AAAAAAAHHHHH, GERMS!

My husband and I used to go to a mom-and-pop diner at least once a week. After a bad experience with a waitress, we stopped going for a few weeks, but we’ve decided to give it another chance since we had loved it so much before. Normally, we know all of the staff since it’s such a small restaurant, but we don’t know the waitress serving us today.

Waitress: “Can I get you started with something to drink?”

Me: “Diet [drink], please.”

Husband: “A regular [drink] for me, please.”

She goes and gets the drinks and sets them down. She takes our food order and goes back to the kitchen. I take a sip of my drink and realize it’s not diet. I try a sip of my husband’s drink and it’s not diet, either, so we can’t just switch. I catch her attention as she walks by.

Me: “Excuse me? I ordered diet and I think this is regular.”

Waitress: “Oh, here.”

She picks up my husband’s glass and sets it in front of me.

Me: “Er, no, I tried them both and they’re both regular. Could I get a new glass with diet, please?”

Waitress: “Are you sure it’s not diet? I made them myself.”

Then, to my astonishment, she picks up the glass in front of me and drinks from it using the straw my husband and I had both used. Besides the normal level of “ew,” this is during the global health crisis, so I am just floored.

Waitress: “No, that’s definitely diet. Why don’t you try it again?”

I stare at her for a few seconds before I answer.

Me: “Absolutely not!”

Waitress: *Rolls eyes* “Well, I can bring you a new one, but we charge for refills.”

Me: “You’re going to charge me after you drank out of my glass, using my straw?”

Waitress: “Oh, here.”

She hands me a new straw.

Me: “I don’t want to drink out of a glass you drank out of. Actually, you know what, just cancel our order. We’ll just go somewhere else.”

Waitress: “They already started making it.”

Me: “Please just cancel it.”

She rolls her eyes again and walks back to the kitchen. She never comes back out, but a manager does and walks over to our table. Like the waitress, we don’t recognize him.

Manager: “My waitress told me that you want to cancel your order. I won’t charge you for the food, but you need to pay for these drinks.”

Me: “We didn’t even get to drink these. I asked for a diet [drink] and she brought me a regular, and then she drank out of my glass when I complained!”

Manager: “Wait, what?”

We explain again and point out that the drinks have barely been touched. He looks extremely confused, but he apologizes and assures us that he won’t charge us for anything. He even takes our email and promises to inform the owner of what happened. He goes back to the kitchen, and as we’re putting on our coats to leave, we hear yelling.

Manager: “I told you to stop doing that! You told me they yelled at you!”

Waitress: “She did!”

Manager: “Honestly, I wouldn’t blame her! Why would you…”

We didn’t hear the rest as we left, but we got a personal message from the owner a week later apologizing and asking us to return and give them another chance. So far, we haven’t been back, and we probably won’t try it again for a while, if ever.