Chinky eyes...
Ugh! What a horrible morning. I knew I had to work odd hours this weekend, so instead of going out and drinking to skew my body clock, and subsequently having to drive back to the hotel tipsy which I want to avoid even if my BAC was only 0.04, I forced myself to stay awake late by watching Lucky # Slevin. So how can that lead to a bad morning, you ask.
Well, I hit the sack at 04:00, and not wanting to skip out on breakfast {mmm, I love fresh cut strawberries and melon}, I woke up at 10:15 to head down to the hotel restaurant just in time before breakfast is no longer served. As usual, the restaurant was barely busy with lots of empty tables. As this was a seat yourself kind of establishment, I made a beeline for my usual, and favorite, table in this one particular corner.
"You can't sit there. How about here?" The lone server pointed to a skinny table fit for two intimately. "That table is for four persons."
Are you kidding me? A huge restaurant, and there were only three patrons with just 15 minutes till closing time, and she wanted to make sure that one of the regular sized tables is used exclusively for larger parties? The other servers during the weekdays never had a problem. "I don't think you'll get busy any time soon, and there are many other regular tables to sit if a party of four comes," I responded.
"Okay, you sit there," as she pointed to the regular table next to the one I wanted. She explained, "This one is dirty." Without thinking, and with my tummy cursing at me, I yielded to her request.
It wasn't till a moment later when I got up to get my food when I noticed, then studied, that the table I wanted wasn't dirty at all! Now that was interesting, I thought. She didn't want me to sit in the corner table, first citing my being alone, followed with a lie about the cleanliness of the table. Curiosity got the best of me. Was I being treated unlike an adult because I was sporting jeans and tee? This has happened to me many times before. I don't know why I get more respect and courtesy on planes, in restaurants, etc when I wear my business attire; and I get treated like a poor college kid when I'm out of my business attire.
When the server came back to refill my juice, I asked her pointedly, "Why didn't you want me to sit in that corner? It isn't dirty." She was speechless for a second. Then she walked over and said, "The guy who worked last night didn't do a good job cleaning it," while sliding her hand across the tabletop looking for imaginary bread crumbs or other filth. I just looked away, because she couldn't get out of this one. Who works in a restaurant and leave just one table dirty from 06:00 to 10:30? It was no big deal but I just wanted to see what her reaction would be, so I went back to my melon.
Finally she approached me later and said, "If it was dirty, I should have cleaned it for you." Wow, more than I expected! I was impressed! But how does all this make my morning a horrible one?
After I have paid my bill, she caught me on the way out the door and asked, "Are you Chinese?" to which I always respond, "I'm an American half Taiwanese and half Malaysian." What I got volleyed back from her in this social interaction almost made me lose control of my bowels on the spot. Her answer stunned me and made me speechless and made me want to reclaim the tip I left on the table as I slowly walked out of the restaurant dazed and amazed:
"Taiwanese? I thought you are Chinese because your eyes are a little chinky."
Well, I hit the sack at 04:00, and not wanting to skip out on breakfast {mmm, I love fresh cut strawberries and melon}, I woke up at 10:15 to head down to the hotel restaurant just in time before breakfast is no longer served. As usual, the restaurant was barely busy with lots of empty tables. As this was a seat yourself kind of establishment, I made a beeline for my usual, and favorite, table in this one particular corner.
"You can't sit there. How about here?" The lone server pointed to a skinny table fit for two intimately. "That table is for four persons."
Are you kidding me? A huge restaurant, and there were only three patrons with just 15 minutes till closing time, and she wanted to make sure that one of the regular sized tables is used exclusively for larger parties? The other servers during the weekdays never had a problem. "I don't think you'll get busy any time soon, and there are many other regular tables to sit if a party of four comes," I responded.
"Okay, you sit there," as she pointed to the regular table next to the one I wanted. She explained, "This one is dirty." Without thinking, and with my tummy cursing at me, I yielded to her request.
It wasn't till a moment later when I got up to get my food when I noticed, then studied, that the table I wanted wasn't dirty at all! Now that was interesting, I thought. She didn't want me to sit in the corner table, first citing my being alone, followed with a lie about the cleanliness of the table. Curiosity got the best of me. Was I being treated unlike an adult because I was sporting jeans and tee? This has happened to me many times before. I don't know why I get more respect and courtesy on planes, in restaurants, etc when I wear my business attire; and I get treated like a poor college kid when I'm out of my business attire.
When the server came back to refill my juice, I asked her pointedly, "Why didn't you want me to sit in that corner? It isn't dirty." She was speechless for a second. Then she walked over and said, "The guy who worked last night didn't do a good job cleaning it," while sliding her hand across the tabletop looking for imaginary bread crumbs or other filth. I just looked away, because she couldn't get out of this one. Who works in a restaurant and leave just one table dirty from 06:00 to 10:30? It was no big deal but I just wanted to see what her reaction would be, so I went back to my melon.
Finally she approached me later and said, "If it was dirty, I should have cleaned it for you." Wow, more than I expected! I was impressed! But how does all this make my morning a horrible one?
After I have paid my bill, she caught me on the way out the door and asked, "Are you Chinese?" to which I always respond, "I'm an American half Taiwanese and half Malaysian." What I got volleyed back from her in this social interaction almost made me lose control of my bowels on the spot. Her answer stunned me and made me speechless and made me want to reclaim the tip I left on the table as I slowly walked out of the restaurant dazed and amazed:
"Taiwanese? I thought you are Chinese because your eyes are a little chinky."
posted by StHalcyon at
10:37
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home