The Daily Peeve / Rant

[Geila]

Your rant makes me think of one of my son's stories:

My son works in the restaurant industry. He's a server in a casual restaurant. One time he had to cut bread as a side job just before getting a table. He forgot to brush himself off. He went up to the table and and introduced himself, and in response to his polite introduction, the customer (who was with a friend) said to him, "You're disgusting!" My son said, "Excuse me?" She replied, "You're FILTHY!" He looked down and saw he had forgotten to brush crumbs off his black pants.

He said, politely, "I'm sorry, ma'am, if you would like I could get you a different server." She declined. His coworkers heard the exchange and all offered to take the table, but. my son said, "No, I can handle this." I have no idea what transpired over the course of that service with that customer, but when she left, she left him a $130 tip on an $80 bill. I was really proud that he took up the challenge to return hostility with kindness. BUT we had the same question: what makes people so MEAN????

Civility is out the window, and I agree--we baby boomers can sometimes act like a bunch of entitled children.

She left him a $130 tip? Did his kindness cause her generosity and kindness in return?

[catherine]

She left him a $130 tip? Did his kindness cause her generosity and kindness in return?

He doesn't know for sure why she did it.. I'd love to have a chance to ask her myself, but I'm assuming his kindness/professional approach to her initial negative comments had something to do with it.

[iris lilies]

My teeth are not whiter. I dont believe in the germ theory anyway, so all is well.

[silly moo]

First rant of 2019, but, I finally saw up close a fast food worker get hollered at by a customer. Customer is male, 50ish, and having a fit because he said they got his order wrong. Worker apologized and said the sandwich he wanted would be x amount extra since he was charged for a cheaper sandwich. He complained loudly that since it was their fault he should have gotten the sandwich for free. She explained again she'd have to charge the difference, and this is where he blew up and leaned far over the counter and pointed a finger in her face that he knew the owner and would make a personal complaint to him, etc. Then he stormed out keeping the food they'd given him.
At this point the worker went to the back and when she came up front a few minutes later I heard the shift lead tell her that she handled that very well (meaning she tolerated having this clown go nuts on her).

Another data point: it was during a very busy lunch rush, but all of the counter staff I saw were very polite and most importantly, were reading back the orders to each person. So it's possible the order was given wrong, the order was misunderstood, or the workers mixed it up.

Despite that, my rant is: When did it become okay to go berserk over a sandwich mistake??

I've been reading online about how fast food workers say that baby boomers are the ones most likely to do this. I've never personally done anything like this, but I'm ashamed for being in that cohort that is likely to have these blow-ups. No wonder no one wants to be a service worker if this is just a typical day at a minimum wage job.

As someone that has been on both sides of this sort of problem, I can relate. As a line cook and server, I have read back many orders precisely and then the customer says that it isn't what they wanted or had ordered something completely different. Then the tirade begins. More than likely, they are stressed about something else and usually call or come back later to apologize. I have also gave my order several times, only to have the person screw it up. That sort of thing drives me nuts because there really isn't a reason why a properly trained employee would do such a thing unless they are overwhelmed or just don't care about their job. It is possible that what you saw was the fifth time that guy came for lunch and had his order made wrong. I have stopped using our local McD's drive thu because I can't count how many times they have read the order back to me and it wasn't what I said at all. Or he could have just been trying to con them out of $1 by ordering a cheaper sandwich and then having them remake it. I would believe anything at this point.

My rant for the day is our local hawk. I still haven't figured out what type of hawk it is, but it tears birds apart in my back yard and leaves feathers everywhere, and has a nasty habit of flying into our windows. I'm starting to think that it does this on purpose to scare the daylights out of me. I know it needs to eat, but NIMBY! And it tried grabbing my favorite squirrel out of my front yard today and I went running out there with no shoes, no coat, no bra, and my hair not brushed yet waving my arms around and yelling to scare it away. In the ice and snow, no less. I hope my neighbors didn't see me.

[Lainey]

silly moo,
We had the same thing happen to us with a hawk. It swooped down and got a dove in our backyard. What I didn't know is that hawks don't usually kill their prey right away, and we watched this poor dove get eaten while it was still twitching and flapping. Wild Kingdom stuff, but I wish I didn't see it.

[Teacher Terry]

Hawks are the reason I go outside with my little dogs. Luckily our yard doesn’t have much swooping room because of the trees.

[iris lilies]

Our neighbor lost her parrot to a hwak. Awful.

[iris lilies]

this is is a pretty damn big deal:

I have had a cold for 3+ weeks and I cannot abide the taste of red wine.

I have moved into the single malt Scotch world and it is interesting, the drink of my forefathers.

[SteveinMN]

I have moved into the single malt Scotch world

My adult beverage of choice! Laphroaig, please.

My sympathies on the Cold That Will Not Leave. DW and I have been sharing one over the past two weeks. Bummer to think I have another week or so to go....

[Lainey]

Another person here with a cold. I was congratulating myself for not getting one while everyone around me got it, and yep, as of Sunday night I've joined the club. Fortunately it's a basic cold and should run its course by Friday. In the meantime, I'm not able to enjoy the 72 degree temps here, darn it.