Apology Cake for Everyone!

I am a bad service magnet. If you ever go out to eat with me, you are very much at risk for having a meal so profoundly bad that you’ll be compelled to write a snotty note to the corporate headquarters. We have had so many bad service experiences that I think I’ll break this up into a miniseries of blog entries.

For today’s entry, we’ll focus on an experience last summer while we were driving out West. We stopped at a restaurant I won't identify (its initials are A&W, though) near Butte, Montana. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger, which naturally came without bacon. Since I had paid extra for bacon, I sent it back. Many eons later, they brought me a brand new burger, which was also missing the key ingredient of bacon. The third time, they finally brought me a burger with bacon on it. Granted, the burger was cold, but I didn't possess enough morbid curiosity to see what they'd bring me next.

Little Smoot had ordered macaroni and cheese from the menu, but the girl taking the order explained, “We ain’t got none.” And needless to say, they screwed up Mrs. Smoot’s chicken order while they were at it.

Later, the store’s manager came around and offered virtually everyone in the store a cake to apologize for the fact that the crew was screwing up everything in sight. She explained that the store was under new management, and they had fired the entire staff in recent weeks “because they were all druggies.” She told us the old staff was replaced by straight-A students, presumably including the girl who told us they “ain’t got no” mac and cheese.

So we continued on our journey and enjoyed our apology cake that night. Tomorrow: adventures at a local steakhouse.