Wishing You Could Toss Them Out Like You’d Toss A Salad

I work at a restaurant. A woman and a kid are seated at one of my tables, and they tell me they are waiting for someone to join them. I get their drink orders and then leave them to wait, checking in once or twice. Eventually, the guy joining them comes in. Naturally, I see about getting his drink order and then letting them look at the menu. The guy wants to tell me his entree order first, so I take it.

Me: “And would you like the soup or the salad?”

Man: “Salad.” *Looks confused* “Wait. The salad comes free anyway, right?”

Essentially, he is asking if he gets free salad no matter what, regardless of whether he has it with the meal.

Me: “The salads aren’t free for every guest; the entree comes with a choice of soup or salad.”

Many guests assume that a salad is free upon walking in, so they try to order something that results in an extra charge and then become upset, even if I explain it to that effect that it will result in an extra charge. There are even some who assume ordering only water will get a free salad, though it is very rare.

Man: *Looking at me funny* “Man, you’re confusing me.”

Then, he told me his drink order and asked me to give him a minute. I thought maybe he wanted to reconsider or something.

He then went to the host and requested a different server, saying, “I think he’s slow or r****ded or something.”

The host told me this as I was getting the guy’s drink. Naturally, I was agitated and didn’t want them in my section. But they stayed in my section for the whole meal while another person dealt with them.

The only funny part is that the server who took over for me got their food order wrong, and since it was my section, they basically got ignored the whole time since their server had other tables halfway across the building.

I talked with the managers about how bluntly rude they were acting to the staff, including the host. They said they couldn’t throw them out or move them for that, though one professed that he wanted to throw them out for their behavior. Then, I found out later that they should have been thrown out according to company guidelines.

It was very frustrating to be insulted and then try not to get visibly angry. Mind you, I wasn’t rude to them or trying to cause tension. I just explained simple restaurant policy.