DINNING ON A PRACTICE RUN

Tolerance is something you learn to acquire, usually from having someone being tolerant of you first. You experience it and then you know how it feels, so you can be tolerant also.

One night in Boston we (My wife and I) went to UNO, a deep dish pizza place that is franchised. It was late and we were hungry and tired after a busy day of touring. This was the only place nearby so in we went.

As we entered the establishment, there to greet us was this young man who asked the obvious question: “Two?” Yes, his eyesight was perfect as was his math! “TWO” we answered proudly and thought this was going to be uneventful a culinary experience as you can get.

Then we sat down!

Bouncing over to our table was a young lady with a young man behind her. Both wore the dress of the sacred gods of culinary joy, black shirts that said: UNO!

“Hi, my name is Kirstan and this is Mike. I will be your hostess and am working with Mike who is training me. This not the kind of news I want to hear, as she placed a napkin with her young woman handwriting that said: “Kirstan and Mike”! Oh, goody!

TLW (The Little Woman) orders a scotch and soda or: “seltzer if that is how you call it, I don’t want it confused with coke!”

“And you sir?” she asked, pen poised over pad.

I’ll have a Jack Daniels Manhattan, straight up, no ice.

After a reasonable amount of time when you are tired, hungry and perhaps edgy, or an hour later the young woman shows up alone! On her tray was a shot of Jack Daniels and a big old glass of coke! Placing the shot in front of me and the coke in front of TLW, she stands back.

“No, no, nooo!” I reply “A Jack Daniels Manhattan is made with sweet Vermouth!”

TLW seeks some answers too: “Is this a scotch with coke?”

“Yes, that’s what you ordered no?”

“No.”

I ask the young woman to tell the bartender that I want a Jack Daniels MANHATTAN!

Kirstan apologizes and says she doesn’t drink but she made the drink because the bartender was “kind of busy”!

“Well you tell him to get on it. Don’t apologize if you are new at this. WE all make mistakes!”  (It’s true, we went there that night.)