Irritations

[Tani]

Wine.

It could cost £7 or it could cost £70.

What??

[c.d.]

When I was a waiter many years ago sometimes a customer would ask for a call brand in their drink meaning a specific brand of liquor. We always gave them what they asked for but charged them more than if they wanted a run of the mill liquor. I would stand at the bar and watch the bartender pour it from the requested brand bottle. Numerous times the customer would call me over and say sir, I ordered such and such and this is not it. I would say sir, I'm sorry but I watched the bartender pour it. They would get all huffy and say don't tell me that I have been drinking such and such for years. I would take it back to the bartender who would usually call the person an idiot and proceed to pour another from the exact same bottle. Now THIS is such and such they would say. Putz.

Oh yeah and sometimes people would order red wine and complain that it wasn't cold.

c.d.

P.S. And if you are wise never send a steak or anything back to the kitchen. They don't take kindly to it.

[c.d.]

And one more story (I got a bunch). A customer ordered a steak and when I asked him how he wanted it cooked he said burnt black on the outside and raw in the middle. I thought right, very funny. But he was absolutely serious. When I told the kitchen what they wanted the cook said oh yeah, a Pittsburgh. Go figure.

c.d.

[C. F. Leon]

Poor Training.

The first "REAL" job that I had was as a busser/dishwasher at a restaurant. (This was MANY years ago). I was 16 or so, and training was minimal and when I bussed a table that had had a large group at it, they did NOT tell me what to do with the tip that had just been left on the table (something on the order of $25). So, not knowing any better, I just bussed it and was going to ask as soon as I saw Someone. Well, we got busy, and I got delayed in doing so. Maybe 10 minutes later, the waitress comes flying in on her broomstick, literally screaming about her tip. There was a big fuss, and although I didn't get fired IMMEDIATELY (there was no one else to wash dishes on a Saturday Night), when I showed up for my next shift, I was told that I was fired (no more detail was given me).

[Herlock Sholmes]

And one more story (I got a bunch). A customer ordered a steak and when I asked him how he wanted it cooked he said burnt black on the outside and raw in the middle. I thought right, very funny. But he was absolutely serious. When I told the kitchen what they wanted the cook said oh yeah, a Pittsburgh. Go figure.

c.d.

I thought that was the first line of the old joke c.d. With the customers response being “well that what I got the last time I ate here!”