A Charlotte man is accusing pizza giant Papa John’s of discrimination due to their online ordering policy. According to a Fox news story, Joey Flowers called a local Papa John’s to place his pizza order and he was told that it would be cheaper for him to place his order online. The problem is, Mr. Flowers is blind and is therefore unable to go online to place his order. Joey Flowers said, “Even if it ain't but a dollar cheaper, or two dollars cheaper, I don't care. I should be able to get the same discount you can. You know what I'm saying. I don't care. That's not fair.”
As it turns out, Papa John’s is not the only place that has online only deals; Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut also have similar specials for placing your order online. This means, according to Flowers, that anyone who doesn’t have internet access is being discriminated against. According to a spokesperson for Papa John’s, the company is looking into it and will take appropriate action.
This raises the question…do these online ordering specials indeed discriminate against blind people? Apparently there is special computer software that can be purchased to assist the blind but it is expensive. So shall we then say that these online pizza ordering incentives discriminate against the poor, or folks unable to afford such computer software? How about people who just don’t have computer access, are they being discriminated against as well? Where does it stop?
I cannot get a senior citizen’s discount when I go out to eat, so should I scream discrimination based on my age group? Ok, that example might be a bit of a stretch, but the point I am trying to make is that not all of us can be privy to all available specials and deals all the time, and we need to suck it up and move on.