In article
>,
Kalmia > wrote:

> After the resto - bashing, I feel guilty. Maybe it's time to laud
> something unusual you have witnessed, some bit of beyond the call
> service.
>
> Mine: ordered an after dinner White Cloud, and about a minute after it
> was served, I noticed a chip in the glass. Summoned waiter and began
> to point it out, and with an unhesitating flourish and not a word of
> argument, he whipped that thing off the table and tossed the liquid
> into a tiny, nearby sink, dropped the offending glass into the trash,
> and rushed to the bar for a new White Cloud. He removed all doubt that
> the same drink would be unceremoniously tossed into a new glass.

Many years ago, my mom, dad, sister, and I were waiting to be seated for
dinner in the small waiting area of a popular restaurant in our area. It
was a Saturday night and the restaurant was packed. The name of the
restaurant was the Gingham House. As you might expect, the entire
restaurant was decorated in tiny squares (red and white). The walls,
ceiling, and all the furniture were the same red and white squares. Each
square was maybe half an inch thick.

When we were just about ready to be seated a young waitress ran past my
parents and me screaming that she couldn't stand the crazy decor and the
crowds any more. She ran out of the restaurant in tears with her arms
flailing above her head. I thought the restaurant's decor was crazy too,
but it didn't bother me or anyone else in our neighborhood to that
extent. That restaurant was eventually sold, the decor changed, and it
is now a Brazilian steakhouse.

Then there was the time when a five college friends and I dined at
another restaurant. One vegetarian friend ordered spaghetti with
marinara sauce. The poor waitress dropped the entire platter of
spaghetti on my friend's head when it slid off the serving tray. The
wearer of that spaghetti was a woman who was dressed only in jeans and a
t-shirt, so no fancy clothes were stained. She was very good humored
about the accident. The entire meal for the six of us was comped. We
left the waitress a good tip because we felt so bad for her. That
restaurant is still in business and I have been back there several times
since that incident.

Then there was the time where some other college friends and I went to
yet another restaurant after we spent several hours one Saturday in the
campus library studying for final exams. We went to a casual seafood
place near campus for dinner. I don't eat seafood much so I ordered a
hot roast beef sandwich. The waitress, who was old enough to be George
Washington's grandmother, served everyone their dinner except me. When I
asked where my food was, she said they were out of roast beef, then she
scampered away before I could say anything else. The restaurant was
cavernous and I didn't see her or any other waitress in our section
until after my friends had all finished eating. Then the waitress
finally returned and asked if I would like anything else? I said I
would, but it will be from somewhere else. She did not get a tip from
me. I also never returned to that restaurant and it has since been
replaced by a hospital.