Sunday, November 4, 2012

Octoberfest Day 29: "Dear Miss Manners"

Dear Miss Manners, boy do I have a story for you. And I know I'm not alone. Raise your hand if you've ever received poor customer service? Ok, yes I know it's a ridiculous question, of course we all have. Unfortunately, things seem to be getting worse in this department as more and more people try to abolish the term "manners" from everyday existence. But I'm not going to let it ruin my activity for Day 29. This was Sarah's 11th birthday so we decided to go out to eat and celebrate. She loves sushi so we settled on Waterfront and headed over there. I wasn't really in the mood for sushi so I opted for a clam strip basket and ordered the Waterfront roll with cream cheese. I've had that particular sushi roll before, it's made with shrimp tempura, cream cheese, cucumber and avocado, I believe. We got our food and I took one bite of the sushi roll and about heaved. It tasted old. And fish is one food you don't want to taste old. I couldn't hardly get the one bite down. It was absolutely disgusting. Right then and there, I decided I wasn't eating anymore of it, that's how bad it tasted. When the waitress came back I handed her the plate and said, "I'm sorry but I won't be eating that. It doesn't taste right, tastes old or something." She looked at the plate, then back at me, back at the plate, looked at me again like I was stupid and then proceeded to walk away, NOT SAYING ONE WORD! No apology, no "can I get you another one?" NOTHING. It was like I didn't even say anything to her. Ugh. So rude. Then when we were done eating, she brought my bill WITH THE SUSHI ROLL PRICE STILL ON MY TAB! Umm, no, this is not happening. So I motioned for her to come over and said, "umm, I'm being charged for a sushi roll that tasted horrible and that I didn't even eat?" And she simply said, "well I'll have to talk to my manager." Ok great. Let's get them over here because now I'm at the point where I'd LOVE to give this entire place a piece of my mind. So she comes back and sets my bill down, AGAIN not saying one word. No apology. No recognition that they adjusted my price, etc. No nothing. She literally never acknowledged the poor food. And then in turn the poor service by the restaurant and especially her. She got one whole dollar for a tip. I was flabbergasted. And just to piss her off even more, I decided to order dessert. I needed to try something new for the day anyway. So I ordered tiramisu which wasn't bad. It wasn't my favorite thing in the world but it was good. I kept thinking that I had tiramisu when I was in Europe but then I remembered it was actually creme brulee.

I fulfilled my activity for the day with a distracted mind. I couldn't believe that lady had treated the situation so poorly. Don't people realize how expensive it is to go out to eat anymore? It's becoming a luxury for most people, the least you can do as a server is give them a good experience. It's my hope that people reading my blog can pass along the note that by treating people with kindness, dignity and respect, manners go a long way. And really do help make the world a better place to live. And dine.

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