Just last week I had surgery on my ear. I've had this surgery 15 times before so it's pretty routine for my family. We drive up the night before and go to the Galleria and out to eat. It's usually pretty fun but this particular time it was HORRIBLE!!
Now before I start...Me,My Sister,and My Mom have all three been waitresses. We know what the job entails,how annoying some customers can be,and how hard it can be when you get swamped with several tables. It's not an easy job and nobody does it because they want to. However, I think everybody should have to do it at least once.
Now we went to Outback Steakhouse to eat which is usually sooo good. We got there at 5:00 so no dinner rush had come in yet. We were seated in a section by ourselves so it shoud've been easy for any waiter! We sat for 5 minutes before our waiter, George, finally comes over and gets our drink order. (Now I was trying not to laugh because his voice was cracking something horrible and I'm very very easily entertained) George disappeared for ten minutes before finally bringing us our drinks. Him disappearing would become a regular thing that night.
Now if I'm in a restaurant and I run out of something to drink and you're not swamped I get really aggravated. Well when George came back out to check on us he asked did we need anything. My dad asked for a refill of Coke. George disappeared yet again and after ten or fifteen minutes brought us our food. As he was handing us our food, a table of four guys were seated behind us. These were guys who had just had a hard days work and wanted a good meal so they could get back to their hotel and sleep. He took their drink orders and disappeared. When he finally got their drinks out and took their order he asked did we need anything and yet again we asked for another refill of Coke. George then walks out with a glass of Coke and Sprite for the table behind us and yet again we ask for Coke. Well come to find out the Sprite wasn't even necessary...nobody had ordered it and it wound up sitting on the table all night. Also George had given one man Sweet Tea when he ordered water and the guy got tired of asking and just drank it. Well he finally brings us a Coke after he tries to give us the salad that belongs to the table behind us. By the time my dad actually got his drink he was 3/4 of the way done eating his food. So we asked George for a to-go box and our ticket....little did we know that this would start an hour ordeal.
As we're waiting we're talking to the table behind us. They had been asking us if we were having problems with George and we had been talking ever since. They had thought something was wrong with George since he took their order and they just assumed George had smoked something or took something...who knows?!? Well George came to their table after disappearing for 15 minutes and began apologizing. Supposedly the kitchen had new staff members and he was swamped having to help them out. Then we asked again for a to-go box and a ticket. After sitting for another 15 minutes he asked again did we need anything and we had to tell him again. He then went to the other table and aplogized again. Told them about the kitchen staff again and began telling them he had just had a hard day. He had to drive all the way to Birmingham from Huntsville (like a 2 hour drive) just to come to work, he had lost his wallet (which he said had alot of money in it with his license and everything), and he said he had to change his pants. Now why he did that I'll never know....but it was pretty funny to listen to him. Then he disappeared yet again. Now all his disappearing would have gotten annoying really quick but we were having such a good time talking to these guys...they were great. They actually were from out of town too headed back to their hotel room which is why I think they were beginning to get soo aggravated about the service.
In the process of waiting again, the server brought a table of 5 to be seated in the same section with George. Well with 7 pissed off people there already we told them she needed to sit them somewhere else. She disagreed and we protested again that he had 2 tables that he couldn't keep up with so they didn't need to add to it. Plus if they actually wanted what they ordered in a decent amount of time they didn't want to sit there. So they finally listened and were moved to a different section. George then walked out and brought us a ticket and a to-go box. After he set the box down he proceeded to pick up a plate with a piece of steak on it. My mom picked it up and moved it to a different plate which in turn George turned around and picked it up as well. So in order to actually get the food to take back to the hotel, my mom had to sit and hold this piece of steak in her hand so he wouldn't take it. Seriously?!? If I ask for a to-go box I want to put that food in it...I don't want it to sit and look at it. Then we discovered that the ticket he brought us wasn't ours...it was for the table behind us. So we gave it to them and in 15 minutes when George showed up again we asked for the right ticket. Yet again this guy disappears! About 20 minutes pass and he tells the table bahind us they're food will be ready in a little bit and then comes to us. For the 5,000th time we ask for a ticket. He apologizes and goes back to get it.
He shows up again after 15 minutes with 2 tickets in his pocket. He hands us one and walks to the other table. My dad busts out laughing and when we ask why he simply said it still wasn't the right ticket. George heard and handed us the other ticket and said sorry for the mix-up. Upon opening that ticket it was still the wrong ticket! We had gotten the wrong ticket 3 times and each time it was for the table behind us. He apologizes and said the kitchen staff handed him the wrong one. He then tells the table behind us that the kitchen staff couldn't read the ticket so he wanted to make sure the order was right and proceeds to read their order aloud. Now if you had been there you would have died. His voice was cracking something awful and he was beginning to talk in two different sound pitches...HILARIOUS!! Which I want to know how their food would be out in a minute but the staff couldn't read their order?? Anybody care to explain that one??
Well after getting the wrong ticket 3 times my mom gets pissed. And Courtney if you're reading this you can imagine how mama felt at this point :b So she gets up to go talk to the manager. Well the manager then disappears to go find George and have a talk with him. After 10 or 15 minutes the manager appears with George (who really doesn't look happy) and hands us the correct ticket. He apologizes profusely and says he took the Bloomin' Onion off of our ticket to cover this little mishap. Which as we looked at our ticket it turns out George had put two on our ticket! George then again apologized to the table behind us and said their food would be out in a minute. We wound up being at Outback for almost two hours and the guys behind were there about an hour and fifteen minutes already. They were pissed enough that they were getting ready to leave and go eat at McDonalds. To this day I still wonder whether or not they actually got their food or wound up leaving.
Again I respect waiters. It's a tough, annoying job and nobody really wants to do it. If you're waiting tables I get you need the money...I've been there and I've done that. Palin and simple it sucks. But now our Waiter, George gave a whole new meaning to a bad waiter. Seriously, he literally was on something. I don't know if he was disappearing to smoke something or take something but something funny was going on. His behavior was crazy and his eyes were super glossy. Either way, George was feeling extremely good...
