Be Sure To Order This

Yesterday Sammy gave me a call in the afternoon. He had been working on a job the night before and was at the shop until after 10:00, so he hadn't come in in the morning, and was planning on skipping the whole day. Well, the plant manager called him up to see if he'd come in and take care of a couple more panic jobs. He reluctantly agreed. Anyway, he called me up and told me not to eat, we'd go and get something to eat.

We were talking about food when it was about that time, and the topic of breakfast food came up. He was saying how he loves having breakfast for lunch or dinner better than first thing in the morning. We decided that going out for breakfast was in order. We went to the Denny's just up the street. We ordered our food, and I hadn't gotten a beverage when the waitress first came around. When I ordered the food, I asked for a glass of milk when the food comes, which is usually the way I order it when I dine out. You would think its not a terribly difficult task, but you would be surprised how often it doesn't arrive. Well, when the food came, not only did she not bring my milk, but there was no flatware or napkins on our table either. Sammy and I sat there for probably about 10 seconds, then I asked him, "are you thinking what I'm thinking???" He replies, "what, that we're going to be noshing with our faces down in our plates???" Our waitress was nowhere to be seen, so we flagged down the first one that happened by and had her get us some. After she had done that, she, rather loudly, told our waitress about her mistake, and she was trying to shift the blame by telling the other girl that she had distracted her after she had cleaned the table off but before she had a chance to put the flatware out. She came over and apologized to us. I had at this point forgotten about the milk, so I made no mention. About 3/4 of the way through the meal I remembered, but at that time, what's the point??? Of course when the check came, it was charged on there. I pointed it out to Sammy, and he goes, "you never got that, did you??? When she comes back I dare you to ask her if she's new!!!" Of course, I did. She answered no, a tad defensively. I pointed out that I'd been charged for milk and hadn't gotten it. Once again she apologized, and naturally said "of course" when I told her that it was coming off the tab. To me, two major screw ups like that merit a little something, either a further reduction on the bill or some dessert, or at least having the manager come over and say that he's gonna abuse the waitress once you leave or something. I got no satisfaction of that sort, and I still left what I felt to be a fairly generous (considering the terrible service) 10% tip.

So anyway, that's my advice for the day. Order milk when your food comes, and base your gratuity on it actually showing up!!! It was actually a pretty fun and amusing dining experience. Towards the end of it I said, in a loud voice, "and THAT'S why I NEVER eat at Denny's!!!" Sammy wants to go back, only bring along our own beverages and flatware next time. I though of what I should have told the waitress after we left: "This is SO going on my blog!!!"