People Dining Out are Strange

[Shelby]

Host's note: this topic was split from the Cost/Value of nursing a glass of water in a restaurant topic. Let the stories begin. :-D

 

 

14 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

I can see where allowing the water for free could lead to 'ghetto lemonade' (where people use a free glass of water, complimentary lemons and sugar to make a lemonade) and other concoctions like 'depression soup' (ketchup and hot water with free crackers). But, that said, I think better overall to just give people the water (hot/cold) and lemon for free. I would just think of it as goodwill advertising. The non-eating guest keeps a positive image of the place and at the very least won't spread nasty gossip about you, and might return to actually eat. I would say be mindful of why we refer to them as guests, not just customers or consumers. -Just as we like to be referred to as restaurateurs rather than vendors or manufacturers. Our transactions and interactions are far more complex than retail vending.

 

The industry itself is continually changing, and growing. When I was a kid, there were a lot fewer restaurants per capita. More and more, people eat out because it's easier for them to do so than cooking. (sorry, sad but true) These non-foodies have incorporated restaurants into more of their lives than any previous generations. So, now, instead of people getting dressed up to experience what the restaurateur is showcasing, they expect the restaurant to accommodate their life circumstances. Maybe a group has a going-away dinner for a friend moving to another country, but one friend is having a medical procedure in the morning and isn't allowed to eat. I think is normal now for that person to expect to attend the gathering and not have to hide at home as yesterday's etiquette would have demanded.

 

In addition to being mindful that many businesses owe their very existence to a societal shift of more people eating out, IMO, we should all remember of the lessons of the recent economic downturn that started in 2007. Guests have choices about where to eat and, IMO, if we don't keep thinking of their needs first, they can easily just grab a bite at another place down the street.

I admit, I do not get out much, but do people really go to restaurants and do this????

[gfron1]

49 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I admit, I do not get out much, but do people really go to restaurants and do this????

You really don't want to open the can of worms where all of us restaurant folks tell you what strange things people do. My latest - we have pink salt candles at dinner and I had a customer lick his. I guess I did want to open that can.

[IowaDee]

Hee, hee a salt lick with a wick!

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

You really don't want to open the can of worms where all of us restaurant folks tell you what strange things people do. My latest - we have pink salt candles at dinner and I had a customer lick his. I guess I did want to open that can.

Just now, IowaDee said:

Hee, hee a salt lick with a wick!

 

 

I'm thinking we need a thread called "People Are Strange" 'cause I need to hear these stories.

[Lisa Shock]

50 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I admit, I do not get out much, but do people really go to restaurants and do this????

 

I haven't seen the soup trick, but it was mentioned in an episode of Dragnet. I have heard of people making various cheaper drinks at coffee houses by ordering a small coffee in an extra large cup then filling the cup up with milk or cream from the  complimentary condiment area.

 

I did witness the lemonade once, much to my chagrin. My now-ex husband and I took his parents out to dinner at PF Chang's and despite us assuring them that they could order whatever they wanted, we were paying, my MIL asked for an ice water and a plate of lemon wedges and proceeded to make lemonade...*facepalm*...

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, Lisa Shock said:

 

I haven't seen the soup trick, but it was mentioned in an episode of Dragnet. I have heard of people making various cheaper drinks at coffee houses by ordering a small coffee in an extra large cup then filling the cup up with milk or cream from the  complimentary condiment area.

 

I did witness the lemonade once, much to my chagrin. My now-ex husband and I took his parents out to dinner at PF Chang's and despite us assuring them that they could order whatever they wanted, we were paying, my MIL asked for an ice water and a plate of lemon wedges and proceeded to make lemonade...*facepalm*...

I just cannot imagine this.  If I were with someone that did that I would die of embarrassment.

 

I guess that's why he's and ex........(I kid, I kid)

[Chris Hennes]

44 minutes ago, Lisa Shock said:

MIL asked for an ice water and a plate of lemon wedges and proceeded to make lemonade

Are we sure this is cheapness and not an act of rebellion against the swill that passes for "lemonade" in most restaurants?

[kbjesq]

Many years ago, when I was in college, I worked part time in a small cafe/deli counter at the back of a health food store in a small college town in Northern New England. IIRC, there were 4 picnic-style tables that seated maybe 6 per table. This was in the pre-internet era. 

Every day, in the middle of the lunch "rush", a group of 8-10 college women would come in, each order a cup of hot water, AND THEN PROCEED TO USE THEIR OWN TEA BAGS (not purchased at our store) and help themselves to our condiment selection, including wild flower honey, etc.  They would also constantly ask for "samples" of the food for sale in the deli case (store policy required me to give a free sample to anyone who asked). 

Especially if it was a cold day out, they would stay sometimes for several hours getting out their textbooks, spreading their books and backpacks all over the place, studying and generally chit-chatting away the afternoon while our paying customers would end up with no place to sit and eat.

I repeatedly asked the store manager, then finally the store owner, to establish a policy or time limit or minimum purchase or something to address this problem but nothing was ever done about it to my knowledge. I ended up getting a better job elsewhere but I will never forget those women! Oh and I forgot to add, they would always make special requests for me to change the music station,  usually butting in front of a paying customer to do so, and always while I had my hands full. 

[cdh]

Given the sad state of tea produced by commercial establishments, I don't know if I can blame your horrible women.  Making tea right really is an art, and no place is going to be able train staff in the subtleties of doing it right.  The old saws about freshly boiled water and such are a pale shadow of what you need to know and do to get a good result from any particular variety of leaves.

 

Were your horrible women completely and totally freeloaders?  Never bought a thing that you can remember?

[gfron1]

OK, I mentioned the person who licked our salt candle. We also have one who has repeatedly stabbed it with a knife to break pieces off to use in his food.

 

How about the customer who helped himself into my kitchen during dinner service and pointed at me and said, "I'm going f&%k you right here on your kitchen floor." I, without skipping a beat said, "do I have a say in this?" Backstory that we learned later - he was from 3 hours away in Tucson, on a first-date/blind-date with another guy he met on Grindr (gay sex/dating app for those who don't know). They were going to spend the weekend at a hotel here in town and we were there first stop. Methinks this was bad first-date behavior.

 

Different one - I was using juniper branches to scent a course and they were under a glass plate in a box. a female customer took them and hid them in her purse to take them home. When she realized that my server saw her do it she was very, very embarrassed and my server just said, "We're in the middle of the largest juniper wilderness in the US. We can get more." and winked at her.

[BeeZee]

I'll fess up, but this happened when I was a broke college student. There was a Roy Rogers fast food burger place within walking distance of our freshman dorm. I went with a friend who would purchase a meal...and make a "ghetto salad" from the fixin's bar (lettuce, tomato, mayo+catsup = dressing).

[kbjesq]

40 minutes ago, cdh said:

Given the sad state of tea produced by commercial establishments, I don't know if I can blame your horrible women.  Making tea right really is an art, and no place is going to be able train staff in the subtleties of doing it right.  The old saws about freshly boiled water and such are a pale shadow of what you need to know and do to get a good result from any particular variety of leaves.

 

Were your horrible women completely and totally freeloaders?  Never bought a thing that you can remember?

They never purchased anything while I was working. As far as the tea itself was concerned, they were not tea connoisseurs, just cheap. What I couldn't understand was why the neither the manager nor the owner seemed to care 

[kbjesq]

29 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

I'll fess up, but this happened when I was a broke college student. There was a Roy Rogers fast food burger place within walking distance of our freshman dorm. I went with a friend who would purchase a meal...and make a "ghetto salad" from the fixin's bar (lettuce, tomato, mayo+catsup = dressing).

But did you spend the whole afternoon there, hog the few available tables, repeatedly ask for free samples and for the help to change the music? To be honest, in the situation that I described, I blame the mgt/owners as much as the women in question 

[cakewalk]

5 hours ago, kbjesq said:

Many years ago, when I was in college, I worked part time in a small cafe/deli counter at the back of a health food store in a small college town in Northern New England. IIRC, there were 4 picnic-style tables that seated maybe 6 per table. This was in the pre-internet era. 

Every day, in the middle of the lunch "rush", a group of 8-10 college women would come in, each order a cup of hot water, AND THEN PROCEED TO USE THEIR OWN TEA BAGS (not purchased at our store) and help themselves to our condiment selection, including wild flower honey, etc.  They would also constantly ask for "samples" of the food for sale in the deli case (store policy required me to give a free sample to anyone who asked). 

Especially if it was a cold day out, they would stay sometimes for several hours getting out their textbooks, spreading their books and backpacks all over the place, studying and generally chit-chatting away the afternoon while our paying customers would end up with no place to sit and eat.

I repeatedly asked the store manager, then finally the store owner, to establish a policy or time limit or minimum purchase or something to address this problem but nothing was ever done about it to my knowledge. I ended up getting a better job elsewhere but I will never forget those women! Oh and I forgot to add, they would always make special requests for me to change the music station,  usually butting in front of a paying customer to do so, and always while I had my hands full. 

Interesting that this was pre-internet, and of course it stays in your mind. But it's so commonplace now. People will generally buy their tea these days (or maybe not, I don't really know), but the rest is classic. Laptop and notebook on the table, sit there for hours on that one cup of tea. A couple of weeks ago I ran into a friend and we wanted to go get a coffee, but we went from one coffee shop to another with no luck. Each table had one person at it nursing a cup of something and their laptop! They were clearly entrenched and not going anywhere.

[lindag]

N

8 hours ago, cakewalk said:

Interesting that this was pre-internet, and of course it stays in your mind. But it's so commonplace now. People will generally buy their tea these days (or maybe not, I don't really know), but the rest is classic. Laptop and notebook on the table, sit there for hours on that one cup of tea. A couple of weeks ago I ran into a friend and we wanted to go get a coffee, but we went from one coffee shop to another with no luck. Each table had one person at it nursing a cup of something and their laptop! They were clearly entrenched and not going anywhere.

Next thing you know the tables will have to have some sort of parking meter.

And it's really a shame for the paying customers to have no place to sit.

Edited January 16, 2016 by lindag
clarity. (log)

[Maison Rustique]

I often hold meetings in small local coffee shops. If someone shows for the meeting and walks in with their own drink (you'd be amazed how often this happens!), I ask them to please patronize the business that is allowing us to meet there. If they act like they can't afford to buy something, I buy it for them. And since the places are small, I try to pay attention to other customers and make sure we don't take up too much space that others have no place to sit. You just need to use common sense and open your eyes.

[Arey]

Back when the office I worked in was just a block away from the boardwalk  I would frequently walk up to the boardwalk for lunch.  During the resort season there was a  Nathan's Famous, a Taylor's Pork Roll , a Plantyer's Peanuts store. and  Kohr ice cream stand all within a block or two.  One day I went into the Taylor's Pork Roll stand for lunch and the proprietor was steaming.  He's just had a major argument with a women who'd come into the store with 4 kids and taken up most of the counter space and asked for 5 glasses of ice water.  She didn't want to order anything to eat, and he refused to give her and the kids the ice water because he said he was sick and tired of people coming in, taking up counter space and not wanting anything but glasses of water.  I could sympathize with him since I knew he had to make his year's earnings between Memorial day and the Miss America pageant.

When in college there was a restaurant in town called the Dutch Cupboard which had an all you can eat buffet on Thursdays.  I'll spare you the details of how Kenneth R another student got himself  banned from the restaurant permanently, but it involved ducking out the side door at the end of the corridor where the rest rooms were and re-entering several times.

[BeeZee]

18 hours ago, kbjesq said:

But did you spend the whole afternoon there, hog the few available tables, repeatedly ask for free samples and for the help to change the music? To be honest, in the situation that I described, I blame the mgt/owners as much as the women in question 

no, I did not. I skulked out as soon as my friend finished her meal! Those people taking up space are entitled personalities who have no sense of manners to realize that they are inconveniencing the paying customers and I agree that the management can only blame themselves for allowing it to continue and potentially costing them the loss of several paying customers.

[Lisa Shock]

22 hours ago, Chris Hennes said:

Are we sure this is cheapness and not an act of rebellion against the swill that passes for "lemonade" in most restaurants?

 

She said a friend had emailed the 'trick' to her and she wanted to try it out. This was around 2007, when 'hacking Starbucks' was popular.

[Norm Matthews]

I have heard about people stealing bottles of ketchup from counters during the depression so as to make soup later and that is the root reason of why some restaurants still today refuse to serve ketchup on sandwiches and such. That was before those little free packets were available.  I had not heard of anyone doing it recently though, but maybe it why it's so hard to get ketchup to go at McDonalds. 

 

As for making your own tea from hot water, I am not much of a tea drinker but I can tell after just a sip whether it's instant.  Most restaurants around here do use instant tea and I cared enough, I'd rather bring a tea bag if I had to have tea.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't know if it qualifies as strange behavior or not but it's strange to me the sense of entitlement a lot of people, even people who normally are not that sort. get the moment they walk into a restaurant. I'm not talking about the justified expectations that come with spending their money on a meal, I mean the over-the-top idea that it's okay to behave and treat staff in any manner they want. And this isn't a complaint session, I'm genuinely interested in what happens when walking through restaurant doors that doesn't happen anywhere else people spend their money.

[Jaymes]

On ‎1‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 4:57 PM, Chris Hennes said:

Are we sure this is cheapness and not an act of rebellion against the swill that passes for "lemonade" in most restaurants?

 

Amen to that.

 

My father does this all the time and has for years.  He can't stand the "lemonade" that most restaurants serve - and, for that matter, neither can I.  It's so strong, and cloyingly sweet.  Not only does my father not like the strength and sweetness of the lemonade that most restaurants make from a powdered mix, he says it has an off-putting artificial and chemical taste.  In addition to that, he, like so many older folks, is now a borderline diabetic, so these days he makes his "quicky" lemonade with one of the sugar substitutes that is on the table -  presumably for his use, right?

 

He never "orders a plate of lemon slices," however.  The water most often comes with one slice already in it, or perched on the side, and that's usually enough for him.  If it's a really big glass of water, he might ask for one or two additional slices, or point at one of our glasses and ask if we are going to use our lemon slice. 

 

It's not cheapness.  He does this even when a drink is included with his order and the restaurant-made lemonade would cost him nothing extra.  He does this even when my sister has ordered a pitcher of lemonade for herself and her kids and grandkids.

 

And, frankly, if the server brings him a glass of water with a lemon wedge, and if there is a container with sugar and sugar substitute already on the table, and if all of these things have been made available for his use, I don't see any problem whatsoever with him combining them howsoever he sees fit.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2016 by Jaymes (log)

[cakewalk]

But presumably your father is also ordering a meal, right? He's not there just to mix himself some lemonade with "freebie" items, hang out for a few hours, and then go merrily on his way. It's the expectation of free stuff that is strange, not the expectation of tasty stuff when a person is buying. I agree that the latter should be a given, and if it isn't, well, we do what we can. (Please pass the salt ... )

[Jaymes]

43 minutes ago, cakewalk said:

But presumably your father is also ordering a meal, right? He's not there just to mix himself some lemonade with "freebie" items, hang out for a few hours, and then go merrily on his way. It's the expectation of free stuff that is strange, not the expectation of tasty stuff when a person is buying. I agree that the latter should be a given, and if it isn't, well, we do what we can. (Please pass the salt ... )

 

Well, god love him, at 94 he's been unable to "go merrily on his way" for several years now.  But, yes, of course.  He orders a meal.  And then he mixes up his lemonade.

 

However, several folks in this thread have indicated that they find the practice of mixing up one's own lemonade unseemly under any circumstances.

 

So I felt the need to point out that there might be more reasons for somebody to be doing that other than just because they want free lemonade.

 

 

[haresfur]

One of my father's many strange but pretty innocent ones:

 

He took us to a pre-Christmas special, more or less Victorian, meal in the upstairs of a beautiful old stone restaurant. The kind of affair where they sing the food in with carols, etc. The halls were decked with holly and the long wood tables had runners down the middle with ribbons and holly and scattered with decorative nuts.

 

As we conversed, waiting for the meal to be served, he almost absent-mindedly proceeded to crack the walnuts loudly against each other and nibble on the nut-meat. Hey, they shouldn't put appetizers out if they don't want you to eat them, right?