BE KIND TO YOUR WAITRESS

Uninvited guest!

And she will be the kind of waitress you want.

Every Sunday at the local diner, TLW (The Little Woman) and I have our breakfast. Nothing fancy at the local fancy diner. I know it is fancy since the ketchup bottles are all clean.

I am a creature of habit, there are some things I like and need to have at my table along with the correct order and pricing: water and extra crispy French Fries in place of hash browns. Never was a hash brown fan since under the crust of the top of the potato lies the limp mush of potatoes, not pleasant to my pallet.

This Sunday I ordered a cheese omelet, tomato juice (no, I didn't slap my head to say I could have had a V-8, I did) and French Fries, and when the waitress took the order remembered: "Extra Crispy" she said before I got the chance to. This, of course, impresses me, she remembered from week to week!  Remembering is all well and good, delivering is another story.

As we chit chatted about the more important things that day such as Facetime with my granddaughter, the order arrived. Eggs and mushy looking French fries. Dropping the plate in front of me, I tell her to take them back, too mushy! She acts surprised but she knew as well as I did that she forgot. After about 5 minutes she returns and I am eating, then one of us realized we didn't get the juice that came with the order! I try to get her attention to no avail. As she sauntered from one end of the diner to the other, her eyes were always looking down, (must have been looking for dropped tips) and so it was impossible to get her. If I didn't want her attention, she would have been by my table about 10 times asking if everything was all right. Finally, we manage to capture a glance, her eyes sparkling in the lights of the dinner, her hair swept back as she began her arduous journey to our table, our eyes met and I said: "If I promise to eat all my breakfast, will I get my juice?"

I could have waived off the miscue of the French fries, and could have even overlooked the juice, but the diner was empty at that hour, there were no other customers, so it is imperative that I make her do what she needed to do to rectify the situation and my disappointment. If I don't, next week I will be treated with equal sloppiness, and I train my waitresses well, so none of that happens on my watch.

Funny thing is she never came near me again until she offered the check, which I took and left her usual tip. Just to let her know, we all make mistakes, I know I do.