimed “no one in the industry condones the physical assault of a patron,” but she said standards of good businesses that have been practiced for years are changing.
“ 'The once-ubiquitous idea that companies exist purely and solely to provide profit to shareholders is withering away like corn husks in the summer sun,” she wrote.
"She said the new unwritten policy is that “all are welcome” but “terms and conditions apply.”
“ 'The high-profile clashes rarely involve one citizen fussing at another over the entrees. It’s more often a frustrated person (some of whom are restaurant employees) lashing out at the representatives of an administration that has made its name trashing norms and breaking backs. Not surprising, if you think about it: You can’t call people your enemies by day and expect hospitality from them in the evening,” she wrote.
“ 'So when the day comes that the world feels returned to its normal axis, I expect we’ll see fewer highly charged encounters making headlines. In the meantime, the new rules apply. If you’re directly complicit in spreading hate or perpetuating suffering, maybe you should consider dining at home,” she warned.
"In a previous commentary for the Post, Wilkinson complained about the “hate mail” she’s been receiving since her business originally refused to serve Sanders.
"She said she drew a line for Sanders over “a person whose actions in the service of our country we felt violated basic standards of humanity.”
"But Wilkinson said she didn’t expect the “blowback.”