Wife and I and our best friends (he a doctor) were having dinner at a famous steakhouse in Brooklyn (no names here, let’s just call the place Peter L.). We were digging into our steak and as a family was leaving the room, an older gentleman collapsed, motionless, to the floor on the way out.
Now, mind you, going to an expensive place like this is an extravagance and I wasn’t about to let the fact that there was a dying man a few feet away from me spoil the meal. The people at the table next to us agreed (they had the restaurant’s famous “Holy Cow” sundaes in front of them, and those darn things melt) so we all continued eating as the drama unfolded. I mean, we are New Yorkers, right?
My friend however, being a doctor, felt he had no choice. Since nobody else there answered the call, he was on the ground with the guy, giving him CPR. So, this was going on for quite a while as we waited for the ambulance to come. I finished my own portion of steak (while my friend was still working furiously on the guy). I looked at my friend’s plate. All that un-eaten steak. So lonely, not fulfilling its purpose, a sad thing, to be sure. God cries when a steak goes un-eaten at Peter L., right? So I reached over and started eating my friend’s steak. I mean, he was spending his time working furiously on that guy 10 feet away and his steak was getting cold anyway.
Finally the ambulance arrived and took over for my friend (who had in fact saved the guy’s life). So, Dr. Friend was royally pissed off when he came back to the table and half his steak was gone. You snooze, you lose, fella.
The maitre d’ said “no check” for our table, since my friend had spared them a headline they didn’t need about a guy dying in their place after eating. But Dr. Friend stared me down. “All right. Sheesh!” I said, as I gave the waiter the full tip myself. I mean, my friend’s wife ate too, right? Don’t you agree my friend ripped me off?
True story from 2007.
Dyinglikeflies
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow. You certainly are an asshole, aren't you?
OK, someone's dying, someone else is trying to help, and you take the opportunity to steal his food? This can't be real.
Truly a A-1 asshole.
You, sir/ma'am/THING, are a self-centred, uncultured, ingnorant, spoiled, unappreciative asshole (to call you a swine would be an insult to both pigs and flus)
You can join "Distressed Waitress" in the do-sod-off-you-revolting-wretch department…
Make sure to follow him, you belong there too.
I'm desperately hoping this is all just some joke, because if it's not, then you are an insensitive idiot. You honestly cared more about eating steak rather than a man dying slowly on the floor? And when your friend saves his life, you didn't give him any respect at all–in fact, you ate HIS dinner, and then became insulted when he became offended at your selfish, greedy behavior. It seems to me that this is all just some stupid prank you're pulling just to get attention, because someone this stupid cannot possibly exist, but if it's not, then you, sir, are a freaking clod who needs to think about others for a change.
To quote many others on this and FlightsFromHell, this can't be true.
I can't imagine that there are people out there as callous, stupid, and insensitive as you.
Sadly, I'm not surprised.
This has to be flamebait. Don't feed the trolls!
I certainly hope, if you're ever dying on a restaurant floor, all those "New Yorkers" around you show you the same treatment your selfish, probably enormous ass showed the dying man. You are despicable, and you make me ashamed of our entire species.
If you are real, please send me your picture. That way, if I ever see you in pain, or trouble, I can give a copy of your story to anyone who might be stupid enough to want to help you…
Wow, you must really be bored and lonely to comeonto sites like this and make things up. So, when exactly will you be moving out of mom's basement?
What others have said — what an insensitive jerk. You eat your friend's meal and then expect him to pay the full price?
douche bag
Hmmm… aaron sums that up nicely. And with just two words
Are you for real? Your complaining? For what possible reason do you have to complain? You are amoung the reason the "New Yorkers" do not change their ways and start caring. The reailty, I do believe that this world would be better off without people like you.
I call troll.
A column in our local Newspaper deals with letters from readers fed up with some aspect of someone else's driving – it's a very popular column! A lot of the letters involve someone talking on their cell phone while driving. One day, someone wrote in to complain that he had stopped in the road to look up a number on his phone, and was upset because the driver behind him had honked at him, causing him to lose his place in his phonebook!
OMG, the firestorm of letters that followed that one…until the host had to point out to everyone that it was an obvious joke…..just like this letter. Nobody could be this much of a jerk.
Gee, I'm not feeling the love here. My friend the doctor, as a steak lover himself, thought I did the right thing. Until you've had Luger's steak you wouldn't understand, I guess.
I've eaten there numerous times. The OP is correct-you don't let that steak sit there. It must be eaten. The cow died for a holy purpose.
The real asshole here is the dude who collapsed – why come to an expensive restaurant and (probably deliberately) screw other patrons out of enjoyment of a good meal?? Selfishness…..I dunno….what's the world coming to?
The doctor should have slapped you about the chops. I would be royally pissed off if anyone ate my steak while I was doing CPR.
Well, I am the "friend the doctor" and I can tell you the story is entirely true, except for 1 small point. When I returned to the table, I had such a bad taste in my mouth, the only thing I could put in it was vodka. If that steak had gone to waste, it would have been a true tragedy (the man lived).
CPR is very physically demanding. I don't have a lot of upper body strength and a minute or two will wear me out. Even relatively fit, or very fit, individuals are only able to give effective compressions for a few minutes. That's why we take turns and also why we have a pneumatic machine that will deliver compressions.
I question the "doctor's" ability to maintain CPR alone for the time it would take for an ambulance to be dispatched and arrive. Maybe he's Dr Hulk.
The friend of the doctor schould had draged this half dead geezer out of the restaurant for the undertaker to pick up. I don't like it either to eat my juicy steak with a dead body laying around who probably released urin already.
I once fainted at the restaurant where I work. It was after hearing the awful news that my beloved grandfather had died. The shock was too much and I passed out. Luckly one of the staff was a medic and sorted me out.
As a New Yorker, I'm insulted.
trolled
"I mean, we are New Yorkers, right?"
Yes. Which makes you crashing bores.
NEXT!
Somebody's parents forgot to use birth control.
obvious troll is obvious
scroll up to GDTRFB58 (that's Larry, who did the CPR). totally true. Being with him still gets me a faster table when I'm there.
Thanks for the update Dyinglikeflies! Your story is one of my favorites.
This story is not true.
If it is, then this diner is messed up. Seriously.
It is definitely true.
I guess you mean the guy that had the cardiac arrest. He definitely messed up. He probably shouldn't have had the extra Shlag on the Pecan Pie!
Liar.
Ask Harry the waiter there (the one with 2 daughters). Boy you're a cynic. See, how can I not be so callous and indifferent to the guy dying nearby when there are cynics like you in the world?
cynics?
The story is undoubtedly true, and it would not be the first time a large, rich meal at this restaurant preceded and likely resulted in a cardiac event. I can attest to that, or at least my dead uncle could (if he wasn't, err, dead).
Asshole
Thought this news piece about a doctor saving the life of a choking victim in a restaurant would fit in well with this story: Calif. doctor saves choking diner with knife.
Wow, with friends like you, who needs enemies? God forbid a doctor do his job and save a man's life while his precious steak is left to get cold!!! Have you never heard of to-go boxes or microwaves?!?
It would be a lesser sin to let that man die than to microwave good porterhouse. The OP acted correctly.