Having arranged to meet up with Dan & Tallis, Dan’s Dad, and my parents yesterday for a spot of lunch, we settled on the Pitcher and Piano in Exeter’s Queen Street. I’d been there several times before when it was called Chumleys (or Chumley’s or Chumleigh’s or something) and had always had a good time. (In fact I remember one Friday evening being plucked from the crowd and swept across the dance floor by a Patrick Swayzeeish kinda guy who had a rather large lunchbox and who was young enough to be my son, but that’s a whole other story.) Anyway, I met Dan and Tallis on route and we grabbed some seats outside to wait for the others to arrive. Dan went to the bar to order some drinks and came back a few minutes later without mine. ID-less, the barmaid wouldn’t serve him alcohol (not a problem he is used to encountering, but no big deal). What was a big deal though, was that Dan said she’d been a bit of a bitch. Tallis had her passport on her so she offered to go back in.
T – A pint of lager with a dash please.
Barmaid – Who’s it for?
T – My boyfriend’s Mum.
Barmaid – Your boyfriend’s Mum?
T – Yes. She’s outside.
Barmaid – It’s for him, isn’t it?
T – No. It’s for his Mum.
Barmaid – I’ll be keeping an eye on you. If I catch it anywhere near him, I’ll throw the lot of you out.
Now, I understand they have to be careful, but honestly, is that really necessary? Some people are just so damn rude.
When my Mum and step-dad arrived, he went to the bar and returned a few minutes later with a rather disgruntled looking face. One pint of shandy and one puny glass of wine. £8.50! Rather alarmed, we browsed through the menu looking at the food prices. The offerings were pretty bog standard – such things as baked potatoes, soup of the day, a variety of sandwiches – but with price tags you’d expect to find on a well presented table in a celebrity restaurant and NOT on a plastic patio table on the pavement of a traffic- congested road. And if you’re going to pay a tenner for two slices of Mother’s Pride and a lump of tuna-mayo, you’d at least expect the staff to greet you with a smile. Needless to say we decided to go somewhere else and we had a jolly good time – with great service, great food and great prices. Good on you Old Timers…we’ll definitely be back.
Remember the interview I had earlier in the week? Well, they called me up on Thursday morning and offered me the job, adding that I’d be getting a phone call at some point to let me know when the training would be. I guessed that it would be later rather than sooner because they still had one more staff member to find. I kept my mobile with me all day on Friday and only had a couple of drinks – just in case they had managed to arrange it for the following day. As the hours rolled by it seemed unlikely that they’d be calling so I stopped at the shop on the way home to grab a few tinnies. I’d just cracked one open and settled down with that “ahhh, this is nice” feeling when at 5.30pm (you know that time….the time when the shops and offices close and everyone goes home and there is absolutely no chance you’re going to get a call from anybody at all which is work related) the phone rang. “See you tomorrow at 9.30” the woman said.
Grrrrr. Talk about giving someone adequate notice! I have this image of her sitting at her desk, completely ignoring the slip of paper with my name and number on it, and then finally remembering to let me know seconds before she locked up for the night.
So that was the end of my lager-sesh.
Think of me today, won’t you? Sitting in a stuffy room someplace and undoubtedly being lectured on how to properly treat a customer.
Good luck with the new job Laney. I won’t give you any advice on how to properly treat customers, after 20 plus years in retail, the last eight with a company that forgot what customer service meant, I had so many nasty customers coming to me, I was almost telling them to fuck off. So I left and started my own landscape photography business instead. The trees, mountains, and ocean never talk back to me
I’m convinced that some city centre pubs just think of a number when compiling their price lists! BR/BR/Well done on getting the job, I do hope you like it. I’ll be thinking of you doing your training today whilst I’m rounding up the gradkids!
That pub sounds like the sort of place you ought to take a few bikers for lunch ( after making butties up at home and dropping in at the supermarket for some beer.BR/You settle the lads in with their beer and sarnies then you tell the rude barmaid that they have brought their own food and beer and invite her to throw them out:)BR/BR/Good luck in the new job.BR/I want to know about the lunchbox!
Grr on the rude bartender.BR/BR/I want to hear about the lunchbox…BR/BR/Good for you on going somewhere else.BR/BR/Congrats on the job!BR/Good luck!BR/BR/*hug*
Thinking of you today Laney, just as I do everyday. My fingers are crossed that you end up with a job you will love.BR/BR/Glad you had a good time with your family. BR/BR/And now…tell us about Patrick and the lunch box
BR/BR/xoxoxoxoxo
Considering the trade on the Dollar vs. the Pound I can get a two meals for for the price of a shandy and a puny glass of wine. BR/That is outrageous unless the place isn’t crap which it sounds like it is. (now at least)
You’ve made me hungry reading that post and now my mouth is watering for something good to eat. No such thing in the house, of course, Hey, don’t forget to pick up your award.BR/BR/Good luck on your new job. I hope it is what you dreamed of.
glad you got the job Laney – will be most interested to hear how the training went! and dont get me started on rip off pubs….!
Come and cry for Kalliope.
Um sorry that was a bit spammy.
I hope the first day went well. And I’m guessing the chic didn’t forget to call you; she didn’t FEEL like calling you. Then at the end of the day, she had no choice. Just a guess.
yup i wont eat in there its rubbish . congratulations on the new job , and hen night on the 11th dressed as mechanics !! nothing sexy for me at least i can where boots lol no high heels for me or you come to that !!good on you for the new job bet you cant beat my sainsburys record ,shh 2 days ,xxx
Congrats on the job! Can’t wait to hear about it. I have zero tolerance for rude people. Glad that you had fun at your second choice of restaurants! Celebrate!
Good luck with the job training. This ID thing, you know I have the same problem all the time. Gets a bit tedious after a while
Congratulations on the job. Will you be bringing a large lunchbox with you each day?
ON the subject of IDs, me, the boyfriend, his 26yo sister and his 18yr old brother went into Tescos on Saturday to buy some Retsina and beer for a family bbq. BR/BR/She was ID’d at the check out but didn’t have her wallet, so her brother got his ID out proving he was over 18. Yet they still wouldn’t serve either of them, incase he was going to give it to his sister (who was actually 26). BR/BR/Ridiculous. Eventually, her boyfriend had to go in and make a completely different trolley up and get served that way, so they wouldn’t know he was associated with them. Mental world.