> So I wonder: Should I have stepped in earlier and "protected" my friend? I don't usually see him as someone who needs protection, actually the other way around, but this time it was different somehow, it didn't feel right just watching this guy be an asshole towards one of the kindest people I know. How would you want a good friend to react? Ultimately - stutterer or not - it's a man's responsibility to stand up for himself. I'm a person who stutters and I'd like to think if I were subject to this treatment I'd go to the manager and try to get the guy fired. If the manager was unresponsive I'd go to corporate. Your friend needs to learn to stand up for himself and he can't always have you beside him. Just in regard to reading what happened... I've been a severe stutterer for like 25 years and I've never, ever had that happen to me in a restaurant and your friend absolutely should not tolerate it. Just thinking about the situation makes me think how I would have tried to immediately get him fired and the pleasure it would have caused me. I think you need to have a talk with your friend. Ultimately, he needs to learn to stand up for himself and he can't just rely on friends to do it.