I spilled clam chowder on a man who came in to dine with his wife.
First of all, it was an accident...and honest mistsake. I am not the most dainty thing you've ever seen, and the amount of available space to set food on the table is extremely limited. You have a table that is just shy of 2'x2'. Working with this space or the lack thereof is literally like playing a wicked game of Tetris- something I was NEVER good at.
After placing two waters, two glasses of wine, two sets of silverware, a large metal wire bread basket, salt, pepper, olive oil and two plates for the bread...well, there really isn't any room for much else.
As I greeted the table with the two cups of soup, the wife made room for hers and I set the steaming cup in front of her. I turned to place the husband's down, and in doing so, he pulled the bread basket to give his wife more room, but had tapped the plate I was holding which carried a cup of piping hot, delicious homemade clam chowder.
I watched in horror as the cup ominously glided towards him on the small china plate. It hit the lip of the plate and some of the chowder had jumped, right out of its rightful home onto the crotch of the man whom was conveniently wearing khaki pants.
Suddenly the man stood up, barking mad.
Furious, he spit the words "incompetent," "clumsy," and "stupid". His face was beet red and he became so livid, he could barely spew out any other monosyllabic dig. The man wanted me fired.
I stammered, visibly upset, and began apologizing profusely.
Not good enough. They weren't having any of it.
"What are you going to do? PAY for our meal? Are you going to PAY for our dry cleaning bill?" the wife had chimed in, shaking her fists. Calm down, Barbara. You're telling me as a housewife of someone in the OC, you don't know how to operate a washing machine? Stop the jokes, you're killing me.
My plan of action: BLAST him.
No...I wish, but not like that. It's an acronym for servers to handle angry birds like this one.
Believe that he is right no matter what. Even though he knew he should have just sat back and let me place the soup in front of him without almost knocking the entire bowl out of my hands...he's right.
Listen to why he's so upset.
Apologize as if there ain't no tomorrow.
Satisfy the guest. I already had sprinted to retreive soda water and a fresh towel. At this point I had to alert the manager and owner to handle the rest.
Thank them for their understanding.. I actually wasn't given the chance to pull this one out of my hat, and I'm glad I wasn't. Having to squeak out those two little words to them following the insults made directly to my face would be one majorly bitter pill to swallow.
The couple refused the continuation of my service after the clam chowder catastrophe. Do I blame them? Not entirely, but as a guest, if this was to happen to you...how would you react?
I certainly wouldn't have caused that big of a scene. Yes, our soup is hot but not scalding. It wasn't red wine that you were splashed with. You are a grown man, act like one.
Kill him with kindness.
When found in a situation that puts you under stress, pressure, or simply puts you on the spot, the way you react is a blatantly vivid and quite accurate description of the kind of person you are- not just the one you portray yourself to be.
Showing a little grace really could go a long way, especially in this particular guest's case.
I know I'm no saint when it comes to this. I've lost my cool before- havent we all? All of these encounters have only helped me to further put my own life into a better perspective and analyze things differently.
Since that day, I haven't made that mistake. I can't say he's changed any though.
-LM
Photo credit:
The Wall Street Journal
"Fish Joint Reels in Crowds"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323777204578191712092560422.html
The Steve Scott Site
"The Stupid Guest Author Post Need Not Apply"
http://www.stevescottsite.com/stupid-guest-post-authors-need-not-apply
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