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00:07 That's probably clean blood off of every surface of a Waffle House.
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00:31 Waffle House is an American icon,
00:33 a family favorite that has charmed diners for nearly 70 years.
00:36 But when the sun goes down, for some reason, diners throw down.
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00:45 To investigate this phenomenon, we came to Texas to meet a participant of
00:49 one of the most infamous brawls in Waffle House history.
00:52 >> You noticed Waffle House trending on Twitter this morning?
00:55 This is why.
00:57 Look at this.
00:57 >> Haley Booth became an online sensation when the video of her fight went viral.
01:03 The moment where she battered away a flying chair mid-brawl earned her
01:08 the nickname the Waffle House Avenger.
01:11 She inspired art and t-shirts with her face on.
01:13 She's since taken up MMA to perfect her skills even further.
01:19 >> Hello, how are you?
01:21 >> Hi, how are you?
01:22 >> Pretty nice to meet you.
01:23 >> My boyfriend texted me, he was like, hey, did you know you're on Fox News?
01:27 I get on my phone and I Google it and he's like, yeah,
01:31 you're on Fox News Waffle House fight.
01:33 And I went, and I see the video and it immediately clicked to which fight it was.
01:38 >> That water came straight out of the coffee pot and
01:41 that water's like 110 degrees.
01:43 >> Wow.
01:43 >> And she poured it.
01:46 She had also thrown grease that we cook with the hash browns and
01:49 use the eggs, she threw that over there.
01:50 >> Who is she throwing out there?
01:52 >> Just the group.
01:53 >> Just the group that was causing trouble.
01:55 >> Yeah. >> Right, yeah, yeah.
01:55 >> And now people are like, you're a folk hero, you're an Avenger, you're this.
02:01 I'm like, I'm me.
02:03 [LAUGH]
02:04 I can't walk in a straight line without tripping over my own feet.
02:09 [LAUGH]
02:10 >> The video didn't just make Haley a star,
02:13 it also reignited an age old debate.
02:16 Why do you think it is that all this happens at Waffle House?
02:19 >> I think it's because one, it's late night.
02:22 You get late night, you get impulsive at night.
02:25 I've seen some pretty crazy things and you can hear stories.
02:29 People have been shot up at Waffle Houses.
02:31 I've worked at ones that have bullet holes in them.
02:34 Fights have probably cleaned blood off of every surface of a Waffle House.
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02:40 >> Waffle House wouldn't let us film inside for obvious reasons.
02:44 But maybe it's unfair to single out this beloved American icon,
02:47 which has brought hope to so many in their time of need.
02:50 Maybe the problem is much bigger than this one restaurant chain.
02:53 We went across town to another all night diner to find out if they face the same
02:58 problem.
02:59 Jatara Robinson has been working night shifts at Star's Cafe for years.
03:02 >> Is there a kind of mutual respect as a fellow night shift worker when you saw
03:06 that, that catch and that throwback?
03:09 >> It was a, excuse me, I think it was a bad ass move.
03:11 Like, cuz, you, she caught the chair in the air.
03:13 Not many people can just catch a chair in the air and throw it back to them.
03:17 Actually, when we're looking for servers for overnight,
03:19 I kinda need somebody who has a little bit more of a roughness and
03:22 who can really be, handle that type of situation.
03:24 Cuz in reality, to keep the business going, if that happens,
03:27 that server needs to keep serving and keep giving people out there.
03:30 So the fact that she could catch a chair, throw it back, and
03:32 going back to pouring people's coffee, that's pretty cool.
03:35 >> It's not that they, it's the alcohol is the difference, I guess, isn't it?
03:37 People are coming in late at night, they've had a few drinks.
03:39 >> Definitely.
03:40 People, they're, they're drunk as can be.
03:42 They don't really have a niceness towards other people.
03:45 Like, sometimes people will call you out your name.
03:47 They'll they'll throw things at you.
03:49 So you, you can only control yourself so much.
03:52 So as somebody who's worked in serving industry for a long time,
03:55 I understand the throwing the chair back at them.
03:58 Cuz it's like, no, I'm gonna protect myself.
04:00 >> Alcohol, late nights, and impatient customers, it all makes sense.
04:05 But here's the thing.
04:06 This kind of violence isn't just happening in late night diners.
04:09 It's happening all over.
04:11 In airports, retail stores, gas stations.
04:13 To dig deeper,
04:15 we found a criminologist who was kind enough to humor the independent.
04:19 >> I think that it's certainly the case that,
04:21 especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,
04:26 that we have seen empirical, verifiable increases in violence against
04:31 service workers.
04:31 Waffle House is not all that different in many ways from, say,
04:37 a grocery store or an airline counter.
04:40 In that you have people interacting with someone, in some cases,
04:44 assaulting someone, that is supposed to be providing them a service.
04:49 And I think there's a much broader and deeper set of conditions,
04:55 inequalities, economic systems, that recreate this very
05:00 ossified class hierarchy, where at scale, certain occupations,
05:06 again, servers, retail workers, flight attendants,
05:09 are more likely than other occupations and
05:14 other people to be perceived as less deserving of respect.
05:19 >> In other words, to stop the abuse of customer service workers,
05:22 we need to completely reform capitalism and eliminate inequality.
05:25 In the meantime, Haley would just like a little respect.
05:30 >> The people working in those jobs are people too.
05:36 They work at much lower pay than most people do, and
05:40 they're literally living barely paycheck to paycheck.
05:45 It's frustrating, it's hard.
05:47 You don't know what's happening in that person's life.
05:49 It's a complete stranger.
05:51 So treating people with the respect that you would like to be given,
05:56 it's the golden rule.
05:58 That's what they teach you when you're five,
05:59 treat others how you would like to be treated.
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