So we had an interesting dinner tonight. DS is having a rough time at school so we tried to make this weekend really fun. So we went out for dinner tonight and they have this new server who is so not on the ball, it was cracking us up. We're pretty low maintenance. We figure if it all gets worked out and we're not in a huge hurry or anything, we can just laugh about things. (Like the hibachi grill back home after dad's funeral when the guy knocked hot soup in my lap with a skidding onion, splattered egg all over me and got one broken egg in my rootbeer and then beaned me with a chunk of zucchini right between the eyes...the soup was cooled off enough that it didn't burn me, the waitress was cleaning up the soup when the eggs ran amuck so she cleaned up the mess and got me another rootbeer in less than a minute, and the zucchini...no harm done)
So first off...ordering. DS ordered chicken nuggets and fries with mayo and a fanta to drink. He had to repeat it twice for her and she was still confused and for some reason understood "fork" instead of fanta, so she brought him an extra fork...and dh had to tell her he wanted a fanta. DD ordered the chicken skillet with fries, no mayo, but peanut sauce on the side, and a sprite to drink. She was VERY confused about the peanut sauce on the side, and of course, DD had to repeat everything 3 times. I ordered the schnitzel with mushroom sauce and also no mayo on the fries, but peanut sauce on the side. She looked at me like I had 3 heads. She repeats the schnitzel with mushroom sauce....and did you want mayo on the fries? No...no mayo, I'd like peanut sauce on the side instead of mayo. So....you want the schnitzel with mushroom sauce and you want fries with peanut sauce separate? Yes. And DH says "Just the peanut sauce on the side, or the mushroom sauce on the side, too?" and I said "That's a good idea. Otherwise the mushroom sauce is all over the fries." Then DH orders the mixed grill, yes please to mayo on the fries. So at this point the regular waitress/owner comes up and is standing beside the waitress...and I assumed she was looking to see if we stuck with our regular orders or mixed it up as we sometimes do, which we had. So she's looking at the order and I said "We mixed it up again." And she says...so...you want chicken nuggets and fries with mayo, a chicken skillet with fries and peanut sauce and some mushroom sauce? No....the mushroom sauce is for the schnitzel, but then peanut sauce with the fries. Oh, you wanted a schnitzel with the mushroom sauce? Yes....and fries, but peanut sauce on the side. So she has to write down the schnitzel....apparently she was just going to bring me a bowl of the mushroom sauce because she didn't realize I actually wanted the Schnitzel part once I said I wanted the sauce on the side. DH and I are just looking at each other and trying not to laugh and the regular waitress/owner is giving me the "I'm so sorry, we're having problems with this new waitress" look and I'm just smiling at her, giving her the "No problem" look...all communication is non-verbal as the new girl is trying desperately to get it all written down correctly. She walks away and we're just giggling and I said "Well, obviously this isn't the first issue they've had with her, since the owner made a point to come look and ask if it was correct." And I said "I guess we'll see what we get!" So then the orders came...now, I have to give her credit...mine was the ONLY one she got wrong, and she was probably so confused still about the order of the peanut sauce on the side of a dish that already had mushroom sauce (even though that sauce was for the schnitzel she had been confused about) and she brought me the schnitzel, with mushroom sauce on it, and fries with mayo. So I repeat again, that no, there wasn't supposed to be mayo on it, it's supposed to be peanut sauce on the side. So you didn't want mayo? No....peanut sauce on the side, just like hers. (pointing to DD's, which she had forgotten the first time, went all the way back, and brought ONLY that to the table, and THEN had to go back to get my food, and then again to get DH's.) So the regular waitress comes to the table with a small plate of fries and no sauce at all and says "I'm so sorry..I don't know if this is a solution, but will this work?". I said sure, I shared DD's peanut sauce with her, we scraped off the fries with mayo onto DH's plate and called it good. We also ordered a new round of drinks and 2 chocolate milkshakes and one strawberry milkshake and when she came back with everything, she was giving them to the wrong people and couldn't remember which one was the strawberry milkshake. And she said "I know THIS one is chocolate...so who had the chocolate?" and DH says "The ladies have the chocolate, I have the strawberry." so she gives the one chocolate to DD and is peering into the cups of the other two, trying to divine which one is which...says "I think this is the strawberry" and sets it in front of me. So DH switches them and she's like..."oh...right." Kind of too bad it was the new girl who rang us up at the end because I'm betting that if it had been the owner, we would have gotten a discount. She gives the amount, and DH, being really kind, decides to give a bit of a tip (most people don't here) and says "Why don't you make it ----? " and she goes "Oh...how do I do that?" He's like...I have no idea. It was quite good entertainment all the way around, and also good modeling for DS, because he gets so upset at things that go wrong, so it's nice to have the opportunity to show him it's not the end of the world, things go wrong, you fix them, and it's ok...and it's a fun thing to laugh about! All in all, a lovely relaxed and comical evening. I think the couple sitting behind us was amused, too. Win win!