Enforcement of Tim Hortons’ 20-minute limit could be a source of embarrassment and over-identification

by Prof. Hussein Warsame Friday, March 13, 2009 Few days ago, I told the president of a Tim Hortons franchise that he lost my patronage. This decision was a difficult one given the fact that I am addicted to Tim Hortons' cappuccino, French Vanilla - an addiction that only intensified since the start of my six-month sabbatical from University of Calgary on January 1, 2009. At least once a day, and especially when I have to review a difficult accounting or taxation research paper, I would visit a Tim Hortons restaurant alone, order my sweet cappuccino, and sit in a secluded corner to read for close to an hour before I go back to my office. If I did my 30-minute run on the treadmill the day before, I would also order four tin-bits or a muffin which I know does not help my waist-line. Approximately once a week, I would also have full lunch at one of Tim Hortons' restaurants. More importantly, Tim Hortons was the place where I would occasionally gather with my friends in the Somali community to discuss youth and education issues. But an incident that took place in one of Tim Hortons' restaurants on March 7, 2009 forced me to abandon those pleasurable traditions, including my sweet cappuccino while reading a challenging accounting or taxation research paper. Embarrassing incident Tim Hortons restaurant. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. On that momentous night, I agreed to meet the president of the Somali Calgary Association and four other prominent Somali professionals to go over the agenda for an upcoming conference on youth issues.  I chose one of my most favourite Tim Hortons' restaurants in the northwest quarter of Calgary for the informal meeting. We started arriving at the restaurant at about 7:15 PM. I was the first to arrive and the others arrived at different times over the next 30 minutes. Each of us ordered his favourite beverage and/or food. Things went well for a while. We were in the middle of our discussion on Somali Calgary youth conference, when somebody who identified himself as the president/manager of the Tim Hortons establishment politely told us, in not so many words, that we overstayed our welcome at the restaurant. It was around 8:35 PM when the incident took place. I asked the president/manager if he would like us to order some more food or beverages. The others seemed to echo my suggestion with nervous smiles and incoherent soothing words. I do not remember the exact words that the manager used, but it was clear that he would prefer us to leave. I looked around, perhaps to instinctively check if any of my students at the university were witnessing my embarrassing moment. It was then that I realized that more than half of the restaurant's tables were unoccupied. I told the manager that he embarrassed us. He disagreed and explained to us that the 20-minute stay limit rule was set by the Tim Hortons corporation and not by him; that they have had problems with students using the tables for studying and business men closing deals in the restaurant; and that everybody brings his/her car to the parking lot which has limited parking spaces. When I mentioned that the restaurant is about 50% empty, he responded that he expects workers in a nearby business to have their break soon and he is afraid that they may not have spaces if we do not leave in time. He told me that I would lose any argument regarding this as the group was at the restaurant for close to an hour and a half. I did not contest his time estimate as it was clear that we violated the 20-minute limit and since he asked us to leave. My body temperature went up and I told him that he just lost by business and that of my friends. The manager again stated that he had nothing against us, and that he was just following Tim Hortons' rules. He then extended his hand to shake mine, to which I refused to take. He made some more excuses and again extended his hand. This time, with suggestions from my friends, I shook his hand. So did my friends. He then started talking about the damage to his business caused by people staying for more than the 20 minutes allocated. We requested that he stops lecturing us; to which he responded "so are you leaving?" We waved him to go and discussed among ourselves the easiest way to exit without attracting any more attention. I then took my business card out, walked to the manager who was lurking by the counter and requested that we exchange business cards. I wanted to verify that he was really the president of the franchise. Business-professor hat To add to our misery, the weather started to deteriorate just as we were being chased out of Tim Hortons and heavy snow was already falling. My windshield wipers could not cope with the amount of snow falling on the car's front window and I had to go back to my office at the university which was closer than home. It was then that I went over what happened in that Tim Hortons restaurant. I tried to put on my business-professor hat and consider whether the manager made a wise business decision in kicking us out for staying over the 20-minute limit. Certainly, the manager could not have enjoyed asking six adult men, who bought food and beverages from the restaurant, and who did not seem intoxicated or otherwise menacing enough, to leave. It is true that restaurant business in general and Tim Hortons' business in particular is volume-based. The turnover for each table must be maximized or at least optimized to stay in business. The empty tables in the restaurant that I observed could be the result of customers being unable to get parking spaces. So, if I understood all that, then why did I feel so embarrassed and offended to the point where I acted rudely towards the manager by initially refusing to shake his hand? Is it likely that I was being overly sensitive? Despite my close contact with my community, did my job at the university, which does not leave me enough time to socialize, shield me from the real world? Does this happen to other people all the time? Were we over-identified? There were factors that could have made it easier for the restaurant staff to keep track of us. For starters, our number was little bit too large – six of us. It is also true that we were speaking a language (Somali) that is not that common in Calgary. Our complexion, as we are all black, may also have contributed to our easy identification. The fact that the president of the Association had some papers in front of him might have given the impression that we were planning to stay even longer. The manager was probably right that, since we violated the 20-minute rule, I would lose any argument around this incident. So, could my feeling of embarrassment only be a reflection of a big ego (being a PhD, a CGA, and Chairman of an academic area of a major university, etc,)? Would it have been a good idea for me to just say nothing? Since I was the host, my friends would probably have said nothing if I did not start, although they were just as angry as I was.   Extenuating factors May be our sensitivities have been heightened by the topic we were discussing. We were discussing how Somali-Canadian children in Alberta elementary schools, especially in grade nine, the last elementary class, are over-identified as academically delayed and placed in programs that will not lead them to a university education. We were talking about how the school ranking by the Frazer Institute that puts undue weight on graduation rates and provincial exam results affects the advice provided by school counsellors. We were talking about how school counsellors develop lower expectations about Somali students and how they place the students in easier courses that facilitate quick exit but no passage to university education. We were reviewing our activities for the last three years in telling Somali-Canadian students going to high school to stick with the "pure" academic courses even if they have to repeat the courses one or two times. Is it thus possible that we were over sensitized by the context? In fact, the last thing I said to my friends before we left was "I think we were just over-identified like our school children." Is this what Somali-Canadian children experience on a daily basis? I hope not. In a nutshell, there is no denial that we violated the 20-minute Tim Hortons stay limit. It is also true that Tim Hortons' business is booming and that the loss of my patronage and those of my friends would probably not make any difference to its bottom line. The recession may have helped the boom as those people who lost income can no longer afford to go to Star Bucks and other more trendy coffee shops. The manager's decision may, therefore, be neutral or even desirable given Tim Hortons' stranglehold on coffee and donut business in Canada. But if my suspicion that Tim Hortons' rule is being selectively enforced is true, it is not only unethical but it could lead to a substantial loss of business for the corporation. It just takes few more people who felt as embarrassed and over identified as we did to start an exodus and even launch a new more friendly and less expensive donut and coffee chain. Hussein Ahmed Warsame, PhD, CGA, Accounting Area Chairman and CGA Faculty Fellow, University of Calgary. Hussein.warsame@haskayne.ucalgary.ca