Celebrate my dolls’ birthdays: tale of woman in China who asked restaurant staff to seat toys in high chairs attracts 10 million views online
- Woman asks servers for high chairs for dolls so they can enjoy special day
- She claims ‘discrimination’ by hotpot chain for denying toys’ celebration
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Most restaurants are happy to cater for birthday celebrations, whether it be a spouse, sibling, child or sometimes even an adored family pet, but one woman’s request in China went too far.
Her special guests were not even living. They were rag dolls who she insisted should be treated as though they were human, even asking staff to provide them with high chairs to sit in.
The unidentified woman, from Hunan province in southern China, claimed she felt discriminated against by the Chinese hotpot chain Haidilao after staff at one of its branches refused to indulge her unusual whim.
The bizarre situation was recorded on Pear Video and trended on Weibo, attracting nearly 10 million views, after the indignant woman shared her story about being dissatisfied with the outlet’s service.
Staff were baffled when the woman and her friend walked into the restaurant late one night in October carrying the dolls and requesting high chairs for them.
“Are you serious?” a server asked them.
The woman and her friend, obviously unhappy with the response from the servers, confirmed that they were indeed serious. The astonished staff relented and brought the chairs.
Once seated with the toys, the women ordered and ate their meal. They then asked the servers: “Can we celebrate the dolls’ birthdays?”
“No,” was the firm reply.
Without responding at the time, the woman and her friend paid the bill and left.
When Haidilao’s customer service department was asked whether their restaurants provided high chairs for dolls to sit in, they said it was not company policy but left to the discretion of individual branch management.
At the time of writing, the Weibo news story had attracted 12,000 comments, with most offering support for the staff’s decision.
“The woman and her friend are just spoiled. I support Haidilao,” said one.
“Today they want Haidilao to celebrate dolls’ birthdays, tomorrow it will be their pets,” another wrote.
Mainland social media observers often express surprise at stories of obsessions or unusual behaviour.
Earlier this month, a trio of young children in southwestern China who were pulled over by the police for driving a toy car on a main road caused delight online.
In the same month, the colourful plastic toy knife, nicknamed “Carrot Knife”, that is popular with young children in China and is used as a “stress-reliever” caused concern, with child behavioural experts warning it could encourage violence.
