New Jersey: A birthday celebration turned upsetting for a New Jersey singer-songwriter after she found a hurtful reference to her disability written on her cake at a restaurant.
Twenty-nine-year-old Antonia Sinibaldi, who has used a wheelchair since she was two, was celebrating her birthday with friends and family at Blu On The Hudson in Weehawken on June 20 when she noticed the message on her dessert.
The words appeared to read “Happy birthday wheelchair” or “Happy wheelchair birthday”, leaving Sinibaldi shocked and uncomfortable.
Birthday message leaves her hurt
Sinibaldi said the message took her by surprise because her disability was something she already knew about and did not need to be reminded of during her birthday celebration.
She has been wheelchair-dependent since the age of two after being involved in a road accident with a drunk driver. She was diagnosed with a cervical spinal injury and relies on a motorised wheelchair and ventilator, according to the report.
Sinibaldi said she raised the issue with the restaurant management after the incident.
Restaurant apologises for mistake
Blu On The Hudson later issued an apology and said the message was the result of an internal mistake rather than an attempt to hurt or insult the customer.
The restaurant explained that staff normally use table and seat numbers on food tickets to identify where dishes should be delivered. In this case, the word “wheelchair” was allegedly used as a reference to identify the location for the birthday dessert.
However, the notation was mistakenly written on the plate itself.
Restaurant promises to prevent repeat
The restaurant said it understood why seeing the word on the birthday plate could have been deeply upsetting and apologised to Sinibaldi and others affected by the incident.
It said staff had since been reminded about proper ticketing and communication procedures and that steps had been taken to prevent a similar mistake.
The restaurant also said it had attempted to contact Sinibaldi directly to apologise, although it had not yet been able to reach her.
