Server Ignored by Customer “In a Hurry”

October 17, 2014

in Diner Stories

I had a day off and went to breakfast at one of my favorite local places, a restaurant attached to a B&B that only served breakfast and dinner. I came in around 8:45 and ordered. They closed for breakfast at 9:30, but always seated customers up until the last minute.

I’ve already paid my bill and finished eating, but I end up chatting with my regular waitress and sipping coffee. At 9:30 on the dot a woman comes into the restaurant. She immediately claims she’s in a hurry and needs her food quickly (shouldn’t be a problem since there’s no one else in the restaurant).

As soon as she sits down, she gets on her cell phone. The waitress makes several attempts to take her order, but the woman continues to talk and laugh loudly on her phone for fifteen minutes (keep in mind this is a small restaurant with a quiet atmosphere), only bothering to say “hot tea” in between phone calls.

At this point I’m just sticking around to watch the show. The woman tries to open her teabag with her teeth and one hand while holding the phone with her other. Of course, she breaks the teabag inside. At this point, she finally decides to get off the phone and gets huffy with the waitress about the “defective teabag” and how she needs to place her order “right now because she’s in a hurry.” It’s now thirty minutes past closing.

The waitress dutifully replaces the teabag and takes her order. Oatmeal. Yes, she wasted thirty minutes of the waitress’ and chef’s time to order $2.50 worth of items off the menu.

At that point I left, so I don’t know how long the woman stayed at the restaurant, but I brought it up to my waitress the next time I went to eat there.

My waitress rolled her eyes. “She does the same thing every week. And not once has she ever tipped.”

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