Tuesday, July 11th 2006

There is one word to describe the general disposition of today. BIZZARE. It started at work with table seven. They walked in, a couple, looking very pleasant and I was looking forward to contributing to their dining experience. When asked if they would prefer bottled water or good ole Boston tap, the gentleman’s reply was a stiff “Gimme a Heineken” that was said looking down at his menu. I repeated the question unsatisfied with my answer until his female companion answered me with the appropriate response. When I returned with the beer I was hoping they had made their selections and would soon be off to their next engagement. I asked if they had any questions, something told me they had a few. I was right. She asked me what kind of food this is; I replied that it was French cuisine. She was clearly annoyed.

“Do you have any seafood?” was her next response as she looked at me unwilling to glance at the menu. At this point I had grabbed the menu that the gentleman was using as a coaster for his Heni. I began to recite the four seafood items in descending order from the top hoping she would join me in the experience. She did nothing of the sort. Instead she looked up, she looked down and to the side until she heard something she recognized. Scallops. “Great!” I replied and moved on to her friend who had finished about three fourths of the beer. He was not in the mood for any dialogue and asked me if we had any steak. I said yes, avoiding another menu recital. Medium rare he replied into his pilsner glass and I was of to the Micros machine to put in the order.

The rest of the evening maintained that same sort of annoying tone, except that this time it came from within. I sucked. I really did. I was missing the small steps that made me feel and probably look really inexperienced and slacking. I could not catch up and was 2 steps behind the whole night. Thank God my co-workers were on their game and had my back.

The finale to my evening was table 24. Early on the woman of the party had given me her credit card; she wanted to treat the table to dinner. A lovely gesture I thought as I put her card in my pocket. Later on, my GM came up to me and handed me another card and said that the gentleman at the table wanted to pay. I said that I already had a card and that it was already done. She shot back “You take care of it” - a most proper response.

So upon presenting the bill, I gave the woman her copy and card in a check presenter and thanked her, I then gave the guy his card and said that she had beaten him to the punch. He leapt across the table up to his waist and tried to grab the check from her hand all the while telling saying, “No! No! No!” I said it had already been run and… “Reverse it! Reverse it” he screamed. I could not believe that this was happening in front of me. For one thing I cannot stand when I bring the bill to the table and everybody fights and grabs over it. Secondly when they go as far as to include me in the scuffle, looking at me threateningly it infuriates me. I said that it was her win and he should say thank you. I then walked away, towards the back, to catch some air and shake off that shabby display of manners. As soon as I walked out side it became crystal clear why this night had gone the way it had. My answer shone brightly in the sky overhead in a cream colored sphere.

This entry was posted by Johnny on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 at 4:01 PM and is filed under Just Life, Pet Peeves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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