This Service Is On Fire

(I work in a hotel. Our breakfast starts at six am and ends at ten. We have a conveyor-type toaster. Since we are full, I’m working at the front desk while another woman handles the breakfast room. She is normally very soft-spoken, so when I hear her almost yelling I come running.)

Coworker: “[My Name], FIRE!”

(I grab the extinguisher and run in. Out of the toaster pops a paper bowl on fire. Instead of using the extinguisher and shutting down the area, I dump it into a bowl of water. A guest is standing to one side giggling.)

Me: *barely staying polite* “Why would you put a paper bowl through the toaster?! The sign says bread and English muffins only!”

Guest: “I don’t know.” *giggles*

Me: “That is a $400 toaster! If you break it that way, you have to replace it, and we have cameras.”

(The guest stops giggling and runs out of the room.)

Coworker: “Sorry, I didn’t see him put it in.”

Me: “It is not your fault. It’s going to be a long four hours, huh?”