"Are couriers not human?" - conflict at restaurant and 5-day arrest
An employee of the Brasserie Park restaurant in Tashkent was sentenced to 5 days of administrative arrest for threatening and insulting a courier who was passing through a pedestrian walkway. Following the conflict, the khokimiyat conducted an inspection and removed the restaurant's summer terrace on the sidewalk. Kun.uz looked into the details of the incident.
"Are couriers not human?" - Conflict at a restaurant and 5 days of arrest
On October 17, the rude behavior of an employee at the Brasserie Park restaurant in Tashkent toward a courier sparked public discussion. The courier had passed through a pedestrian walkway there. This walkway had been illegally occupied by the restaurant.
"If I want, I'll give you a slap too. Do you want that? Do you think you can scare me with a phone? Use some sense, you could use your brain, people are sitting and eating here. And you come on a scooter. Doesn't that feel strange to you? Answer my question, I'll answer for my words and my swearing.
You should get off, how can you ride through the middle of a restaurant and not see! You have to be blind for this! Yes, I'm crazy! Any more questions? That's it, leave peacefully while I'm letting you go 'peacefully', while you're leaving in one piece right now. You'll eat …! Do you understand?" said the employee to the courier.
Bystanders urged the courier, who was recording the incident, to leave quietly. They said that sharing the video on social media was being a "snitch."
The administration of Brasserie refused to comment on the violation of pedestrian walkway usage requirements and the situation. Courier Munir Yakubov, who was involved in the incident, said that even witnesses did not take his side:
"When I took the order from the restaurant and covered half the distance, they stopped me. It turned out you could pass through there, and as I was going, a man started swearing at me. If he had explained politely, I would have left without saying anything.
Then I thought maybe someone would come and take my side, but it turns out couriers aren't human. The people standing near us took his side instead. No one said to the man swearing at me, 'he's just a young kid, don't swear at him like that. You have children too.' I felt disappointed in people. No one took my side.
We are forced to ride where pedestrians walk. Because to go on the main road, you need a driver's license. We ride electric bicycles at a speed of 25. People don't view couriers as human beings," he says.
Following this incident, the Tashkent City Administration conducted an inspection. It revealed that the requirements for land use, including rules for ensuring the free movement of pedestrians, had been violated. Following this, the restaurant's summer terrace was removed, and the walkway was brought into compliance with legal requirements.
It should be noted that the walkway connects to an underground pedestrian crossing.