Claim:   A U.S. Marine was refused service at a convenience store in Fort Worth, Texas.

Status:   True.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2005]

On December 19th, 2004, my brother Jason F. Young Lance Corporal in the United States Marines was refused service at a convenience store named One Stop Grocery and Grill at 2001 8th Ave. in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

He was refused service because he is a Marine.

He went in to the store and asked the clerk (a man of middle eastern descent) for a can of tobacco, at which point the clerk asked him if he was in the military. (He had on a USMC shirt) After my brother replied, "yes sir" the man said nothing to him and looked at the other middle eastern man in the back of the store. Then both men proceeded to go in to the storeroom and did not come out. My brother yelled back to them a time or two and they did not respond.

Jason waited a few minutes and finally left the store.

I am very proud of the way that my brother reacted to the situation. I can honestly say if it had been me I would have cleared their counter and taken my can of tobacco. It is not fair that these people come into our country and enjoy the freedoms that my brother and so many others have fought for. They do not respect our service men and women who have died for them to be able to be here. They do not respect our country, and personally I think they need to go back to where they came from.

My main point in writing this is to get the word out about this particular store and discourage people from shopping there. If they can't respect or even sell to the people that are responsible for the rights they have, then they don't deserve to be in business.

Please email this to everyone you know to discourage them from shopping at this store.  

Origins:   The e-mail listed above was written by Heather Dowell, the sister of Lance Cpl. Jason Young, a Marine only recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. While in Iraq, 25-year-old Young served with an advance tactical unit with a group of Harrier jets that is supporting the 1st Marine Division in Iraq.

Ms. Dowell set down her brother's account of his mistreatment into an e-mail that was distributed far and wide. Her letter touched off protests at the One Stop Grocery and Grill on 8th Avenue in Fort Worth, the convenience store where her brother was rebuffed.

While it is not clear if the incident described in the e-mail was witnessed by others (and thus could be substantiated by those other than the participants), it is also clear no one involved is disputing the account. Munirah Kabani, owner of the One Stop Grocery and Grill, terminated the employee in question when news of the incident reached him. "When we heard about this thing last week, we fired the guy that minute, but we apologized to the mom and everybody," he said.

To our puzzlement, despite the days-earlier firing and apology to the family, protests continued at the store, an 11 January news report claiming "The demonstration brought a sense of resolution to family members."

This late-2004 Fort Worth incident echoes the early-2003 baseless rumors about serviceman in Duluth, MN, and Hilton Head, SC, being refused service by bar and restaurant proprietors who didn't support the war.

Barbara "ostension headache" Mikkelson

Last updated:   11 January 2005

I'm not getting any gas, err, diesel from them. Bastards.

Ben

Well,looks like since the geek liberals can't put a geek liberal in the White House they are going to start that 1960's,"Spit on the soldier" thing up again.We prob have mikei moore,to in part,thank for this.

Sounds like I need to pay this little convenience store a visit wearing my IDF T-Shirt.
And I'm dead serious.

That's just messed up.  If I lived there I definately would not be shopping there after reading this.

I would take out a cheap little ad. in the county newspaper. Tell the story and see how much business those towel heads get after that ad. is placed.

When I was with the Coast Guard very rencently they gave us a talk on a new law that said of we were dicriminated because we were in the service (Civilian Employees like me too) It was a civil rights violation. Something to look into

How difficult would it be to park a certain distance away, proceed to this store on foot, run in the door, roaring like an animal but saying no words, and start turning over shelves and displays.

It is Texas, so it's likely they'd have a gun handy, so this might not be the best idea given that.  How hard would the police actually look, though, if you didn't assault anyone or give any clue as to your motive?  Obviously, you wouldn't make it easy for them by allowing anyone to get your liscense plate or stay long enough for people to react.  Things could probably get out of hand fairly easily if the store employees moved to stop you.

It is on Snopes though, and just about everything Snopes says these days is wrong.  You'd want to be certain that you weren't tormenting some innocent business owner.

Quoted: Sounds like I need to pay this little convenience store a visit wearing my IDF T-Shirt. And I'm dead serious.

Post results!

One could also suppose they were looking out for his health by refusing to sell him tobacco

This is going to get forwarded to some good old boys I know in Ft Worth.  

Quoted: ... It is Texas, so it's likely they'd have a gun handy, so this might not be the best idea given that...

I wouldn’t just say Texas!

A few years ago I gassed up in a really bad area of Washington, DC – which of course is fiercely anti-gun.  When I went inside to pay the cashier, I noticed that she had a Mossberg riot shotgun propped up against the wall.  

The only thing that bothers me is the phrase "these people" in the account.

The writer or the email has NO IDEA if those people" are in fact immigrants, foreigners, or people who have been U.S. citizens for generations - just like her family.  But, somehow, because they look middle-eastern, they are not "real" Americans like her and her brother.  



Don't get me wrong - the behavior described is outrageous, and those storekeepers are huge assholes.  

Quoted: This is going to get forwarded to some good old boys I know in Ft Worth.

They should give the hell.

Quoted: Quoted: Sounds like I need to pay this little convenience store a visit wearing my IDF T-Shirt. And I'm dead serious. Post results!

Will do. I'll try to go this weekend. Any of DFW crew care to join me?

Sounds like I need to pay this little convenience store a visit wearing my IDF T-Shirt. And I'm dead serious.

GREAT IDEA!!!!!!!!

Get a friend to wear a "Nuke Mecca" shirt and go with you!

GR

Quoted: I'll say it once again ... In TEXAS? What has this world come to? Fort Worth no less. I'm assuming the place has been leveled by now? Munirah Kabani terminated the employee

We don't riot in the streets here, how about you?

Sounds like some Hadjis need their ass beat

FREE

Quoted: The only thing that bothers me is the phrase "these people" in the account. The writer or the email has NO IDEA if those people" are in fact immigrants, foreigners, or people who have been U.S. citizens for generations - just like her family.  But, somehow, because they look middle-eastern, they are not "real" Americans like her and her brother.

Have you ever been to a convenience store? Devils advocate is fine but be realisitic.

Quoted: Quoted: The only thing that bothers me is the phrase "these people" in the account. The writer or the email has NO IDEA if those people" are in fact immigrants, foreigners, or people who have been U.S. citizens for generations - just like her family.  But, somehow, because they look middle-eastern, they are not "real" Americans like her and her brother.   Have you ever been to a convenience store? Devils advocate is fine but be realisitic.

I supposed you see the passports and INS visas of every convenience store cleark you encounter?


I've got colleagues who are second generation americans, and who have such strong accents that you would think they just got off the boat!   All I'm saying is that it's hard to infer someone's immigration status just by eyeballing them.


What's not hard to infer, is that fact that these clerks were total ASSHOLES, and should be beaten with lead pipes.  I agree with that - I just take (slight) issue with the assumptions made by the writer.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The only thing that bothers me is the phrase "these people" in the account. The writer or the email has NO IDEA if those people" are in fact immigrants, foreigners, or people who have been U.S. citizens for generations - just like her family.  But, somehow, because they look middle-eastern, they are not "real" Americans like her and her brother.   Have you ever been to a convenience store? Devils advocate is fine but be realisitic. I supposed you see the passports and INS visas of every convenience store cleark you encounter? I've got colleagues who are second generation americans, and who have such strong accents that you would think they just got off the boat!   All I'm saying is that it's hard to infer someone's immigration status just by eyeballing them. What's not hard to infer, is that fact that these clerks were total ASSHOLES, and should be beaten with lead pipes.  I agree with that - I just take (slight) issue with the assumptions made by the writer.

I'll make a note of that the next time DANISH terrorists kill some Americans....

I don't care where they came from or when they got here, if they are going to serve the public, they better keep their attitudes in check. I got selected for plenty of public humiliation after I returned from Vietnam and damn it, if they start it with me, I'm not going to back down from them. I am NOT a public punching bag and I'm not going to ask any other serviceman to be one either.

People can be a part of our society or go fight in Fallujah, but NO American serviceman has to take any crap for serving their country from ANYBODY in America. He can start collecting their loose teeth anytime he wants to, IMO.


Of course, don't interpret what I am saying to suggest that I endorse doing anything illegal.....

Quoted: Sounds like I need to pay this little convenience store a visit wearing my IDF T-Shirt. And I'm dead serious.

Fuck yeah!!!

Quoted: I'm not getting any gas, err, diesel from them. Bastards. Ben

Yeah! Can we just get to it and drill the ANWAR so I can feel good about buying gas for once in my life?

IIRC, a few months ago an Army member here had trouble at a Best Buy with an expired warrantee caused by a tour he had made in Iraq.

The kid at the service counter told him something like he was stupid to join the service anyway.

A lot of members were pretty incensed at the incident.

But I don’t recall anyone here talking about trashing Best Buy, nor do I remember anyone talking about the kid’s ethnicity (presumably he was a Caucasian).

And – ironically - unlike the above situation where the responsible individuals were fired, the Best Buy store manager sided with the kid and refused to help the member out.

Some of ya'll need to work on your reading comprehension.

Quoted: I'll make a note of that the next time DANISH terrorists kill some Americans....

Although if that ever happens (God forbid), let me know - and I'll be the first to bludgeon the bastards to death with a pipe.

There was at least one "Danish" guy in Gitmo (muslim immigrant of course).  Unfortunately, the U.S. released him recently, and I wish they had left him to rot!

Don't suppose it's possible to get the name of the offending clerk, would it? It was his specific action that started the ball rolling. Wanna start spitting on soldiers? The favor can be returned.

Hmmm, when McVeigh blew up the Fed. building in OK, I don't recall people going around saying we should kill them crackers.  Now why is that?  Oh, McVeigh was white, so it's all ok. Seems that prejudice is alive and thriving in the US of A.      

Quoted: I'll say it once again ... In TEXAS? What has this world come to? Fort Worth no less. I'm assuming the place has been leveled by now? Munirah Kabani terminated the employee

Damn place should just slide off into the Gulf of Mexico and we would all be better off without the liberal shit-hole


Sgatr15

They fired the asshole behind the counter. IMHO the situation was resolved. No need to harass the store owner as I belive he got the message....

While not related to the military here is one from this area.

At a local landrymat they close at 2100, at about 2040 the guy who owns it (middle eastern) comes in and says he is closing for everyone to get their stuff and leave now and starts locking the doors.  Next door there is a dollar store of some type.  People go back approx 2050 to get thier clothes and the place is locked, the guy who locked it was still there and wouldnt let them in.  

Now someone calls the cops, the cops made him open back up for the people to get their stuff.  The middle eastern guy gets really pissed off about it and starts yelling about how all the stupid americans there will be back and stuff like that.  

No one I know has went back there yet.