Woman banned over bag

A woman last week banned from a Napier restaurant for two years says she feels embarrassed and discriminated against, but the cafe's owner is making no apologies for taking a hard line.
Carl Coram O'Kane, the owner of Soak cafe and restaurant on Marine Parade, worked in fine dining in the West End of London before moving to Napier and says dealing with the mafia didn't prepare him for what he would face in New Zealand.
"We have had people spitting on us and throwing books at us. So I say to staff: 'If there is any trouble ring the police'," Mr Coram-O'Kane said.
But Napier woman Melissa Greeks-Tapine believes the restaurant's staff were too quick to get on the phone last Thursday when she put up a fuss about being asked to remove her swimbag.
While having a coffee and watching her children swim in neighbouring Ocean Spa, Melissa said she was asked by a waitress to remove the bag of swimgear she had tucked under the table.
The waitress pointed out signs around the cafe that said "OSH. No Bags".
Unsure what she was supposed to do with her bag and curious as to why others hadn't been asked to move their bags Melissa asked to speak with the manager who had been running the place while Mr Coram-O'Kane wasn't there.
"I told him I felt discriminated against and he said: 'Oh here we go with the racial issues'," Melissa said. "But I didn't want to make it about that. It was about the bag."
Admittedly Melissa said she refused to leave until the manager had listened to her side of the story.
" I just wanted to talk it through but he came out waving the cordless phone and saying the police were on their way. I was so embarrassed. And throughout all of this other people still had their bags with them."
Two police cars arrived and Melissa was trespassed from Soak for two years.
"I have been made a criminal for taking my bag into a cafe. At what other cafes would that happen?" she said.
OSH's area service manager Murray Thompson said the no-bag rule was not part of legislation administered by OSH.
Mr Coram-O'Kane said the signs were there to prevent waitresses tripping over bulky swimbags and glass being broken in an area where people were often bare-footed.
Meanwhile Melissa maintains the matter could have been sorted with conversation without police resources being wasted.