Penny Dreadful Service

(My older sister and I are at a fine dining restaurant and have ordered a bottle of wine with our meal. The server is terribly slow the entire meal but this is the breaking point.)

Server: *clearing off the table after we had been finished at least a half hour* “Will there be anything else?”

Sister: “Yes, we’ll take the rest of the bottle of wine with us.”

(The bottle is less than halfway full. The server picks up the bottle from the wine cart and turns it upside down in the ice bucket it was in, emptying the contents. He then hands my sister the empty bottle. After that he brings the bill and we pay in cash, but my sister leaves a single penny on the tray.)

Sister: “Oh, this is for you.”

Server: *seeing the penny* “What?!”

My Sister: “Yes. For you.”

(The server storms off. The manager comes over, almost crying because she’s laughing so hard.)

Manager: “You actually offered him a penny?”

Me: “It was more than he deserved. We’ve been here over two hours thanks to him.”

Manager: “And you already paid?”

My Sister: “Yes.”

Manager: “I’m sorry about that. Please come back again and we’ll make things right.”

(We never saw that server again!)