Unfiltered Story #197461

I’m the goofy customer in this story.
I’m currently working in my former home town and I go to have lunch in an upscale Mexican food restaurant that I’ve had excellent dinner before.
The waitress sits me down, brings the lunch menu, I order, eat a delicious lunch, have my coffee and leave. I stop outside to light up a cigarette and just as I start walking towards my car the waitress storms outside:
Waiter: “Sir. Excuse me, Sir! Did you forget something?”
Dumbfounded, I quickly rummage through my pockets just to find all my belongings exactly where they’re supposed to be, even my security name tag hanging from my neck (I always remove it while I eat to make sure I won’t get any food on it).
Me: “No, everything seems to be in order. I could swear I wasn’t wearing a hat when I came in”
Waiter, looking very unconfortable “Sir, I think you forgot to pay”.
Me, realizing I just walked out without paying: “Oh for heaven’s sakes. My apologies. I must be too used to the small pizzerias and kebeb stands where you pay up front” (which actually is the case in 95% of lunch places around here)
It would have taken me weeks to notice that my bookkeeping is missing the receipt from that day’s lunch if I had noticed it at all! The waiter was surprisingly professional and discreet about the whole affair as I was probably blushing with shame.
Interestingly I just had a case in the next town, right next to their other reastaurant which I naturally had lunch in, and they DO take money up front for lunch. Wonder if my absent-mindness actually caused a change of lunchtime procedures in the two-restaurant chain :-)
Not a first-time offence for me, though, I’ve gassed up my car at least twice in the local gas station during daytime when they were still open – so the automatic card payment is closed and you have to pay inside – and since I usually refuel late at night, out of old habit I just got into my car and drove home. Luckily they recognized my car and didn’t call the cops right away as I was already ten miles away when it hit me that I’m not sure if I used the card payer and called the station to confirm X-D
Apparently this happens a lot since they weren’t at all angry about it…