The “Good Old” Days
July 10, 2008
So I happened to stumble across this site the other day. I have to say, it’s actually really entertaining. In case you don’t get a big enough dose of stupid people in your day, I highly recommend heading there and reading other people’s stories of wanting to bash their head against their palms in utter disbelief of the stupidity that has just affronted them.
In honor of this site, today I will share one of my favorite “head-desk” stories. (You know, the kind of situation that makes you want to drop your forehead to your desk with a loud *thud*.)
The year was approximately late 2005. I was working at a bar-and-grill type restaurant in central Oklahoma. At said restaurant, our hands-down most popular appetizer was tortilla chips and chili-cheese queso. At my specific restaurant, however, a few of the menu items differed just slightly from other, larger restaurants of the same name. The following conversation actually took place between a male patron and me, on a day when I had already had enough.
Me: Can I get you folks started off with any appetizers?
Male Patron (MP): Yeah, we want the skillet queso.
Me: Sounds good, but just so you know, we serve it in a ceramic bowl here, not a skillet [I had actually had customers complain before that it didn't come in a skillet!! just like the other restaurants served it].
MP: No no, we want it in the skillet.
Me: I’m sorry, we don’t have the skillets here. It’s the exact same queso, it’s just served in a different dish.
MP: Why don’t you have the skillets anymore?
Me: Well, we’re considered a small-town [insert restaurant name here], so a few of our menu items are served a little differently. We’ve never had the skillets here, we’ve always served our queso in a bowl.
MP: Hah! Whatever! I just ate here a few months ago, and I ordered the skillet queso and it came in a skillet! You must have gotten rid of them.
Me (getting frustrated): Um, that’s not possible. We’ve NEVER had the skillets at this restaurant, ever.
MP (in about as snide a tone as you can imagine: Well, how long have you WORKED here, anyway???
Me: This restaurant opened in late 2001. I have worked here since May of 2002. We have never, ever, ever had the skillets at this restaurant. Ever.
MP: Well. You should. Just give it to us in a bowl, I guess, then.
I’m pretty sure I walked in the kitchen and found the nearest counter to smack my forehead against.
I worked at that restaurant for close to 5 years. I knew that menu inside, outside, and upside down. There were specific items we NEVER carried. If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me, “I was in here LAST week and you had [insert menu item] then!!!” I would singlehandedly be able to fund all five of my future kids’ college educations.
The nightmares stories of the “good old days” are coming rushing back…
WAIT A SEC…
I ate at a bar and grill type restaurant in central OK in late 05. I distinctly remember trying to order the queso in a skillet, but the waitress telling me they only served it in bowls!
Are you about 5′4 w/blue eyes a man could get lost inside??
Skillet Man ::
That was YOU?? Well. Just so you know, about a year later, corporate broke down and finally sprung for the skillets. I hope you’ve been back to enjoy them!
Yes…I’m about 5′4″…yes, I have blue eyes…pray tell, how lost were you?
Oh. My. God. This is SO a post I can understand 100%. I worked at Chili’s for 2 years and had the SAME crap happen all the time- except people kept confusing us with T.G.I. Fridays. “I had that here last week!” Uh, no you didn’t D-bag. You had that sh** at Fridays. I used to, personally, love it when they’d ask for whatever Fridays was advertising on TV that month. GAWD some people are stupid.
And I’m just guessing here, but Skillet Man sounds an awful lot like Kev. LOL Blue eyes he can get lost in, eh? *wink*
Corrina :: Ha! Funny, cause I’m totally talking about Chili’s. Only we had a lot of Outbacks in Oklahoma, so people would ALWAYS ask for the “bloomin’ onion”. It’s the AWESOME BLOSSOM, STUPID.
And, because we were a small-town Chili’s, there were all sorts of things we didn’t have that the larger Chili’s did, mostly things like the caribbean chicken salad and the lettuce wraps. ALL THE TIME…”But I had that salad at this very Chili’s, LAST week!” …..ummmm not possible!!
Crazy stuff. I loved a lot of my coworkers, but the job itself….eesh. THAT right there is half the reason I’m glad I’m not a server anymore!
Re: Skillet Man….you think so???
See, that’s the problem with Generica. Everyone swears that next door, next city, next state over should be just like theirs. And that your restaurant should be just like every other one that has skillets. (You needed one skillet hanging over the bar, so you could point to it and say, “Don’t make me use this!”)
Marvin :: Oh now THERE would have been a great idea. One lone, single skillet that we pointed to and said “That’s the only skillet we have in our possession. Want to know what it’s for???”
Mm. That sounds delicious right now.
It’s people like that who make serving (or any kind of customer service, really) unsuitable for me. I can just…barely…handle my banquet serving job because we do not have to interact as much with the guests. And they have no choices in the menu…unless it’s beef or chicken and then you’d think I was asking if they wanted to be killed by fire or water. Such an agonizing decision.
Erin :: Hahaha…well, I don’t really eat much beef, so “beef or chicken?” is a really easy question for me. The only time it’s difficult is if you’re choosing whether you want beef or chicken for your airplane meal. The real question is, “Flavorless goo, or undercooked chewy substance?”
Well, I hear you loud and clear, but I HATED it when TG and I ate at the much-touted California Dreaming and the menu said “basket of croissants” for an appetizer, and you pictured in your mind the fluffy flaky still-warm curved darlings nestled in a snowy napkin lining a cute basket … and what you were served was an ordinary white PLATE of cold croissants with nothing else whatsoever on the plate, not even a doily. That was disappointing. Presentation is half the deal.
But your skillet-fixated dude was ditzy at best and rude at worst. You shoulda smacked him.
Jenny :: See, I could understand if we had false advertising. But all the other Chili’s menus stated “Skillet Queso”. OURS stated, “Chili Cheese Queso”. Once we got the skillets, about a year after that guy was at my table, we got new menus that listed it as “Skillet Queso” at our restaurant, too.
Your “basket” of croissants does, at best, sound unappetizing. Talk about leading a hungry patron on!! For all restaurant employees everywhere, I apologize.
I wish I coulda smacked him. With a skillet.