Accidents & Mishaps
ALMOST BRAINED BY A CRASHING CHANDELIERThis is a combo: dinner AND holiday from hell story. When I was 11 years old we went to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. This was in New Jersey and we went to a famous inn with roots back to the revolutionary war. My parents, grandmother, and three siblings were seated in the "ballroom" at a round table for 8 (like the kind at a wedding). We ordered and soon enough our food arrived. About 2 minutes after the food was served, I heard screams from a nearby table. Almost instantly, a giant iron chandelier crashed onto our table! The amazing thing was that the huge arms of the chandelier landed between all the people at our table. It had fallen from a 20-25 foot high ceiling and landed just right on the table so that none of us were hit. People all around us were taking pictures and the management hustled us out to the lobby to see if we were alright. Then they actually asked us if we wanted to be reseated! Needless to say, we went home. Scrambled eggs and toast was the entree that year. We never went back to that "historic inn." This was back in the day when lawsuits were not as prevalent as they are today, and we just considered ourselves lucky not to have been brained by the chandelier! 10/07
MALODOROUS MUSSELS IN MAINE
My wife, Karen, and I were vacationing in Camden, Maine where we ate at a nearby seafood restaurant. The place was packed, but we were able to get a table. Karen ordered a big bowl of mussels steamed with butter and wine. When the waitress delivered the mussels to our table, we could smell a feted aroma emanating from the bowl. Karen ate a mussel and became nauseated. The waitress said that they served steamed mussels all of the time without any complaint. After a bit of coaxing, the perturbed waitress started to carry the bowl away from the table. The bowl slipped out of her hands and the contents spilled onto Karen's jacket, clothes, purse and camera. Karen stood up and screamed. The restaurant became silent as all eyes fell on our table. Fortunately she wasn’t burned, but Karen's clothes were stained and she stank. The restaurant agreed to have the jacket and clothes professionally cleaned and gave us a coupon for a future meal. However, the stains never came out, and we had to endure a lingering aroma of rancid mussels on Karen's purse and camera case throughout the rest of our trip. 01/07 Signed, Steamed
JUGGLING CHEF
My wife, mother-in-law, and father-in-law ate at one of those Japanese restaurants where the chef prepares food on a grill in front of you. The chef was showing off his juggling skills in front of us and others who were sitting at the table. He'd toss large wooden salt and pepper shakers into the air, quickly catching them and throwing them back up. He got a little too exuberant in his juggling performance, losing control of one of the shakers. The shaker flew directly towards my father-in-law who was holding a glass of water in front of him. The shaker smashed the glass, scattering shards of glass and drenching the table. Miraculously, my father-in-law wasn't injured. I remember back in the days when chefs at these restaurants used to twirl knives! I imagine that the practice was stopped after lawsuits from injuries resulted in skyrocketing insurance costs. 01/07 Signed, Shaken
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