Woman berates teen with special needs at Surrey nail salon: family

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A trip to the nail salon quickly turned into a nightmare for a Surrey family after someone began berating one of the women, who they say has special needs.

The victim’s sister says the incident quickly escalated, and the RCMP had to be called in.

Dani Lynes, her mom and 18-year-old sister Courtney were getting their nails done Friday evening at Icon Nails and Spa in Surrey, when another customer suddenly began swearing at them.

“She said ‘Quit your effing staring.’ My mom looks at her and she says, ‘Were you talking to my daughter?’ And the woman goes ‘Yeah, teach your goddamn child some manners,’ and my mom goes: ‘She’s special needs, she doesn’t understand.'”

Lynes says the woman continued her verbal attack, swearing at Courtney before salon employees and customers got involved, eventually locking her out of the shop.

“Some random bystander man walking by, he pushes this lady out the door and he locks the door to [keep] her outside and she’s still screaming through the window,” Lynes says.

“She proceeded to keep saying these things like ‘She should die,’ and ‘Shame on you for bringing an idiot into the world.'”

While the RCMP was called, Lynes says it took officers 45 minutes to respond.

Elenore Sturko with the Surrey RCMP says that’s because there were a number of serious calls at the same time – including a weapons call and a missing child – that bumped the call down on the priority list.

“Once they determined that the people weren’t an imminent threat to one another, they had to delay their response in order to respond to those other calls and then came afterwards,” she says.

Lynes says when officers did arrive, they told the family there’s not much that can be done.

“They just said it’s a breach of peace and it’s freedom of speech and that she can say whatever she wants.”

The incident has been deeply traumatic for Courtney, who is now scared to return to a nail salon. “She’s absolutely terrified she’s going to see this woman again,” Lynes says. “She never wants to go back to this nail salon, any nail salon – she never wants to get her nails done again.”

 

Owner of mobile beauty truck offers private party

Meantime, the owner of a mobile salon is reaching out to the family at the center of that verbal confrontation and offering Courtney a private party–driven right to their front door.

Tammie Aiwekhoe owns Gloss Beauty Truck. She says she was shocked by the video, and felt she had to reach out.

“We should not accept this behaviour and not condone it. So, I mean if we can bring some happiness with such tragedy, with such terrible behaviour of a human, we should at least try to change the situation,” she says. “She can have a party, get her nails done–manicure, pedicure–with her family and friends that she feels comfortable with. Hopefully, we can get her to have a great experience and then she’ll be able to come back into another loving salon and be welcome and feel welcome.”

Aiwekhoe says she’s still trying to get in contact with the family, so they can set up the party.