Boiling Orange Juice To Match Your Boiling Blood

(I’m waiting tables at a restaurant and bar popular with foreign expatriates. I seat a middle-aged couple. One customer orders whiskey on the rocks, with ice, water, and soda all on the side. That makes four glasses for the one order, but this is fairly common behaviour from this demographic, so it’s fine. The other customer orders an orange juice without ice. This is also common, as people often believe they will receive more drink without it. In less than five minutes they receive everything, despite it being a busy Saturday evening.)

Customer: “You got the order wrong.”

Me: “What was left out? I’ll get it fixed for you immediately.”

Customer: “Are you stupid? I asked for the orange juice without ice; obviously, I want it warm.”

(We don’t keep any juice that isn’t chilled; after all, this is tropical Singapore, and who on earth drinks warm juice?)

Me: “I’ll see what I can do.”

Supervisor: “Tell her she has three options: we can nuke it in the microwave, steam it, or we’ll void it and she can keep the d*** juice if it’ll make her quiet.”

(I give her the options, and naturally she opts to have the drink for free. She does not, however, keep quiet or express gratitude for the free drink, and instead continues to insult me and my outlet for not having warm juice. As I walk back into the employee area, I launch into a string of obscenities over the comm-set and inform my manager I’ve had enough and need to chain-smoke for ten. Five minutes later…)

Manager: “[My Name], this customer is refusing to pay her entire bill; she claims you said they get their drinks for free all night as an apology. Can you come back in and talk to her?”

Me: “No; you know what to do. By the way, I’m clearing my half-an-hour break now, or I swear I just might find her some boiling hot orange juice.”

Manager: “Okay, you do that.”

Me: “Which one?”

Manager: “Both?”

(They ended up paying for everything.)