Unfiltered Story #190855

I’m working as a waitress in a family restaurant on the beach in New Jersey.

A family comes in with two older women and a large group of kids. The kids are running around the place causing chaos, being ignored by the women.

One of the women asks about a special we offer; two entrees off a certain menu for $30. On the menu, it’s clearly written in large letters: no substitutions.

She asks me to explain the special, so I do, motioning to the area on the menu. She whips her head around and says that she and the sister won’t eat chicken or fish and that’s the only protein on the specials menu. All they eat is beef. Can’t we just cut up two small steaks the size of the chicken breasts or fish in the pictured meals and do the same sides for $30?

I explain the special again and when pressed to explain it in different terms, try to explain that beef is more expensive than the chicken and fish we offer. The sister says she doesn’t understand why we can’t just do it anyway. I explain that I have to order the meals correctly in the automated system and that when they go to pay, if I enter it as fish or chicken, the wrong meal will be prepared and if I enter it as their desired steak, they will be charged the 22.99/each for the NY strip meal they want.
The entire time I’ve remained professional; I’ve been a waitress for five years at the same place and just assume rude people are having a bad day. And I’ve been praised often for remaining collected and calm even when verbally abused.
The sister gets loud and people start staring. She yells that I just keep saying the same thing and not explaining it properly, and keep the same smirk on my face the entire time. (This is the neutral “customer” face that thousands have seen and never commented on. The polite mask.) The first lady says she needs to speak to a manager. I fetch him.
Our manager comes over, apologizes for my behavior, and comps their entire meal. They order the 22.99 steak dinners.
…I cry into my bourbon that evening.